How to pick killer names: naming exercises for mere mortals. Here are some simple naming exercises that we use at Highfive to come up with company and product names. Read more at www.davebking.com

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How to pick killer names
Naming exercises for mere mortals
Dave King
@dbkinger

2. Most teams
get stuck with bad naming strategies
HiPPO (Highest paid person’s opinion)
Internal code names
Whatever domain is available
Out of touch
High priced agencies
Photo credit: MattysFlick

3. You can burn lots of cash trying to market a bad name
Bad naming strategies cost $$$
Spend
marke9ng
dollars
to
communicate
what
your
name
doesn’t.
or
Hire
an
expensive
agency
to
fix
your
mistake.

4. You don’t need to be a creative genius

5. Just commit to a few easy (and fun) exercises
1. Brandscape
ive
4. Competit
namescape
2. Analogy
boards
5. Dot voting
urcing
3. Crowdso
6. Due diligence

6. 1. Brandscape*
• “Is your brand most like…”
card sorting exercise
• Sort across 10 different
categories
• Why is much more
important than what
*Brandscape exercise adapted by Jonathan Bolden at Leader

7. 1. Brandscape* categories
Cars
Actors
Actresses
Sports
Animals
Architecture
*Brandscape exercise adapted by Jonathan Bolden at Leader
Trees
Places
Brands
Colors

8. Use post-its to group key attributes

9. 2. Analogy boards
Select 3 analogous experiences
Highfive examples:
• Launching off an aircraft carrier
• World Cup victory
• Last day of school
"
Use magazines to create image
boards
Jot down why for each image

10. Get creative, get messy!
Launching off an Aircraft Carrier
World Cup Victory
Last Day of School

11. 3. Crowdsourcing
Hello,
my
name
is
_________.
Create a contest for employees and customers. Include cocktails for added creativity.
Photo
credit:
alexkess

12. 4. Competitive namescape
Competitive names by name classification
Functional
Competitor A
Experiential
Eye Opener
X
Competitor B
Invented
X
X
Competitor C
Competitor D
X
Competitor E
X
X
Competitor F
X
Competitor G
Competitor H
X
Name Classifications
Functional names = describe the product or service
Invented names = made up word with no meaning
Experiential names = words that describe the product experience or emotion
Eye Opener = truly provocative or unexpected names (e.g. Virgin)
ity
Opportun
Untapped

13. 5. Dot voting
highfive
Give people 5 dots each and let them vote for their favorite names

14. 6. Due diligence
✓ Domain availability
✓ Trademark availability
✓ Foreign translations
No creativity here. Just hard work and lots of iteration.

15. Good luck picking a brilliant name!
Photo
credit:
Melanie
Riccardi
@dbkinger
@HighfiveHQ