19 January 2010

By Ken Schmaltz, Marketing Director, Twist Marketing

So, you’ve decided to rename your company…or perhaps you are naming a new company. Now comes the hard part—picking it.

In part 1 of this article, we said your company name should include everything about your company, its brand and its business. However, there is one thing it shouldn’t include—ego.

When selecting a new name, the biggest challenge for some execs is keeping in mind that this is not about them. Just because they love a particular name does not mean it’s a good name. In order to make the best decision for the company and its shareholders, they need to check their ego at the door.

If you are renaming your company, getting buy-in from employees is crucial to the success of a new name. Employees need to be part of the process to ensure they understand why the name is changing and feel the connection to it that’s necessary to convincingly champion the new name. Lack of buy-in can manifest into problems far beyond the marketing and sales groups, from HR to operations, and customer service to finance.

When it comes to selecting your new name, there are as many strategies as there are naming and branding consultants. However, at the core of almost every strategy are 4 basic steps: identify what you want to accomplish and the general parameters for the type of name you want, research and brainstorm ideas, test the ideas, shortlist and test again.

The different types of names you can choose from deserve their own article, so we’ll address those in part 3 of this article. Research and brainstorming are self explanatory once you’ve decided on the type of name that will best serve your objectives. Are there other companies in your market with the same or similar names to the ones you’ve brainstormed? If so, keep brainstorming.

The next step is to test the keepers from your brainstorming sessions. Typically this is a two part process that involves preliminary internal tests and then final external tests of your short listed names. Internal testing is where you put all the first round names through various tests to see if they can actually stand up under scrutiny. Identify the weakness of each. Is it misleading? Could it be easily misunderstood? Misspelled? Are there negative connotations? Will it grow along with your company, or will calling yourself “ACME Widgets” become an obstacle to your goal of expanding your product line to include do-hickies? An objective third-party can prove invaluable at this stage, because he/she can look past the inherent bias and assumptions that employees bring to the table, as well as not having to worry about personalities and sacred cows.

Short list testing is just that—testing the final few names to see which resonate best with your various internal and external stakeholder groups. Depending on the type and size of your company, testing can include internal workshops and focus groups with current customers or target clients.

In part 3 of this article series, we’ll talk about the different types of company names, and the pros and cons of each.

The Twist: Leave your ego at the door and ask others what they think: employees, customers, investors, etc. Above all, engage your employees in the process so they understand why and what you’re doing, buy in to the process, and champion the new name.