Brand Development & Company Naming
Below you’ll find 20 questions to help you in the brand development and naming of your company. Best of all, the Custom Company Naming Questionnaire has been designed to give you an idea of the kinds of questions that we, or any other custom naming service may ask, anyone who engages their service.
While these questions have been taken out of our own collaborative Custom Company Naming Service questionnaire, they are by no means every question we do ask nor as deep as we would delve into your business or product to come up with the perfect name.
While the questions below are just a sample, you’ll see that they have been designed to get to the personality and “soul” of your company and they help us develop a business or product name that will clearly differentiate your business from your competitors and stand out within your industry.
These are the type of questions you will and should be asked by any company which you employ to name your product or business. For the best company names you’ll need to look inside to your core strategy, and key attributes for the best stand out names.
All of information that you provide to our company, is kept completely confidential and would not be used for any purpose beyond the scope of this project or disclosed to any party outside of the Brandings® organization. If you choose another company make sure that they do exactly the same.
Check out the company naming questions below and please contact the Custom Company Naming Team if you have any questions about collaborative company naming, or if you would like to learn more about our our three different Custom Company Naming services.
What a Brand Development Questionnaire Looks like:
20 Questions a Brand Development Company Will Ask You
1. Describe your business concept to someone who has no knowledge of your company:
2. Explain the need being addressed by your business:
3. Tell us about your target market — gender, age, geography, and other demographic characteristics: (Who are you selling too or who is this product for?)
4. Identify 10 or more words that you would like to communicate to your consumer about your company:
5. If your company was a person, how would you describe its personality?
6. In 10 to 20 words describe the features and attributes of your products or services?
7. Write down the name of your primary competitors: (if you’re naming your own business, consider whether you should have a name similar to theirs or if you should deliberately stand apart)
8. How is your business different from your competitors? (Consider incorporating your key differences into your company name.)
9. Are there business name ideas that you’ve already considered and dismissed? If so, why?
10. What names have you seen that you like or catch your eye? (Don’t worry these selections don’t have to be related to your business.)
11. Feel free to review names in our online catalog at www.brandings.com. Which names do you like? (These selections do not have to be related to your business.)
12. Are there any words or phrases that MUST BE included in your name?
13. Do you have any words or phrases that you MIGHT LIKE included in your name?
14. Are there any words or phrases that you DO NOT want to see included in your name?
15. Is there a geographic location (street, city, state, country or region) that would like us to consider incorporating in a name? (examples: Texas, Mumbai, Northeast, Canada, Outback, Pacific, West End, Elm Street, Southeast Asia, Midtown, Central London)
16. Personality and character attributes. Following are brand personality attributes presented on a spectrum. For each attribute, place an X on (or above) the circle that best captures the personality of your company or product/services:
A. Clever o o o o o o o Straightforward
B. Modest o o o o o o o Flashy
C. Classic o o o o o o o Edgy
D. Economy o o o o o o o Luxury
E. Feminine o o o o o o o Masculine
F. Global o o o o o o o Local
G. Formal o o o o o o o Casual
H. Simple o o o o o o o Complex
I. Whimsical o o o o o o o Serious
J. Modern o o o o o o o Traditional
K. Extravagant o o o o o o o Necessity
L. Emotional o o o o o o o Logical
M. Urban o o o o o o o Country
N. Innovative o o o o o o o Conventional
O. Personal o o o o o o o Automated
P. Broad Appeal o o o o o o o Targeted Appeal
Consider Descriptors in Your Name
17. Would you consider names where the domain name includes additional descriptors? [Examples: SunValley (company name) SunValleyRealty (domain name), Logetics (company name) LogeticsSoftware (domainname)]
[ ] Yes [ ] No If yes, what additional word(s) would you like the domain name to include?
18. On a scale from 1 (low) to 7 (high), consider what type of names you would like us to develop:
A. Invented. Invented names are made-up names that have been “brainstormed” or “created.” These names are unique, distinctive and highly brandable. Examples include, Google, Mindstir, Avoxx, Hulu
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 High
B. Evocative. These names elicit or draw forth a positive association. Evocative names are short and meaningful and call up a good feeling. Examples include, Boldion, Intellia, Smartetics, Qualcom
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 High
C. Descriptive/Connotative. Descriptive/Connotative names express the key features or attributes of your company, products or services. Examples include, BestSolar, DrugValues, QualityCarpets, MedSource
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 High
19. What are the values that you would like your brand to communicate about your company?
20. Explain your brand development plans for the next year, five years and ten years.
Consider all of these 20 questions to develop a custom company name. We’ve found that actually writing down your answers has helped many of our past clients. Simply looking at your answers may make you consider the type of company or product name in a new light and may make you consider some of your company name ideas again.
Please let the Brandings Custom Company Naming Team know if you have any other questions or if you would like to have us name your company.
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