The Naming Experts: Over 30 Years of Brand-Building Success

​​On this throwback episode, NameStormers co-founder Mike Carr revisits a 1990s CNN spot to show that naming basics haven’t changed: set clear, business-specific goals; back choices with research and testing (including foreign-language checks); avoid personal names that limit trademarks and growth; and turn plain descriptors into distinctive, suggestive marks.

Chapters

• 0:00 Intro: A Throwback to the Early Days of Naming
• 1:13 CNN Opens the Conversation on Business Naming
• 2:04 How to Start: Define Your Naming Goals
• 2:51 The Role of Market Research in Naming
• 3:23 Avoiding Cross-Cultural Naming Mistakes
• 4:30 Caller: Should I Use My Own Name?
• 5:57 Caller: How to Trademark a Descriptive Name
• 7:01 Outro: Why These Lessons Still Matter Today

Transcript

Ashley Elliott (00:05):

Hello and welcome back to naming in the AI Age. This week we have a special treat. We have a throwback Thursday, if you will, and we're taking it way back to the early nineties with an interview that Mike Carr, our co-founder did with CNN 30 years ago. I mean, just to show that we've been in this and naming longer than just about anybody that's still doing it today. What's crazy though is some of the exact same questions that Mike answered in the interview we're still answering today. How do you pick a name that sticks? How do you navigate global meanings and trademarks and should you use your own name? Really all the fundamentals are still relevant, but how we have answered them have evolved over the times. So at NameStormers, we really kind of have the best of both worlds. We have the veteran co-founders, Mike and Kay, who've been doing this for decades and work on naming strategies and architecture, and then we have a team of modern creatives and consultants that really are up and sharp and fresh and future focused. So take a lean in blast some eighties, nineties music and hear how naming was being talked about long before brands went viral, and definitely way before social media handles mattered. Hope you enjoy.

(01:13):

What can we help you? Save Enron

Ted David (01:25):

And welcome to Minding Your Business, picking the right name for your business. Often one of the great secrets of Success. As a matter of fact, a small company's name is often a built-in marketing tool. Joining us with more now, Mike Carr, director of the NameStormers, based in Austin, Texas. Over the last 10 years, his firm has chosen hundreds of names for firms and organizations, products and services. I love that NameStormers. Obviously you practice what you preach. Welcome. Thank you. Good morning. Where do you start when you have a business? I mean, we've all too often heard either names that have nothing to do with the business and you haven't got a clue as to what these folks do or names that are so cutesy that they're really almost too saccharine. Where do you start?

Mike Carr (02:04):

You really need to set out and identify your goals and objectives. What are all the things you want the name to do for you? And it depends largely on the kind of business you are. If you're a plumber or a local service shop, you may want to name that gets listed first in the Yellow Pages, so you may actually go with a name that begins with a letter a for instance. Whereas if you are selling a consumer product, a salsa, an apparel product, you may want to name that elicits a trial that is, that's intriguing or compelling enough to get the customer to pick up a package off the shelf and try it so they're enticing is a key goal that you're after. Whereas if you're a bank, you could care less about enticing customers. You may want to name that conveys solidity, security, safety, or a computer company, a name that conveys power or speed or reliability. It really depends on the kind of company you are, but first and foremost, identify all those things you want that name to do for you.

Ted David (02:51):

Does it pay to do market research, focus groups and that kind of thing?

Mike Carr (02:55):

We think it does. If you feel you're not in touch with what your customers need and if that's your key target, it's often useful to go out there and test some names with them once you have a handful of choices and make sure that they aren't confused with anything else that's already out there. For instance, if customers come back to you and say, Hey, I think Olympic Visions is a health club, when in fact you're in the optometry business, you've got a problem and you don't want to use something that's confused with the competitor or the customers don't understand, can't remember, can't spell.

Ted David (03:23):

I always remember the story about Chevy having a problem selling the Nova Chevy Nova in Latin American countries because in Spanish Nova means doesn't go. That's right. How do you make sure that your name does? I also know is a story about race horses where the name of a racehorse in print can often be obscene. When read aloud, and I won't elaborate any further, but now the racing authorities always make you read the name of the horse aloud to make sure you don't have that problem. How do you make sure that names aren't going to be offensive, ethnically that they aren't going to be a double entendres and so on?

Mike Carr (03:53):

There's several ways to do that. There are books out dictionaries of obscenities you can purchase that will give you the most obvious profane meanings in a number of different languages. The easiest way is if you know someone that speaks that language fluently, either in your community that teaches linguistics or language at the local community college, give 'em a call up. Run the name by if you're concerned about what it means in Spanish or German or some other language, you can often find someone that speaks that language at a local college and that will very quickly give you an opinion. The best of course, though, is to talk to someone that recently has lived in that country. If you're fortunate enough to have sales reps in other countries, give 'em a call and run the names by them before you make your

Ted David (04:30):

Choice. Amy and Texas, good morning. You're a first caller. Hello? Go ahead, Amy.

Amy (04:35):

My question is, the name of my business is going to be a little limited, but my question Mike was I am a financial consultant previously with a major wirehouse and now have gone independent. And my options are to either call myself my name, my individual name, or to call myself the independent contractor as my employer. And I don't think I want to call myself the name. I don't think the name of my company should be my independent contractor. I really think it should be my personal name, but I just kind of want to know from a professional standpoint what you thought.

Mike Carr (05:07):

The problem with personal names is as you grow over time, that name may be too limiting. That is when you first start out, it's great because your name's on the letterhead and your customers know they're talking to quote the owner or the principal. But over time, as you bring more people into your firm, you may want to disengage somewhat from the business. And if your name's on that letterhead and on your company signage, it may be difficult to do that. Also, using your own name is often difficult to protect because there are other people out there, Amy, probably with the same name you have, they can probably use the name in their businesses too, so you can't prevent them from having the same name since their name is the same as yours on their letterhead. And if they do something that causes some bad press, that bad press may come on over and impact you. Alright. What I would suggest is pick out the characteristic you want to convey to your customers personal service, knowledgeable advice, and try to come up with some names that suggest that.

Ted David (05:57):

Let's get Renee in New York on. Go ahead, Renee.

Renee (05:59):

Hi, thanks for taking my call. I manufacture a very specialized garment, which the name of it is two normally used words, which I've combined into one word, and my lawyer told me that because it's so simple and descriptive, I wouldn't be able to get a trademark for it. But since it describes exactly what the product is, I really would like to keep it. So my question is, what can I do to increase the likelihood of getting it trademarked? How can I improve

Ted David (06:27):

All? We got to get a quick answer. Trademark service mark, copyright, what do you go for?

Mike Carr (06:31):

Well, in that particular case, what I would do is I would change a couple of the letters like add an eight to the end of the name or put a short prefix in front of it to change it from a real word or two real syllables combined together to something that's a little more fanciful. It can still be suggestive. It might not be quite as descriptive, but by adding a couple letters at the beginning, you'll make it more unique and you'll have a lot better shot at registering it with the trademark office.

Ted David (06:53):

Pleasure to have you, Mike. Thanks for joining us. You

Mike Carr (06:55):

Bet.

Ted David (06:55):

Mike Carr, director of the NameStormers in Austin, Texas. Join us again tomorrow with this time when we'll answer your questions.

Ashley Elliott (07:01):

Alright, well, there you have it. Mike Carr, co-founder of NameStormers, dropping some knowledge on CNN 30 years ago, and those answers in that advice really is still relevant today. I mean, naming has changed for sure. There are new platforms. There are tighter legal landscapes evolving brand behaviors, but the core questions are really still the same, and that's why NameStormers is still here. We blend the decades of expertise and experience with Next Gen creativity, and we want to help companies, whether it be startups, fortune five, hundreds, to really build brands with names. That last, thanks for listening to this special throwback edition of Naming in an AI Age. And until next time, keep storming.