品牌命名的六个技巧

At some point in your career, you may face the daunting prospect of naming a company or product. The path to a trademarkable brand name is steep and treacherous. Curvy, too. Fortunately, help is here. The six tips below offer suggestions for what you shouldn’t—and most importantly—what you should do to get on the most direct path to a winning name.

在你事业发展的过程中，你可能会遇到为你的公司或者产品命名的困惑。获得一个靠谱的品牌名称的道路是曲折艰难的，而且充满不确定因素。幸运的是，你现在看到这篇文章。下面六个小窍门会给你提供建议-你需要做什么、或者不做什么才能够最直接地得到一个响亮的名字。

1. Wait until the very last minute

Naming is easy and takes almost no time at all. There’s no need for any up-front thinking about strategy, vision, positioning, or any of that nonsense. Companies that spend weeks and weeks screening trademarks waste their time and money, hapless victims of paranoia. And CEOs are far too busy to be bothered with the superficial exercise of selecting a name; best not to involve them at all. But if absolutely necessary, wait until the evening before launch and email the new name to the CEO for maximum impact.

The truth is, naming a company or product takes time, and omitting steps actually adds to the duration of a naming program. Establishing a strategy and naming objectives before name development will accelerate internal consensus. Take the time to agree on the points of differentiation, vision, and the long-term scope of services for the name—then you won’t outgrow it.

Trademark screening, which can take between one and four weeks, reduces the chance of finding yourself on the wrong end of a cease and desist letter. Put a lot of names—dozens—into trademark screening and expect most to be eliminated. Decision makers should be involved from the very beginning of an assignment to reduce surprises that can derail the process. No one reacts well to a list of names that are emailed, so present names to decision makers in person along with the strategic and marketing implications of each name.

1. 最后一刻才下决定

取名其实是一件容易的事情，而且一点都不浪费时间。我们没有必要去对策略，远景，定位和各种其他的东西做预想。那些连续花几个周的时间用于筛选商标的公司其实是在浪费他们自己的时间和金钱，这完全是患有偏执狂的深度患者。鉴于CEO会很忙所以建议最好不让他们搅和进挑选名字这件不太重要的事情中来。除非真的有必要，那么请等到最后一刻在通知CEO吧。

原因就是，为公司或者产品取名是一件很费时间的事情，而且一些不必要的环节常常被加进去这个取名的过程中。在取名之前先设定好策略和取名的目的，能够促进内部达成一致的想法。花点时间先统一意见，确定好发展的愿景以及长期服务的范围--接下来你就不会因为范围太宽而觉得无所适从了。

挑选商标，这可能会花掉1到4个礼拜的时间，请尽量避免在最后关头才发现你犯错了。在筛选商标的过程中，可以先放尽可能多的名字作为挑选，并且要有剔除掉大多数的心理准备。决策者应该在命名的一开始就加入进来，这有助于避免在取名过程中越走越偏。没有人能在邮件中从一列长长的名单里面挑选出牛掰的名字，所以请把每一个名字蕴含的策略以及市场含义亲自展示给决策者。

2. Be sure the new name is descriptive, begins with the letter A, and has absolutely no negative connotations

Without a name that literally describes your company or product, people will have no idea what your company or product does. The name must convey every feature and benefit you’ve ever had or will have. Alphabetical trade show and information directories will be the only way to reach your customers, so it’s vital that the name appears at the beginning of such lists. Research proves people will read a list of names up to the letter B, and then call it a day. Of course names with so much as a whiff of negativity fail mightily. It’s just dumb luck that Virgin, Banana Republic, and Caterpillar have succeeded. Silly names like Google don’t stand a chance.

Nothing is less important than the first letter of a name. The impact of a name’s meaning and its many associations far outweigh the letter it begins with. In addition, you needn’t rely on a name to bear the burden of all marketing communications. A name should command attention and set a company or a product apart. Advertising, copy points, PR, and context should convey the function of your company or product—not the name.

You also don’t need to over worry about negative connotations. Many names with overt negative associations have been successful. Customers correctly assume that if a company chose a particular name, there is a good reason for it. This “positivity principle”explains why a scandalous name (Virgin), a slur (Banana Republic), and a small, hairy larva (Caterpillar) are perceived positively. Google demonstrates that even a playful, silly name can dominate its industry and quickly become part of consumer vernacular.

2. 确保名字是描述性的，以A开头，而且完全没有任何负面的含义

如果名字不能把你的公司或者产品在字面上做很好的诠释，人们就会不知道你的公司是在做什么，产品是干嘛用的。名字需要能够传达你们的特色和优势。文字和信息目录是唯一能够传达到你的客户那里，所以最重要的是让你的名字能够在这样子的清单上置顶。研究表明人们会阅读名字的清单A的部分，并且接下来的一整天都能记得住。名字中有一点点的负面含义都可能会很悲剧，除了少量运气好的，向维京（处女），Banana Republic（中南美洲发展中国家）,卡特彼勒（毛毛虫）。听起来愚蠢的名字的谷歌上面是不会有出头天的。

开头的第一个字母其实一点都不重要，名字的含义和名字关联的其他东西比这个要重要得多。另外，你不需要依靠名字去做所有营销传播。名字只需要引起注意，然后能把你的公司、产品和其他的区分开来。至于传达你们公司专注的行业、产品的功能，那应该是广告，印刷品，

公关和文案要做的，不是名字。

你也不要过度担心名字中蕴含的负面含义。很多名字有很负面的含义也照样获得成功。客户会认为，你挑选这样子的名字是有很牛掰的原因的。这一“正面原理”也解释了为什么想些情色的（处女），穷逼的（中南美洲发展中国家），又小有多毛的恶心生物（毛毛虫）会被觉得是正面的光明的。谷歌也验证过，及时是听起来滑稽的、愚蠢的名字也是在它所在的行业中异军突起，迅速被用户记住。

3. Alternatively, develop names that have no meaning whatsoever

If the name can’t say absolutely everything, it’s best if the name says nothing at all. Meaningless words are unburdened by relevance and personal associations, thus freeing up millions of advertising dollars to tell people what your name means and why they should care.

With enough money and time, a meaningless word can be made meaningful. Kodak, Xerox, Nabisco. and Pentium all prove that it’s possible to build a powerful brand on a word whose definition is impossible to guess. But why choose an “empty vessel” name when there are immediately relevant, real-word alternatives? Empty vessel names are inherently unmemorable because they have no readily disce rnable meaning; it’s easier to remember a name if it’s also a familiar word. Yes, a flood of expensive advertising can reduce the friction caused by an unmemorable empty vessel. But a deeply meaningful real word commands attention, connects with people, and spreads by word-of-mouth more effectively and inexpensively than advertisements.

3. 要嘛你就取一个完全没有任何含义的名字

如果一个名字没有办法诠释任何事情的话，那么还不如要一个诠释不了任何事情的名字。不具任何含义的名字，可以让你从相关性联想中摆脱出来。这样子你就可以省下很大一笔广告费用去告诉人们你名字的含义是什么，他们应该关注什么。

如果有足够的时间和金钱，无含义的名字也能华丽转身，变成有含义的。Kodak, Xerox, Nabisco. 和Pentium都证明，在一个完全猜不出什么含义的名字的基础上，塑造一个强大的品牌的可能性。但是为什么要有其他选择的情况下（比方有“即可关联”或者确实存在的词），去挑一个被造出来的词？新造的词本质上是不容易被记住的，因为他们没有实际的意义。如果有相似的词那么这样的名字会好记住一些。是的，大量的广告也许能让一个新词更快为人们熟悉，但是一个有深刻含义的，“非创造”的词能更快更省地吸引注意，连结用户，更容易口头传播。

4. Invite the entire company to brainstorm over pizza

Since naming’s easy and requires no particular expertise or specialization in marketing, linguistics, or trademark law, it’s best to have as many people as possible participate in the process. A really big brainstorm—a “namestorm” if you will—with a lot of employees blurting whatever comes to

mind will result in a massive list of words, most of which will make a great name. Nothing gets the brain juices flowing faster than a stomach bursting with pizza. Let brainstormers engorge and watch their productivity shoot through the ceiling.

Great names rarely come from group brainstorming—and almost never if more than five people are in the room. Individual, heads-down thinking is the most fruitful way to create unique, breakthrough names. Start by inundating yourself in the project’s objectives, competition, and market situations. Then create names for 8–40 hours, divided between 3–4 sessions. Try to forget about the naming assignment between creative sessions. During this time, ideas will incubate in the back of your mind, and in due time the great “aha!” names may surprise you.

When done generating names, amass all of them into one long list. Select those that fit the objectives, command attention, and inspire ideas for marketing. Bring at least 20 names into your legal search, bearing in mind that those which ultimately survive is something of a crapshoot. To avoid crushing disappointment and to keep the project moving forward, don’t fall in love with any one name until after full trademark screening.

4. 买上Pizza，请全公司的人过来一起“头脑风暴”吧

取名并不要求你在营销、语言学或者商标法有专业背景，因此是件再简单不过的事情了，最好能让尽可能多的人参与进来。一场真正的大风暴-“名字风暴”（如果你愿意这么叫的话），许许多多的员工不经思索，随意将心里头的想法说出来，一张庞大的名字清单随即诞生，大多数名字能成为靠谱的名字。Pizza能让风暴变得更加猛烈，让参与的人能在撑爆胃的过程中，冲爆思维的极限，看到他们的产能有多么惊人！

好名字很少是小组头脑风暴的成果，如果是五个人以上的小组，那么这个可能性几乎为零。heads-down thinking能最多地想出独一无二的名字。让项目目标，竞争，市场行情将你淹没，然后花8到40个小时，通过3到4场会议来取名。尝试在会议上忘掉“命名是一件任务”这个事情，你会发现思如泉涌，一些“就是它了”的名字会让你感到惊喜的。

当完成了取名这个动作之后，将所有的名字都放进清单里。挑选出那些合乎目标，吸引眼球，能为营销发挥创意的名字。挑选至少20个作为你的二轮清单，请记住那些勉强被挑进来的都是有风险的。让这个过程顺利进行，不要让某些反对的观点拖慢了进度，不要钟情于某一个名字直到这场风暴结束。

5. Then have a contest

Nothing says this name is so very important to our future than opening the naming process up to everyone. Like anything vital to your company’s future (strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, etc.), the participation of all employees, from cleaning staff on up, guarantees success.

The desire to involve everyone in naming is understandable. It could conceivably foster a sense of

empowerment, equality, and democracy. But branding is not a democracy. It requires a sharply focused point of view that is difficult to achieve if a lot of people are weighing in. Creating a great name also requires expertise across many specialized areas (such as marketing, trademark law, PR). It’s true that great names like Yahoo! and Google have been created by founders or employees of companies. But the chances of this happening are pretty low. Most times, employee-submitted names are not very distinct and probably wouldn’t clear trademark screening. Some corporate activities, like naming and architecture, and mergers and acquisitions, are best left to specialists who have a much better shot at seeing a project through to success.

5.接下来开始进行辩论

从长远来看，让每个人参与到命名的过程中，跟最终的名称一样重要。像很多关系到公司未来的事情（比方说制定策略，兼并收购等等），企业员工同心协力，也是公司成功的保证。

让每个人参与到命名的过程中来是一件可以理解的事情，这有助于在过程中建立赋权、平等、民主。但是塑造品牌不是一场民主运动，如果这个过程有很多的人参与进来，那么就需要尖锐的观点，而显然这是很难达到的。取一个牛逼的名字也需要很多领域的专业知识（比如营销，商标法，公关）。诚然，像Yahoo！和Goggle这些有创始人或者员工取出来的名字都是都是好名字，但是这种事情发生的几率太低。大部分的时候，员工提供的名字都不够独特，因此没有办法通过筛选。一些企业活动，像是为建筑物命名，兼并收购，最好还是留给专业人士。

6. Have a focus group to pick the winner

As a rule, it’s smart to entrust strategic business decisions to someone who trades an hour of their time for $25 and a few handfuls of M&Ms. Research proves that a focus group is the best way to pick the winning name. The dynamics of a focus group, in which participants naturally compete for World’s Bigges t Brain and Most Piercing Wit, ensure that only the fittest names survive. Be sure to ask which name they like most and which will be most successful, because customers know a winner when they see it—oh yes they do.

Early on in a naming assignment, focus groups can be helpful for learning what’s important to customers. But focus groups are not a valid means of predicting what kinds of names will be successful in the real world. People are naturally averse to new names, especially when presented in the contrived context of a focus group. In this setting, groupthink often sets in. Rare is the focus group participant who will go out on a limb to disagree with everyone else. So, the group tends to favor names that are familiar and descriptive, the kinds of name s that are difficult to mock. But in the real world, on packaging, on letterheads, on trucks and uniforms, names that are different attract attention and engage audiences. They have validity conferred on them because a company chose that specific name, presumably for a good reason.

As an example, consider the excellent name BlackBerry. Its prototype name was PocketLink, the type of moniker that a focus group would embrace because it’s a safe, descriptive name that makes it resistant to ridicule. But Pocket Link would fail miserably in the real world because it’s a

one-dimensional name that doesn't command attention. It would get lost among all the other existing “pocket” and “link” names. BlackBerry’s success shows how an unexpected, undescriptive name can succeed, even among supposedly risk-averse business and government employees. So don’t expect a focus group to pick your winning name. Counsel with someone who has a lot of real-world naming experience.

Now that you know the six tips to creating a winning name, your success is almost secure. You’ll also require strength and discipline, as there may be detractors. Some might try to derail you by suggesting these steps will lead inexorably to a feeble, recessive, and ineffective brand name that requires millions of dollars to establish. To these doubters, respond with a laugh and a scoff: These winning tips were validated by a focus group.

6.成立专门小组，选出最后的赢家

通常来说，如果一个人一小时能赚25刀，那么将经营决策交由这些人将是明智的，记住给他们提供一点M&M巧克力。研究表明，最好的方式是成立专门小组来挑选名字。专门小组的驱动力，在于所有成员都会自发地竞争，确保最终能挑选出最合适的名字。请记得询问他们—哪个名字你最喜欢？那个名字最有可能成功？因为当消费者看到名字的时候就知道谁会成功--是的，他们能行！

在早期的命名任务中，专门小组找出什么对消费者来说是重要的，这个对后续工作很有帮助。但是专门小组并不能有效地预测什么名字才会取得成功。人们总是本能地拒绝新名字，特别是有专门小组对其人为加工过的。在此情形下，集体审议就被加入进来了。Rare是小组成员之一，他通常会孤军奋战，不同意任何人的想法。所以团队倾向于那些常见、具描述性的名字，但是这样子的名字通常很难仿制。但是在现实中，包装、印刷品、卡车和制服上，不寻常的名字能更容易赚人眼球。因为消费者能很快认同它，因为人们总是相信，这家公司挑选这么一个名字肯定有他的理由。

例如，黑莓这个牛逼的名字，原名是PocketLink。这个名字会受到专门小组的拥护，因为它安全，具备描述性，而且不会被嘲讽。但是PocketLink在现实中也许会惨败，因为这是一个单调的名字，很难引起注意。它很有可能会在众多带有“pocket”“link”的名字中被掩埋。黑莓的成果表明，一个出人意表，不具描述性的品牌也能获得成功，即使是那些倾向规避风险的人或者是严肃的公务员也能接受。所以不要期望专门小组能选出最牛逼的名字。去咨询那些在现实生活中，有很多命名经验的人士吧！

现在你知道六个窍门来取一个牛逼的名字，你离成功又近了一步了。你同时还需要力量和戒律，有可能还需要反对者。有些人可能会说，这些窍门有可能会造就一个像坨shi一样的名字，你将为此花费巨额的费用来塑造形象。对于这些怀疑论者，请报以大笑和嘲讽，并告诉他们：这些助人成功的小窍门是经过专门小组验证过的！