How to name your business in the digital age?
Before we answer that question, let’s explore some fundamental. What’s in a name? For starters, “naming” goes back to Biblical times when God brought the animals to Adam to name the animals. Gen 2:19. Some Biblical commentators posit that having the man name the animals is another way of giving him responsibility to rule, subdue, and care for the animals. It is more than folklore to name something, someone. It is a significant and important milestone. Even more so today with the advent of the Internet, which brings about domain names among other things.
As for the name of your business, it identifies the source of the goods and/or services you provide. It is better to choose a name that is arbitrary with no direct relation to the associated goods or services. A name can become distinctive over time thereby becoming a tremendous asset. For example, a google search of RadioShack would reveal that “in May 2015, General Wireless Inc., an affiliate of Standard General, bought the company’s assets, including the RadioShack brand name and related intellectual property, for US$26.2 million.” Thus, it pays to invest the necessary time and intellectual resources to mastermind, conceive and invent a name for your business. Ask yourself: what does Apple have to do with computers? But now Apple has acquired considerable “good will” and is famous. What does Xerox have to do with copying? I can go on and on. If an arbitrary name is unattainable or not desired, then the next best thing is to choose a name that is suggestive of the goods or service being provided.
Traditionally, naming an enterprise was always a difficult endeavor. It is even more difficult now. Sorry, life does not get easier. It has now taken a new dimension with the advent of the Internet. In fact, today people talk about industry 4.0 dubbed the new digital revolution, which ushers a new paradigm in the information age.
The reason is because you now have domain name added to the mix. In this day and age, you have your business name registered with one of the States, you also have a domain name for your website and trademark ideally with the federal government. Consequently, the best scenario is to have one name for the business as well as the domain name and the trademark. Why? Because your brand would be that much stronger if people don’t have to scramble to recognize, remember and recall your brand.
It is difficult to achieve though because the fact that from 2003 to 2019 a total of 893,760 trademarks were registered by U.S. companies and non-US residents whereas the first quarter of 2020 closed with 366.8 million domain name registrations. Domain name registrations have grown by 14.9 million, or 4.2 percent, year over year. But, the smart business person should want one name that resonates throughout. Example, Facebook, Uber, Lyft, Airbnb. You do not want one name for your business another name for your domain name and yet another name for your trademark.
It is not easy to achieve this feat, that’s why we designed an algorithm using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accomplish the task.
We are here to help, contact us with your naming issues.