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How to Present Names
There’s lots of advice out there for creating company and product names. (Some of that advice is available for free on my blog, Fritinancy.) It’s much harder to find out what to do after you’ve developed and vetted that list of names. How should you reveal your top name candidates to your co-founders, the executive team, or the board of directors? How best to persuade and guide your audience toward making or endorsing a decision? How to respond if someone says, “I dunno … I just don’t like it”?
In my experience, this can be the toughest stage of the naming challenge. Here are five tips for making your case.
1. Build suspense. I usually present between 10 and 15 names (screened for legal and domain availability, when necessary). But I don’t reveal the names immediately or all at once. Instead, I create a little drumroll with words or images that set the scene and evoke some relevant concepts.
Suppose, for example, you’re naming an app that displays images along a line. You’re presenting 10 names, one of which emphasizes the amount of control the user has over the interface. Before you show that name, pique interest with an introductory slide that drops suggestive hints:
Guidance
Steering
Control
Security
Simplicity
Let that sink in for a few seconds. Then show an image:
And finally … the name itself, in a neutral typeface like Helvetica or Times Roman:
HANDLEBAR
2. Tell the story. Every name is the title of a story. After you’ve revealed a name, support it with story points that match the naming objectives in your creative brief. For HANDLEBAR, those points might be:
- A steering mechanism for a bicycle
- Provides a secure, safe feeling
- Evokes childhood fun and freedom
- “Hand” suggests handmade, personal
- “Bar” suggests the linear photo display
3. Add color. In the real world, names don’t exist in vacuums: they’re fleshed out by logos, taglines, and supporting language. Help your audience envision the name by providing some of this brand shading. Can you create a simple mockup of the name on a T-shirt or shopping bag? Can you write a placeholder tagline or…
