How to pick a brand name
Choosing a brand name can be hard. It’s especially hard when you’re so close to your business and want it to represent so many things like your interests, your business name, the product or service you sell, but it can all get so jumbled and finding one word to represent all of that can be overly daunting. The key is to work through some simple steps to help you identify what’s at the heart of your brand and take a step back to see what would objectively work best for your business.
What makes a good brand name
When it comes to the makeup of a good business name, you want to make sure it includes these key ingredients:
It needs to be meaningful. Naturally, you want your business name to convey a deeper meaning. You don’t want to choose something surface level or something that would stand out just because. You need it to have meaning for you, as the business owner, but also to help convey exactly what your business does. With Open Haus, we knew we wanted it to represent more than just a design studio. We wanted it to feel more, well, open. Initially we wanted it to be called Open Studio, like a space where people could come and go as they pleased, like a coworking space. But as we thought more on the name, we came across some other inspiration that helped us land on Open Haus—Haus like the Bauhaus movement in art and design—which tied it back to our design roots, while still giving it a casual, and even homey, feel.
It should be unique. It should be unique enough to your business that when people hear or read it, they can easily recall who you are. It’s helpful for it to be unique but memorable, and not too complicated that people can’t remember what it was or can’t find it with a simple Google search. For instance, Google is a good example of a unique business name. Other brands like Hulu, Netflix, are all unique enough but short and simple enough to be memorable (and have plenty of brand recognition now to be well-known). For us, we wanted it to feel comfortable but just unique enough to feel special. The “Haus” recalled that Bauhaus era of design that made it special enough to be distinctive to us.
It should be memorable. Something unique will make it stand out, but it should also be easy to say, easy to spell, and something that people can find through a quick Google search. Consider this: if someone didn't have your business card but wanted to show their friend one of your products—would they be able to search your name on Instagram and find you easily? Or is it spelled with extra letters, random characters, or too hard to pronounce that makes it complicated for people to remember? For Open Haus, it’s a phrase people are familiar with and understand the concept of, the differentiator is the spelling of Haus, which adds a unique and memorable spin on it.
Most importantly, it should be timeless. Timeless has become a bit of a buzzword (hasn’t every word in branding?) but timeless doesn’t mean it comes from the 50s or that it’s mid century modern (yeah, we heard that somewhere). It actually means it can stand the test of time. It’s “future-proof”. It means when you hear the name now or 60 years from now, it won’t sound outdated or silly. Is there a brand name you can think of that sounds ridiculously outdated now? How about any name that includes a “z” at the end (when you think of a brand called Flip Flopz, it just feels outdated).
Or any branding names with “i”-something, based off of Apple’s iPod. “iCarly”, is a good example of this. Sometimes this isn’t a bad thing, iCarly was a tv show that no one expected to live on forever and definitely evokes some nostalgia (you know, for some people not me or anything *cough*), and while it’s so fun to see iCarly making a comeback, anyone can look back and see there was a boom of “i-yadda yadda” names for everything when the iPod gained traction and they all jumped on the bandwagon.
PS: Haus is actually getting really popular right now so that seems to be an interesting trend going on. Maybe we should have done more research. But actually this might be a good sign that so many other names are being taken that people are limited to finding creative ways of spelling simple and usual things.
How to choose a brand name
Now that you know all the little bits and pieces that go into a good brand name, let’s put that information to use and find a brand name. We’ll work on finding the heart of your brand, brainstorming, narrowing it down and then taking a step back to see the big picture and find the best name for your business.
Find your business’ why. The “why” behind your business is the most important part to knowing the root of your brand and is the root of all design that comes from that. When you can work to define your brand values, mission, and goals, you’re uncovering your brand heart—the very essence of your business’ existence. Okay, it sounds dramatic but it’s actually really important. Sometimes it’s hard to step back and see the true “why” in your business but it’s helpful to dig deep and keep asking “why”. Think of why you started your business (or why you want to start your business).
Now put a finger down if you just thought in your mind that it was to have freedom. Freedom to do what you want, freedom to be your own boss, freedom to set your own schedule or work on your own time. “Freedom” is one of the most common reasons for people starting their own business. So if that’s surface level, what’s the next level? If you want freedom to set your own work schedule, ask yourself: why? Did you have a constricting schedule at your previous job that you disliked? Why did you dislike it? Maybe it was because you feel like people have times where they’re most productive. Or maybe you disagree with the 8-hour work day. Keep digging to get to the very root. That’s where you’ll find your brand values and understand what your business stands for. From there you can better understand your mission and see what you want your business to do for others and what purpose it serves. Then set your ongoing goals. What goals do you have for the next year, five years, 10 years. Write them down, keep them in mind and use them as a guiding light.
You can download our branding questionnaire that we provide to all our clients where you’ll be able to journal and consider all of these factors to get to the root of your business.
Look for what makes you different. You have the pieces that demonstrate what brought your business into existence, but now take a look at those, your product, yourself, and see what makes you different from others in your industry. Are you cheaper? More ethically produced? Do you provide a special service to your customers that others don’t? What are those key differentiators that make your business so unique that it can only be yours? Maybe it’s just you—you are that special touch! Write down anything you can think of, anything that even comes to mind. Just free flow through your thoughts and don’t stop until your mind truly draws a blank.
Now, let’s brainstorm. One of the most helpful things we do in our studio is mind mapping. Mind mapping is basically just word association, written out and finding common themes or threads surrounding those words. Any words you wrote down during your “why” exercise and finding your differentiators can be keywords to find your brand name. Throw them into the pot—or in this case, the mind map, and find common themes between any of those words. Connect them with other words that come to mind, or look on Thesaurus.com to find related words. We’re not thinking of brand names yet, we’re just looking for themes that feel accurate to describe your business. Anything goes and nothing can be ruled out just yet, just let the words keep flowing.
Note the standouts. Once you’ve brain-dumped any related themes, go back through and highlight or star your favorites. Choose the ones that feel the most relevant to what you do, that can in some ways explain what your business is about, while still retaining a meaningful element that correlates to why you started your business in the first place. After you’ve found your favorites, type them out in a Google Doc or somewhere digitally. Just a plain list will do. This will help you to quickly riff on any of your favorite ideas or test out alternate spellings. The key is to use the keywords you gathered as a base for more exploration and find something truly unique. Type out crazy spellings to see what it would look like or riff on a single word with similar words to find an alternate way of saying the same thing.
Check yourself. After you’ve compiled a list of possible names, DON’T narrow it down just yet, in fact, try not to zero in on any favorites. Instead, head to the Trademark database to see if any of your names have been taken or trademarked already. You don’t want to choose a name you love only to find out another company has already trademarked it. Any branding names that have already been used, cross off your list. With your more narrowed down list, check social media and website domains to see if any of those have been taken. Cross off any that have, or do another riff to find similar names that haven’t been taken. Keep iterating until you have a super refined list of names. You may not love all of them, but keep riffing until you have a list that you feel good about.
Sit with it. Let the names marinate for a while and come back to your list later to see how you feel about them. Maybe you’ve thought of more ideas during your time away, or maybe you realize that one specific name you weren’t feeling strongly about might actually work better than you thought. Try to be objective, don’t let personal feelings get in the way too much. Of course, you want to like your business name, but your name should be more about getting your audience to remember it and understand it than making a strong connection for yourself.
How to brand yourself
Of course, your brand isn’t just the branding name. Now that you’ve (hopefully) landed on a name, you can use this handy checklist to complete the rest of your brand.
Download our branding questionnaire. Define your brand and the deeper meaning behind your business with the actual questionnaire we send to our clients at the start of every project.
Develop your brand messaging. Understand how your audience wants to hear from you and use a specific tone to talk to them that resonates.
Design your visual identity. Sketch out ideas for what your logo could be. Like your brand name, think objectively about how people might perceive it, make sure it resonates with your audience but also captures everything you want your brand to represent. Better yet—work with your designer to create a full visual identity for your brand.
Create your brand guidelines. Narrow down the framework that defines what your brand is and isn’t so anyone coming into your business can take this guide and know exactly what your business is about.
Start creating content. Branding is just the initial step but with your brand defined and your brand guidelines solidified, you can start creating content that aligns with those key factors.
Choosing a brand name, and eventually solidifying that brand, is a long process and involves a lot of commitment and deep consideration. If you ever need help with any stage of the process, you can always reach out to us to get more insight, or fill out our client application so we can work through the entire process together.