Business Names: Ideas for a Catchy Business Name

Read this article if you are looking for ideas for a catchy business name...
Planning to launch your own business? Well amidst all the hoopla of new brands and established business names, you will need ideas for a catchy business name. Business name is an essential aspect of the entire marketing and branding strategy. Well the launch of any business big or small, calls for a detailed preparation prior to the launch and the existence of a concrete marketing plan to promote the business. The marketing process often involves a plan to create a specific brand image or brand identity in the market. Using signature elements like the brand logo or a specific color scheme one can create a brand image, but in addition to that it is the brand name or the company name that needs to stand out.

Ideas for a Catchy Business Name

First of all you need to remember that there are no surefire ways to come up with a successful name. More importantly, the name will only be a success if your products and services score well on quality and your sales are soaring. There are many examples of companies with ordinary or even lousy names that are faring well in the market. Similarly there are instances of companies with unique and well-thought names, which are not successful or down in the dumps.

Ways to Come up with Catchy Business Name

Every company name has a unique thought process that goes into the making of the name. The company name is often the brainchild of the company owner or creator and can be any name that the creator finds interesting and thinks is appropriate for the company. Here are some of the ways that people have used to come up with their business name.

Unique Words:

There are several company names which are unique words that are not necessarily related directly to the business arena or the profession.

Common Examples: Adobe, Apple, Amazon.

Keywords:

Some business names make use of words which directly give an idea about the business.

Common Examples: Pizza hut, Burger King,

Owner's Name:

Several popular Businessmen have used their own name or in general any other names for their business.
Common Examples: Mercedes, Boeing, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Kawasaki, Kroger, Akai, Black and Decker, Tommy Hilfiger, Nestle

Acronyms:

Some business names make use of acronyms or short forms of one or several words.

Common Examples: BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), ESPN (Entertainment and Sports Programming Network), FCUK (French Connection United Kingdom.), FIAT (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino)

Compound Words:

Some people like to combine two related words to form a unique company name, which may not be necessarily a valid word.

Common Examples: Microsoft, Compaq, ebay, FedEx, Finnair, Hotmail, Intel,Manugistics , PetroBras, Qualcomm, Skype

Non-English Words:

Many business names have their origin in varied languages like Chinese, Spanish, Sanskrit and so on.

Common Examples: Daewoo ( Means ‘great universe’ in Korean), Eidos (means ‘species’ in Greek) Nike (Greek Goddess of Victory), Sanyo (Means ‘three oceans’ in Japanese), Sony (From the Latin word ‘sonus’ meaning sound), Volvo (Means ‘I roll’ in Latin), Volkswagen (Means people’s car in German)

Wrong Spellings:

There are some business names that are words which have been intentionally mis-spelled to make the names sound more interesting and catchy.
Common Examples: Flickerr, Google, Topix, Zooomr

In general a business name should be catchy, simple to spell and easy to pronounce. It is always good to keep things clean and simple. So if you are planning to launch yourself in the business world, make sure you use these catchy ideas for a business name.
   By Uttara Manohar
Published: 4/25/2008
 
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