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My work associates and I have this thing going on about this great new supplier we found.  Every time we say the name of the company we say it a different way.  That’s because, for the life of us, we can’t remember how to say it right and what the name of the company actually is.

I mean we like this company.  We want to do business with them but they took the alphabet-soup approach to naming their business.  Someone found a combination of letters no one else was using and thought it sounded pretty cool.

Or, in my brother’s case, upon the birth of the organization the CEO decided to name it after some Greek mythology he was fond of.  A decent company with a great product in an explosive category but, for the life of me, I can’t remember the name of it and that prevents me from passing it on.

What a shame!  Because how you brand your business provides you with an incredible opportunity to turbo-charge your word-of-mouth and win fans and fame.

I was thinking of this recently when I went into the Beer Store.  That’s right…

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A decade or so ago, Brewer’s Retail, the retail outlet licensed by the government to sell beer here in Ontario, decided to re-brand itself.  They could have chosen lots of fancy and stupid names but they took the time, did the smart thing and named it after what it does in the words of their customer.  In making this seemingly small but important decision they gained a lot of marketing power by getting the affection of the beer-buying consumer at a time when deregulation threatened to take away their virtual monopoly.  It’s a great name and it wins them fans.

I actually think we’re in a renaissance of great naming lately.  Consider:
 

Each of these brand names says what it does for you.  In these viral times this has been a factor in their success because it allows their story to spread.

Even where the ‘spark gap’ is a little wider, such as in Google’s case where the name basically means a ‘whole lot’, it gives founders and fans the platform to spread the story of the brand’s purpose which is to organize the world’s information (as if you didn’t know).

Some would say, but Bob, all the good names are taken!  I’d say Dude, you’re not trying hard enough.  Because the answer is in the product.  It just takes talented folks to find it.

So, next time you’re naming your business or a new product, take a little time, think of the customer and name it after what it does.