Questions

I co-founded a consumer finance business earlier this year that helps US consumer decrease their debt burden using innovative payment solutions. We have been live in the market for about 5 months. We would like to choose a final name for the business that we can use going forward (we have been testing several names) and want to develop a proper strategy to do this. I would love to connect with folks who have significant experience in branding for B2C companies with traditional marketing focus (and emphasis on direct mail).

For the sake of brevity, I've got to ignore some of the nuances, so here's some high-level advice: you can go the descriptive route (e.g., Williams Automotive Repair Center), the evocative route (e.g., Lemonpie Automotive), or somewhere in between. Both routes have benefits and drawbacks. I'd avoid trendy naming conventions—for example, taking two words, sandwiching them together, and keeping the second capital (SureGo Automotive). Or intentional misspellings (Awesum Automotive). Or made-up words, which always end up sound like pharmaceuticals. Instead, pick a name that gives you a good story to tell when prospective customers ask, "Where did the name come from?" For example, say you were naming your new photography studio. You could call it "David White Photography" or "Brown Bird." One gives you a story to tell: "I take photos of common things like brown birds and help people see them in new ways." The other is predictable. Or you could name your company around the desirable outcome you produce for your customers. What's the opposite of stressing out about debt... celebrating financial freedom? Always having a budget surplus? Do some lateral thinking/brainstorming about things that represent freedom or a surplus. If you'd like some more outside perspective and a practical plan for moving forward and picking a great name that gives you room to grow into it, let me know.
Cheers, Austin


Answered 9 years ago

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