Brand Naming: Context Counts

-Steve Rivkin

That funny (and perceptive) quote comes from Small Is the New Big, a (2006) book from author and entrepreneur Seth Godin.

The larger issue here is: Context counts.

• For instance, in the “As Seen on TV” category of products, most of the names are descriptive and straightforward, and rightly so. Here is a neighborhood where the best names are quick into the mind, and easy to understand. Examples: Pasta Express, Swivel Sweeper, Stick-Up Bulb, Auto Cool, Just-a-Trim, LumaTweeze. In a twinkling, these names tell the consumer who you are, and what you do.

• Is Celsia the correct name for a high-tech company that does cooling solutions? Absolutely, since the technologists making the purchase decisions know the name honors a Swedish astronomer named Anders Celsius, whose adopted name identifies the metric system used by most countries.

• Is Zany Brainy the right name for an educational toy store in the mall? You betcha. Just ask the parents if they’d like their kids to have fun while they learn.

• Is Premio (the Italian word for “prize” or “reward”) a good name for the Italian sausage with real Italian taste? Just ask any supermarket shopper who’s looking for the “real thing” – the most authentic Italian brand. Premio stands out amid a cluster of general-purpose, heartland American brand names for sausage, like "Johnsonville" or "Jimmy Dean.".

When it comes to coining a new name, context matters.