Why It’s Hard to Name Things
I’m sure I’m not the first person to say, “Naming things is hard.” If naming was easy, firms wouldn’t charge exorbitant fees to deliver names. How much do you think Interbrand made off with before delivering the name Bing and saying, good luck with that, Microsoft?
Why should naming be hard? Why can’t you look at a new video chat service and say, “Ah yes, let’s call it Sky Peer-to-Peer … er … Skype! Done. Bring me my millions.”
Here are my theories:
1. From a semiotic point of view
All words are mostly arbitrary. Some have onomatopoeic qualities. Some family terms reflect babies’ first sounds. But for the most part, they have little to do with what they describe, simply getting glued on at some point in time. What makes them stick is their cultural context and collective use. Picture the name Skype before we saw its logo, it’s ability to keep long-distance relationships steamy, etc. It was just a silly word, and most of these silly words don’t mean much until the brand itself gains prestige. If the brand fails to gain positive associations – hi, Bing – the name is doomed from the start.
It’s easier for me to name something when I can see the packaging or website it will go on, because almost any name looks a lot less meaningless when attached to good design.
2. From a communication point of view
People tend to want names to broadcast a lot. Most naming assignments will include more elements to get across than words you’re allowed to use. “Ok, in two words, we need to communicate kid-friendly, educational, progressive, fun and technologically-friendly.” This isn’t impossible. You can come up with a metaphor or sound association that feels right according to those parameters, but it’s going to take time. Why? Mostly because you need to blow through all the possible names that literally telegraph those qualities, which you go down endless alleyways of Thesaurus entries and word lists to develop. You need to get all the ABC’s of Computers for Tots out of your system before you end up with Leap Frog. But like I said in number one, Leap Frog isn’t going to make a whole lot of sense at first. Names need to grow into their brand before they work. It’s a leap of faith, in some sense. As you can see from this chart I made back in the day, having a less concrete, less telegraphic name isn’t a boon to success. You have to give customers credit that they’ll figure out what your product is some other way.
Naming has some mystical connotations. Who named all the animals? Who named them in thousands of different languages? It’s a hard thing to do, and the best you can do is come up with your own ritual for getting your brain going. For me, I have to start by getting all the boring technical ideas out of my head, as well as the ridiculous, silly and inappropriate ones. By then, I’ve scanned the associations from every angle, gotten myself relaxed, and finally I can start to get somewhere.