It started with one client’s wish to reflect her beautiful, bold web designs in her company name. Angela Nielsen had created NIC Media (for Nielsen Internet Consultants) and the name was creating considerable confusion. Not only were potential clients at a loss for what she did (media is a very broad term for everything from talent agencies to media placement firms, and “nic” is associated with a number of other online businesses,) but there was no sense of how she did what she did. So we aligned her company name around the way she created, not what she created. The result was One Lily, a high end web design shop known for eye popping design that was “Simple. Bold. Beautiful.” With the name change from NIC Media to One Lily, Angela saw an immediate improvement in the caliber of work and clientele she attracted.

But it didn’t stop there.

During the naming process, we came up with a number of similar names that portrayed beauty and elegance. Rather than being confined to web design only, Angela began to think about other ways to bring beauty into people’s lives, web design or otherwise. And that’s when it hit her… why not extend the One Lily brand with another of the names we developed, but this time offer candles, fragrances, soaps and other relaxation products. The result was BayBlossom.com, a place where you can “Nurture the Body. Renew the Spirit.”

This is what I call discovering a “pivot point,” an axis if you will, a point upon which you can “pivot” your company in a new direction… one that’s attribute based and not product based. After all, is Rolex really a watch company? Or a prestige company? And what are the ramifications by looking at things in this light?

One Lily. Bay Blossom. Two beautiful names with one mission in mind. That’s how great branding can help a business flourish.

When the accounting firm Decosimo CPA decided to branch into the merger and acquisition business (something they already had substantial experience with) they decided they needed a new name to differentiate themselves. This was an astute move. Many times businesses will create a new division and yet leave the legacy name in place. The problem is that the old name has branding “carry forward” (to borrow an accounting term) that might not fit the new business. An investment banking firm with an accounting image may be viewed as being too conservative and singularly focused to handle the diverse demands of a middle market merger or buy out. By creating a new entity, one based on the heritage of the Chattanooga area (you guessed it… they have four big bridges) they are now positioned to capture their share of the investment banking market, without being pigeon-holed as an “accounting firm.” (Not to disparage accountants… some of my best friends are accountants… I roomed with one in college… I even took “accounting for non-accounting majors”)

So for a firm with four major partners in a town connected by four major bridges, there’s now a major player in the merger and acquisition market. Introducing FourBridges Capital!

When the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went looking for a name for their Monster® co-branded web site, they found a number of hurdles… lack of available domain names, trademark issues, etc. With a looming deadline and little time to spare, they hired the bright minds at Tungsten Branding to give them the “head start” they needed. The goal was to find/create a memorable and engaging name that communicated the essence of their mission (connecting employees and employers.) I refer to these as “descriptive hybrid” names, such as JetBlue and CarMax. These names provide a sense of the category as well as a sense of the company’s positioning in that category. (i.e. faster, better, cheaper, smarter, etc.) In a matter of days, the final name emerged… Job Noggin.

Job Noggin conveys both fun and intelligence. It’s a good internet brand name in that doesn’t take itself too seriously — and yet still speaks to the benefit of working smarter not harder — using the ole’ “Noggin”. Creating sub brands such as Job Noggin is a way for newspaper publications to redistribute their content in new, more accessible ways. It’s a developing trend in the industry as information delivery systems continue to evolve from paper to electronic formats. And for Journal Communications, Inc, the parent of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Job Noggin is just one more smart move. Now that’s what I call thinkin’.

You might think weird business names might lose potential business, but it’s often just the opposite. Unique company names actually serve a pragmatic profit-producing purpose. Even though they may not be literal or descriptive, they are memorable! Case in point… the flooring company I’ve used on four separate occasions — but one which I could not recall by name. A call to the operator went something like this…

Forgetful me: “Yes, I need the number of the Floor Store…”

Dispassionate Operator: “I’m sorry, we’re not showing a ‘Floor Store’ in Asheville.”

F.M.: “Well maybe it was the Floor Stop…”

D.O.: “No sir, no ‘Floor Stop’ either…”

F.M.: (Feeling somewhat panicked at the thought that perhaps I am only allowed two guesses…” “Could you try One Stop or One Floor or Flooring Stop…”

D.O.: “Sorry sir, nothing on anything you mentioned or are about to mention…”

F.M.: “Can you look up the flooring category?” (the store was out of our area and not in our phone book)

D.O.: “Sir we are not the yellow pages…” (sound of clicking noise and silence)

At this point, I’m looking for check stubs and combing the junk drawer on the off-chance there might be a left behind business card. I am feeling at a loss for not being able to simply call a business I’ve dealt with on a number of occasions and spent the better part of our kid’s college fund with.

After typing various keyword entries on the last remaining hope… Google, I found the name. “Your Floor Stop.” Now if I, a previous customer, had that much difficulty recalling the name, imagine a potential customer hearing it in passing on the radio while three kids are fighting over a soccer ball.

In the vacuum-like atmosphere of the company meeting room, it’s natural to lean towards literal and descriptive names and phrases. But before you do that, look up your industry category on dmoz.org and see how just how much your new name would stand out in the crowd. It may sound like ten or fifteen other companies… i.e. The Floor Shop, My Floor Store, The Floor Place, Floors & More, etc. And as I experienced (and most likely your customers have as well) the operator is of little help in unearthing your name.

When our first Australian client came knocking this past spring they had a big branding problem. Their company name was “Crafty Kids,” a legacy name that began when they sold children’s arts and crafts projects to moms from a flea market booth. Flash forward nearly 15 years and they were now selling scrapbooking supplies, stamping products and embellishing items through a national network of consultants and distributors — and the vast majority of their audience was now women 30 to 60 — with no kid oriented craft products in their inventory. Talk about needing a name change!

After an extensive search and review, the finalists came down to Flair Creations and Pizzazz Creative. Discussions turned to a new product line the client had recently introduced called “Kasz” and ways in which that invented word might be incorporated into the name. Cheryl Devlin, a Crafty Kids consultant, made the suggestion of “Kaszazz.” Another top consultant, Sonya Edwards, stepped in to provide the tag line “Stamp, Scrap, Embellish.” The exact matching .com domain name was available and the Kaszazz name reinforced one of their star product lines — so the client pulled the trigger. Tungsten then provided several logo ideas/treatments and South Australian designer Kristy Baldock created the finished logo design. Talk about a team effort!

The unusual spelling may prove problematic initially, but since they have an established product with the same initial spelling, it will most likely gain traction quickly. Overall, the name is unusual, engaging, and playful. It’s interruptive in the sense that it’s uniqueness begs for more explanation. And with the right tag line, such as “Give your life some pizzazz!” it will only help to further enhance and support the new brand name. So things are looking up for our mates down under. Instead of being seen as selling cheap art projects to kids, they are now viewed as a company offering creative fun for everyone… and that definitely has more pizzazz!

I happened to trip across this naming trivia site today that contains great anecdotal stories about how companies came up with their names. Many of these older legacy names were the result of happenstance or serendipity. Unfortunately, with so many trademarks and so many domain names taken, the luxury of picking your favorite fruit for a name is most likely gone forever. (Although, as of this writing, the domain name PurpleKumquat.com was available) Fortunately there are still ample naming and branding strategies that work. And unlike StarBucks, you don’t have to resort to a Herman Melville novel to get a name (which almost resulted in the company name being Pequod)

(Somehow it’s just difficult to imagine ordering a Pequod caramel latte grande.)

Not all invented/coined words are created equal. Some have no linguistic basis and therefore no meaning (i.e. Xerox, Kodak, etc.) Every ounce of brand equity then has to be earned and instilled through years of hard work, money and gradual customer acquisition. Most entrepreneurs and start ups don’t have the luxury of time or money on their side.

So when creating new names from scratch, we tend to look for ones that contain a “morpheme” or word part that directly relates to one of the client’s main attributes. These words come preloaded with emotional equity that steers the listener down an intended path. In this case our client was in the information/knowledge management business. The key benefit they offered was their insights and perspectives in dealing with, and organizing, legacy information systems. What we wanted to capture was the sense of clarity, insight, brilliance and expertise they provided. The final result was Claricent… “See more. Know more. Do more.” The name flows well and evokes the right emotional tone. Invented names are just one of many different naming strategies, but if done well, they can still connect and communicate a message effectively.

When Coghead was just a name on a list, who would have foreseen the meteoric rise of the Coghead “dude” and the success of the recently released “Coglets” application? This is a good example of how the right type of business name can create excitement, generate traction and accelerate brand name penetration.

This is similar to what happened to McDonald’s over the years. In their case the iconic figure was Ronald McDonald, and the Mc “Add-Product-Name-Here” became their standard naming protocol. With this type of naming architecture, each sub brand points back to and reinforces the mother brand. In this way, your marketing dollars go farther since the company and product names are mutually reinforcing.

Not long after naming PODS, I walked into their first manufacturing plant to notice one of their big hydraulic trucks had been labeled “Podzilla.” I was thrilled to see this type of internal ownership taking place and to watch how the brand began to morph and produce “brand children.”

So when considering a company name, think about what type of sub brands or brand extensions could potentially develop. If you can’t think of any, you might consider a different name or a different naming strategy. Not all names lend themselves equally to sub branding. Sometimes highly invented/coined names can be a challenge when creating sub brands. (i.e. what would you call a sub brand for Accenture?) For Coghead, there will likely be other “Cog” products coming along. From the CogBlog to the Cog “dude,” the gears are already starting to engage — and that’s the way good branding works.