Creating Unicorns: Let's start with naming!

One of the things I like to ask my clients is "Where did the name of your company come from?" Most of them tell me: My daughter's name, a word that I saw in a newspaper that I liked the way it sound, once I even got someone who said that it was the name of a deceased pet 🙀 (I wondered how Cute-Ol’-Beagle Sammie might have felt in his grave when a bunch of people repeated his name everyday 😱).

Sometimes we name things and forget the power of words and the powerful meanings behind them. They also, like our employees, give energy to the establishments we create.

One of my first companies was named Anastasia, as it translated from the Greek "the power to resurrect". My company worked with scraps of fabrics and gave them a second life, therefore, its meaning gave our employees a purpose and led them to follow the essence while inspired. "How can we bring this material to life for a second time?" Was always our question when trying to recycle new materials.

If you're wondering, water you thinking with C'est Moi? Well gull friend, our journey with this company has been much more personal, as it literally translates from french "It's Me" and my name "Mar" means "Sea" in spanish, we wanted to create a sea related brand (also taking into account we live by the sea and we love it 🌊).

These are just examples of the importance of naming and coherence for a brand.

A couple of years ago, Nissan released the Nissan Moco, a model that was intended for the Latin American market, as it was small and fuel-effective. Unfortunately, this model was a failure, due to its name in spanish that translated “Nissan Booger-mucus”. Still to this day, this model is not sold in any Spanish speaking country including Spain or Latin America.

There’s other examples of names for car models that have been embarrassing and humiliating for its companies to say the least: Chevrolet Nova (in Spanish: meaning “It Doesn’t Go’) or Opel Ascona (in Spain and Portugal: means ‘female genitalia’). 😅

I wonder sometimes, if a corporation like Tesla, would have become the establishment it is today if it had been called Gus in its early days? 🙈

So, here is my advice, when creating a naming for your newly formed company or product line:

-Take into account the communication tone of your company: Formal tone, serious, informal, respectful, assertive, or optimistic, motivating, humorous, conversational… Ohh buoy you name it!

-Step 2, check name meanings and study if they are aligned with what you wish to communicate as a brand (Example: Ace, comes from Latin meaning “One, Unity”. In the US that's the name of a popular hardware store where people can find anything they need regarding hardware products. An example of an informal tone company naming is Whatsapp, a fun pun from What’s Up, an easy going way of asking “How are you doing?”).

-Chose a couple of names, and inspect how that name makes you feel. Does it make you feel joy or happiness? Does it bring good memories? What type of story can you tell from that name?. If what you get from your introspection is a positive feeling overall, go to the next step.

-Write a list and inspect if your favorite names are available for legal use in your country in your business category.

-If you’re releasing a product for a client that speaks a different language, check possible misunderstandings with the local slang. If you’re releasing in your country of origin, check with others, friends and family, if there's any danger of undesired puns at your corporation's expense.

My invitation to you makers, creators, manufacturers, builders, constructors, producers, inventors, is to create names that have a purpose, that between its syllables fires light within them and inspires others to burn bright like the sun on a hot summer day. ☀️

Let's create companies that become unicorns 🦄 and let's start with a fin-tastic sun of a beach name 😎

Sea you later!

Mar.