Names Start Stories, Not Make Statements

The art of naming is about creating experiences, not just labels. David Plasik's approach to brand naming reveals that the most effective names create a feeling and initiate a story rather than simply describing what a product does.

The Strategic Value of a Great Name

• Your brand name will be used more often and for longer than any other element of your business
  • Design will change, messaging will change, products will change—but the name remains
  • This creates "cumulative advantage" as the bond between customers and brand strengthens over time
  • A distinctive name provides "asymmetric advantage" before you even launch

Why Traditional Naming Approaches Fail

• Most clients believe they'll "know it when they see it" but this almost never happens
• People naturally seek comfort and familiarity in names
  • They look for patterns that worked in the past
  • They avoid discomfort and polarization
• "There is no power in comfort" in the marketplace
• Descriptive names (like "Cloud Pro" or "InfoSeek") blend into the competitive landscape

The Lexicon Approach to Finding Winning Names

• Focus on behavior and experience, not words

  • Ask: "How do you behave now and how do you want to behave in the future?"
  • Consider how the marketplace behaves toward you and how you behave toward the marketplace
  • Think about the experience you want to create, not just what you do

• Look for polarization as a sign of strength

  • When a name creates tension or disagreement within a team, it often has energy
  • If your team is comfortable with the name, chances are you don't have the name yet
  • Example: Pentium created polarization at Intel, which Andy Grove recognized as positive

• Use linguistic principles to create distinctive sounds

  • Every letter has unique sound symbolism and evokes different feelings
  • V is the most alive and vibrant sound (Corvette, Viagra, Vercel)
  • B creates reliability (Blackberry)
  • Z and X are noisy and fast (Azure)
  • Aim for "processing fluency" - names that are easy for the brain to process

• Create names that start stories rather than make statements

  • A great name makes people think "they're not like the other guys"
  • It creates a predisposition to consider the product
  • It fires imagination rather than describing features

A DIY Naming Framework for Startups

1. Draw a diamond with four points:

   • Top: Win (How do we define winning?)
   • Right: What do we have to win? (Current assets/advantages)
   • Bottom: What do we need to win? (Resources, capabilities needed)
   • Left: What do we need to say to win? (Key messages)

2. Generate volume without judgment

   • Create 1,500+ name ideas and directions
   • Suspend evaluation during the creative phase
   • Look for what's different from the marketplace

3. Test reactions indirectly

   • Don't ask "What do you think of this name?"
   • Instead ask "What could this name do for us?"
   • Or try: "Our competitor just launched with the name X. What do you think?"

4. Look beyond your domain

   • Force synchronicity by exploring unrelated fields
   • Read magazines from different industries to find unexpected connections
   • Don't worry about getting the exact .com domain - it's become "just an area code"