Common Pitfalls of Brand Naming

Did you know Google was once called Backrub? Or Nike was once named Blue Ribbon Sports? Can you imagine if those were the names they went by today?

Brand naming can be one of the most challenging exercises, even for the most creative brand strategists, but choosing the right name can shape your brand's trajectory for years to come.

In this insight, we’ll look at different naming strategies and the common pitfalls when naming or renaming your brand. 

Let’s get started.

Common Naming Conventions

As you're embarking on the brand naming or renaming process, understanding the common naming conventions you can use can help you make more strategic decisions. Each naming approach has distinct strengths and considerations, so carefully evaluating your business goals, audience, and competitive landscape will guide you toward the best fit.

Here are a few of the most frequently used naming strategies:

Descriptive: As the name suggests, it indicates what the company, product, or service is or does. These names can easily help customers identify the brand category, but they can be restrictive as the company evolves and harder to protect.

Think: PayPal, Subway

Evocative: Evokes lateral meaning or metaphoric context to connect to a larger concept or idea. These names can be more expressive and, at times, easier to protect, but they can sometimes be more restrictive as the brand grows.

Think: Ray-Ban, Etsy

Invented (Abstract): A made-up word or one that is not necessarily directly related to the business category. These names can be easier to protect and offer a blank canvas for brand meaning, but they can cause initial confusion and make it harder to raise brand awareness. They can also be over-engineered and come across as cheesy or sophomoric.

Think: Google, Xerox

Lexical: Relies on wordplay. Uses puns, phrases, alliteration, misspelled words, or foreign words. At times, these are easy to remember and easier to trademark; other times, they’re perceived as cutesy and less appealing to modern audiences. 

Think: Krazy Glue, Dunkin Donuts

Acronymic: Short acronyms of longer names and phrases. They can serve their function, and acquiring domains and social handles can sometimes be easier. They can also lead to unnecessary explanations of meaning and difficulty in trademarking. 

Think: IBM, HP

Founder: These names are rooted in the name(s) of the people who started the company. They’re common in B2C or professional service firms and can be easier to protect; however, they are often problematic if the founder/partners leave a company. They can also be problematic as the company scales from a cultural perspective. They tend to be frowned upon in more modern-day research.

Think: Calvin Klein, Ford

Common Naming Pitfalls

In addition to choosing the right naming strategy, knowing the common pitfalls in brand naming can help you avoid timely and costly mistakes.

Here are some of the most common naming pitfalls we see: 

• Not giving the brand naming process the appropriate time it deserves.
• The belief that the company's filing name or holding company has to be the brand name.
• Assuming descriptive names are best.
• Believing the company is too small for anyone to care or pursue legal action.
• Falling "in love" with a name that may be too literal for brand longevity.
• Creating a name that is too abstract; unncessary time is spent on explaining the name.
• Not vetting the name against multiple perspectives and biases. 
• Committing to the name and boldly using it before it’s been fully vetted.
• Thinking AI can replace a brand strategist or trademark attorney.
• Vetting a name legally, but not spending enough time considering marketing/sales. (Or vice versa.)
• Considering a name in isolation from brand architecture and product/service naming.
• Founder attachment to a name even if there is a strong business case against it.

Understanding these common pitfalls can help you navigate the naming process more clearly, but not giving brand naming the appropriate time it deserves is the one that can cost you the most. Having a guide who has seen these challenges unfold is worth the investment and the additional time it may take to make a more informed, strategic decision.

Real Life Examples

Let's look at a few real-life examples where companies encountered significant setbacks by overlooking critical naming considerations.

Common Pitfall: Believing the company is too small for anyone to care or pursue legal action.

Too small to matter? Think again. In this situation, a company was aware that there was another brand out there with a similar name, but it was not a direct competitor. Their products and services were in an adjacent market, so the leadership team didn't see the issue. The potential conflict was mentioned to their internal legal counsel (whose specialty was not in brand trademarking) and the response was "We are too small; nobody cares about us. We shouldn't worry about this right now." After some hefty legal fees, weeks of wasted resource in discovery, and millions in rebranding costs later, it turns out the company was not too small for anyone to care. Brands are how businesses compete; even infringing on adjacent markets can get you into serious trouble.

Common Pitfall: Vetting a name legally, but not spending enough time considering marketing/sales. (Or vice versa.)

This confidential company originally engaged another branding firm to develop its new brand name. The company was well-backed by very credible investors who expected the brand to launch without any hiccups. We were engaged for strategy development just as the naming process was wrapping up and were asked to take a third-party look "just in case you guys can come up with something more creative." Without digging deep, it was clear the recommended name would not work. A quick Google search alone brought up a number of companies within a similar industry and even within the same geographic region. Though it is not uncommon for some agencies to come up with creative names and hide behind the clause in their contract that says "trademarking is the full responsibility of the client, and not an obligation of the agency", the name in which the client had now fallen in love with was not viable. Not only from a trademarking standpoint, but also the burden it would place on marketing and sales in addition to the potential risks and market confusion in the future. Having an experienced brand strategy firm that balances the creative with strategy is important to negate this common pitfall.

Common Pitfall: Founder attachment to a name even if there is a strong business case against it.

Founders often become deeply attached to brand names, especially when those names represent moments of inspiration, nostalgia, or personal significance. In this particular scenario, the company’s original name carried both nostalgic and sentimental value from its early startup days. However, as the company had grown substantially, what had once been charming and meaningful had become a daily source of frustration. The internal team frequently expressed concerns about how much unnecessary effort was spent overcoming confusion associated with the brand name. Their frustrations weren’t trivial—customers and partners regularly echoed these same sentiments, underscoring the practical issues and confusion the beloved name was creating. The name alone was complicating the sales process and was extremely difficult to create brand equity around. Ultimately, while a brand name may hold emotional value for founders, the true test of its worth lies in the value it creates in the market.

Modern Day Best Practices

Now that we've discussed naming conventions, common pitfalls, and examples, let's look at some recommended best practices.

• Spend the time: Don’t rush to market with a name. Devote the time and consideration needed to differentiate yourself while being practical about what is needed to do so. Consider the naming strategies carefully and realistically.
• Make it memorable: If it’s easy to say and, as importantly, easy to remember, your chances are favorable.
• Make sure it looks as good as it sounds: Letters can evoke different emotions depending on their visual treatment. The best brands consider whether the visual appeal can evoke the same response as the verbal.
• Consider all the P’s: From phonetics and phonosemantics to poetics and performance–consider all your bases. The best names will check all (or most) the boxes.
• Try not to fall in love too early: Even if a name comes to you in the middle of the night and it’s the best idea you’ve ever had, test it. Be okay with hearing real feedback, and consider that just because it means something to you, it may not resonate with others.
• Consider your team and customers: Will your team spend more time explaining what your brand name means than talking about the value you bring? Though naming is important, it should not be the entire focus of your conversations. ‍
• Plan for the future: As your brand grows, is the name sustainable? Will it become problematic? Sure, you can always rebrand. But that can be a costly mindset.

Our Quick Take

Naming is more than a creative exercise; it’s a strategic decision that impacts your long-term success. Understanding naming conventions, recognizing common pitfalls, and following best practices will position your brand for long-term resilience and differentiation. Remember, investing early in branding and trademark expertise saves significant resources later.

At Flo., we consider all these aspects and carefully navigate our clients through the process. In addition to some of the items mentioned above, we have an extensive process that we take our clients through to validate and test the brand name as much as possible. With this, we consider the brand’s architecture and whether future growth will warrant change so stakeholders are informed upfront and more confident in their decisions. 

Whether you’re naming a company for the first time or going through a rebrand, be mindful of the common pitfalls and engage the right team of people. Branding strategists are not attorneys, and vice versa. Both have their place in guiding you in the right direction and can collaborate on the best path forward. 

Ready to create a brand name that sticks and lasts? Connect with our brand experts today to start the conversation.