Your brand is your handle. The handle that opens the door to your business, its products and services.

Creating a Literal Company Name

Today’s Tip

Best Practice: Literal company name comprises a word or a few keywords to help people quickly understand what you sell. Example: Toys”R”Us

 

Simple clear literal or descriptive name

Simple clear literal or descriptive name

Today’s Article:  Creating a Literal or Descriptive Company Name

Literal or descriptive company names comprise a word or a few keywords to help people quickly understand what you sell.

Pros: Makes it easy to understand what the company sells.
Cons: Many of these descriptive names have already been used. May be difficult to find a matching domain name that is trademark free.

Secondly, may limit future growth if the name does not allow for room for adding new products or services in the future.

Example: Initially, Midas started as Midas Muffler. The name implied they just sold mufflers. To expand their brand beyond just mufflers, the company changed their name by dropping the word muffler to just Midas. This allowed the company to promote their new brand: “We take care of everything — brakes, tires, oil changes — all your auto repair needs”.

Other examples of literal or descriptive company names:

ABC Supply                                           Advantage Oil & Gas
Air Products & Chemicals                  Air Transport Services Group
Allied Health Care Products             Analog Devices
Build-a-Bear Workshop                     Cancer Genetics
Cardiovascular Systems                     Cash America International
Children’s Place                                   Clean Diesel Technologies
Coffee Holding Company                   Commercial Metals Corporation
Community Health Systems              Container Store
Country Style Cooking Restaurant   Coupons.com
Document Security Systems              Family Inns
Female Health Company                    Freightcar America
Gas Natural                                           Grocers Supply
Guitar Center                                        Hobby Lobby Stores
Home Deport                                        Information Service Group
International Paper Company            Medical Transcription Billing
Men’s Warehouse                                 Natural Gas Services Group
Marine Products Company                 National Beverage Company
National Gas Services Group             National Steel Company
News Corporation                                New Home
Office Deport                                        Overstock.com
Rent-a-Center                                       Renewable Energy Group
Salesforce.com                                      Skilled Healthcare Group
Sportmans Warehouse                        Sprouts Farmers Market
Student Transportation                      Superior Drilling Products
Superior Energy Services                   The Chef’s Warehouse
The Cheesecake Factory                     The Medicines Company
Travelodge                                            United Rentals
Vitamin Shoppe                                   Waste Management
Whole Food Markets                          1-800 Flowers.com

Brand Name Filter
The brand name filter below will help you objectively evaluate how available and good a name is.

Number System: 0-poor, 1-fair, 2-good, 3-excellent.
___ Easy to Say and Pronounce
___ Easy to Remember
___ Easy to Spell
___ Name is Web-Ready: Exact Match Domain Name with no hyphen (Domain Search)
___ Trademark is Available (Trademark Search)
___ Available in Your State (Online check with your State Department of Incorporation)
___ Social Media Identity Availability (Example Facebook (B2C), LinkedIn (B2B), etc.)
___ Stands out from the Competition in a Favorable Way
___ Has no Negative Meanings (Example: when translated to a foreign market’s language)
___ Name Allows You to Add New Services or Products in the Future
___ Number of Points

Action Step: Make a list of words to create a literal company name that would help people quickly understand what you sell. Take the list of words and start combining them until you come up with 1-3 that you like. Next go to the name filter above to evaluate them.

Note: If you are having trouble coming up with a name that you like and is rated high by the brand filter, it may be time to look for an outside source to help you i.e. Ask the Expert

Recommendation: In a branding process, it is important to look at name possibilities in different name categories: Attribute, Legacy, Initials/Numbers, Word Combination, New Invented, Related, Alliteration or Rhyme and Inquiring. This helps you expand they way you look at your company, to find the best name to connect with your target market, that stands out from the competition and reflects your brand position.

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   Additional Resources

Return to Company Naming        Return to Brand Library      Return to Brand Yourself

 

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