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，
