Choosing a company name is one of the hardest things a business owner can do.

It’s your brand, your guiding principle, your axis mundi, your own name becomes synonymous with it and it’s a sense of great pride.

But please, when you choose a company name, think of the poor copywriter who has to market it for you.

Think of the marketing professionals whose job it is to make your company’s name shine in a crowded market.

Take a moment to think – will this help or hinder my marketing strategies?

Why does a name matter so much in marketing?

Now, here I won’t go into the legal or cultural considerations – you know what company names are inappropriate already and I’m sure you’re aware of copyright law.

But when it comes to marketing advice, I think business owners need to be aware of key elements of naming their company.

1. First impressions matter: Remember, a name sets the tone for the entire interaction between your brand and the consumer. If your company name leaves someone confused, grossed out or simply disinterested upon first glance, scrap it. Think of something that evokes an emotional reaction for someone just discovering your brand.
2. Be different: This kind of harkens back to #1, in so far as you need to be different. Naming a company after another brand or in such a way that you invoke thoughts of another company is obviously no good from a marketing perspective. For a copywriter, it’s hard to differentiate your business if the name is close to another company.
3. Try to foster emotional connection: So much of what we do as copywriters hinges on this issue. When you are picking a name, think of the emotional connection that might be associated with it. Coca-Cola is fun to say, which goes a long way to promoting the brand as fun. Patagonia invokes images of mountains and wilderness in the consumer’s mind. Nike is not just a shoe brand, she’s the Greek goddess of victory. And so on.
4.  Stay relevant: “The Smith Brothers & Co.” is a boring name and quite frankly sounds outdated and irrelevant. Make sure that your company name aligns with current trends (yet stays differentiated) in the zeitgeist. From a marketing perspective, this helps copywriters create a flowing backstory to your brand.
5. Keep it short: This is probably controversial but let me explain. There’s nothing worse, as a copywriter, than having to jam in a long-ass name within a block of text. Imagine if you were to read: “This product, from Aeronautical, Navigational and Technical Engineering Company Limited, is the best thing to happen in the aviation industry in 30 years…” – it’s boring! Having to read over that cumbersome name slows down the thought process and hinders the reader from getting to the really important information.

These are just a few tips that I’ve picked up as a copywriter – I am no means an expert on naming companies – but I do know a thing or two about copywriting.

If anything, it’s more of a PSA about planning ahead for your future marketing efforts, which I’m sure could apply to most elements of company structuring and set-up.

Either way… food for thought.

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