Naming

Our approach to naming gives you the best choices.

The name of your company, product,or feature is one of the most enduring brand decisions you can make. Logos change. Campaigns change. Messaging and copy change. A name is one of the most lasting elements of your brand.

FOUNDATIONS

Understand the role a name needs to play.

Not all names work the same. Some names are meant to stand out on their own as heroes. Others have to work well within a portfolio where there are different jobs: essential, fortifying, and groundbreaking. Knowing the role your name needs to play is critical to success.

PROCESS

A great naming process includes three critical elements.

Naming strategy‍

Strategic names balance customer understanding with ownability.

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Great creative‍

These are names either have high relevance or that break through. Either way the creative must generate a distinct asset – one that’s ownable and memorable. Truly great names feel both utterly family and completely new at the same time, so balancing being clear and being evocative is a tightrope walk worth taking.

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Decision management‍

Naming is an emotional undertaking. Managing stakeholder input, expectations, and feedback is more critical to success than you might imagine and can’t be saved for the end.

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RESEARCH

Name research consulting

Doing naming research right matters. It’s not about asking people “which name do you like best?” or even “which name best fits the concept”? Naming research done the right way is for data gathering, not decision making. It’s to help you understand the strengths and weaknesses of a short list of finalists to help you in the decision-making process, alongside legal, linguistic, and strategic influences.

Great brand names need to work both on the emotional level and the logical level, or “System 1” and “System 2” thinking as psychologist Daniel Kahneman would define them. When research is too rationally based or comparative, we don't get real-world reactions, and we limit our possibilities.

We have a simple turnkey template for name testing, or can help consult on design with your internal or other preferred partners.

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NAMING

Brand and company naming

Four different ways to define the kind of name (legal, creative, etc.)

Already have a value proposition and stuck on how to name?
A namestorm can help.

Divergent thinking creates naming breakthroughs.

For high-visibility names, our approach allows for broad exploration followed by tight curation.

EXTENDED NAMING

Product and feature naming

Every name has a job to do. Names establish meaning, facilitate wayfinding for customers and unify offerings across a portfolio.

At Northbound we have a saying: “An effective name is 90% strategy.” Names are the first way your customers engage with your product, service, company, or feature. That’s why it’s so important to make sure the name lands the way you intend, and that you think through your names in context of your entire portfolio.

Generally, the further down an offering falls in a portfolio, the more descriptive, or possibly even generic, its name should be.

We also offer naming guidance and portfolio management as part of our Resonant Brand Strategy offerings [link].

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Final selling point/section

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We create brands across industries

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Financial services

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B2B

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Tech

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Entertainment & hospitality

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Consumer

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Start-ups

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Healthcare

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Not-for-profit

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Real estate

Our visual identity and user experience frameworks proved beneficial in aligning the engineering organization and generating excitement among customers, employees, and investors, fostering a multi-stakeholder framework for our brand.

Jim Alkove

Co-founder and CEO, Oleria

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every experience?

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