How To Come Up With Love-At-First Sight Brand Names (+ The Rookie Mistakes To Avoid)

What It Covers

Alexandra Watkins, naming expert and author of Hello My Name is Awesome, reveals her SMILE and SCRATCH framework for creating memorable brand names, explaining why focus groups kill great names and how to avoid common naming mistakes.

Key Questions Answered

• •The SCRATCH test eliminates bad names: Avoid Spelling challenges (misspellings like Tumblr), Copycat names (Pinkberry imitators), Restrictive names (Diapers.com now sells more than diapers), Annoying names (Toys R Us grammar), Tame wallflower names, Hard-to-pronounce names, and Curse of knowledge insider jargon that excludes customers.
• •Creative brief before brainstorming: Complete a detailed brief defining target audience, desired brand experience, and acid test sentences before generating names. Wendy's Baconator brief specified truck drivers needed to feel comfortable ordering it, which guided the masculine, confident naming direction that succeeded.
• •Feed your brain systematically: Pull descriptive words from your brief, then explore thesauruses, rhyming dictionaries, Google Images, and metaphorical connections. For frozen yogurt SpoonMe, researching cold led to Siberia, Below30 (calories), and other temperature-related concepts through systematic exploration rather than random brainstorming.
• •Skip focus group testing entirely: When asked for opinions on names, people hear what don't you like and invite criticism through negativity bias. Names like Coach (airline seating), Body Shop (auto repair), and Mac (Big Macs) would have been killed by committees despite becoming successful luxury brands.