A DIY Bionic Man?
In the age of Do-It-Yourself, people are taking on all kinds of projects themselves. And why not? You can find videos on YouTube showing you how to do the job, blogs that will give you tips & tricks, and a plethora of online “experts” who are more than happy to weigh in. But, there are times you really do need a professional. Like when you’re building a Bionic Man, or perhaps generating a name for your next big brand. These are projects that we highly recommend you enlist professional help.
“Naming?
That should be easy, right?”
People have been coming up with names since there have been people to speak them. Words are in our nature. Language is part of what makes us human. So you’d think that naming a new company, brand, product or service would be as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. But take it from a professional – discovering, developing, and implementing a really great name is not a DIY project. Let’s consider our Six Million Dollar Man example. “We can do it. We can make it Better. Stronger. Faster.”
BETTER
Naming takes strategy, tools, and experience. There are no shortcuts. Cold pizza, an awesome playlist, a stack of Post-Its, Sharpies, and a couple of late nights just won’t get you there. It takes knowhow and a thoughtful coherent process. Experts have techniques and tools they utilize to ensure a fresh perspective when it looks like the room has run out of steam, and the same ideas are being rehashed.
STRONGER
Names built by experts who understand and build them professionally, hold more weight with consumers. They utilize linguistics that make sense, work in context, and differentiate. They’re relevant, distinct, ownable, and memorable. An expert will also ensure top name options are free for you to practice and ideally capable of being trademarked.
FASTER
Naming on your own can be inexorably tangled with internal relationships and baggage. When it’s time to make a decision, “Analysis Paralysis” often sets in. If not, its ugly cousin, “Committee Consent” takes its place. Eventually, the group settles on a name that will simply pass a group vote, and it’s often a mediocre name that your audience will pass-on as well. Naming experts bring objectivity to the table – helping remove emotional subjectivity – and hold the team accountable to making decisions that deliver against objectives and success criteria.
So next time you’re thinking about naming, please don’t take the DIY approach. Naming experts are professionals that can help. They have the processes, tools, and experience to get you to a better, stronger name … much faster. Even Steve Austin would appreciate that.
Ellen Craven
Ellen Craven, Coho’s Director of Strategy & Innovation, is a provocative thinker and challenger of the status quo. She is constantly in a near-clinical state of consumer empathy and always onto the next insight that will build brands, grow business, and make life a little better for all of us. When she is not strategizing, she's excelling in her other job; swim, tennis, karate, and band mom, or discovering new restaurants with her husband.