Just like a brand or company name, entrepreneurs must take great care when choosing the names of their offerings.
Product names are very important for the brand in the long term, similar to high-quality product photos, an essential element for ecommerce sites: precise keywords for SEO on sites like Google, response to a problem encountered by the target audience, solid positioning in your sector of activity, unique name to inform the potential customer about new product and service features... The items in your catalog and on your website need to have distinctive names to help users discover your brand.
How can you come up with original names for your products, and what are the advantages of using unique names for your catalog? It's up to you to fill your product categories with references that reflect your brand!
What is a good product-naming strategy? 3 Techniques
There are several techniques for finding a product name in just a few minutes. This work can be done in a preparatory way to eventually come up with ideas and move on to a more elaborate original product name or simply to allow you to quickly and effortlessly come up with the right product name. Be careful to check the availability of the name once you've made your final decision.
Try free product name generators
On the internet, you can find product name generators that can aid you in your quest for a product name when you wish to start an online boutique. Often, all you have to do is add one or more words representative of your brand or product, and these sites' artificial intelligence will generate several ideas around your concepts, free of charge.
This is going to enable you to begin listing possible names for your catalog offerings and draw inspiration from possible names to create your own concepts.
Sites such as Ahrefs or Business Name Generator offer tools that can help you build up your catalog with examples of product names.
Brainstorm with friends and family
Perhaps you've already come up with some ideas for naming your new product, which is soon going to be available for sale on the internet. But you'd like to hear from potential customers and the people who know you best: what better way than to organize a brainstorming session with friends and family to ensure you determine the ideal name for your next product and boost your chances of ecommerce success?
As part of this process, invite friends and family who match the profile of your ideal buyer. This will give you an opinion from people who could potentially buy what you offer for sale. Come with your list of concept ideas in hand, and explain your intentions to your friends and family so that they can understand your approach, get a better idea of the future product, and therefore assist you in the best possible way.
Often, when we're working on a project, it's hard to stand back and see things clearly. This also applies to choosing a domain name for your site, for instance.
Presenting your project to those close to you is going to enable you to better understand external expectations, while preserving your own brand identity and DNA.
Use a specialized company
Sometimes, the stakes are too high to leave the creation of a product name to chance. Fortunately, some professionals and agencies have made this type of activity their specialty. To determine the ideal name for your new products, you can outsource this step to a communications or marketing agency. Note however, that this can come at a considerable cost.
You can seek advice from these companies or visit their websites to see what kind of goods they've launched in the past. In addition, by researching the market for items similar to your own, you'll be able to see the names given by entrepreneurs and draw inspiration from this professional competition to launch your own product.
How do you choose a catchy, commercial name for something?
Make a list of brand name ideas you like
To start the process of finding the perfect product name, let your imagination run wild and begin by listing names you like. Whether it's the competition or just a figment of your imagination, make a note of all the ideas you've come up with during the creative process to build up your database for choosing the final name.
It's also a great way of stimulating your creativity and making it easier to come up with probable concepts. Think about devoting half a day or even an entire day to this activity, focusing on the product, the target customer, and your brand DNA to guide you in creating this compilation. There won't be any bad ideas in this process: write down absolutely every concept that comes to mind that you like on the internet or social networks.
Think "product description"
When choosing a product name, it's important to keep in mind that the name of the item must have a descriptive aspect, so that people can easily imagine themselves using the product, therefore helping you to get customers for your ecommerce business. With the exception of item names that only serve as product references in the catalog, as in the case of a fashion and accessories brand, the product name will often enable the customer to better understand the main aspects of the reference.
We see this a lot in the world of beauty and cosmetics: products tend to carry a name that'll describe the main action and purpose of use. This can be beneficial if you're selling items with complex compositions or a very specific purpose, such as a rejuvenating cream, a precise home fragrance, or a unique DIY tool.
Put yourself in the customer's shoes: do you understand the product's usefulness just by seeing its name? Would it make you want to buy it?
Keep it short and punchy
Depending on the brand and the type of product you want to launch, it's often beneficial to think of a short, punchy name. Why? Because it's easier to remember and easier to locate in the store.
Giving the items you have for sale a short, punchy name can help consumers remember the item number when they go shopping. This is also true on the internet: a short, memorable product name is going to be more easily searched on search engines than a long, complex title. This advice is valid for all types of products sold, from the most luxurious to the most accessible.
Think "easy to write"
Just like the short, easy-to-remember aspect mentioned above, ease of writing is also a criterion that'll make it easier for your product to be remembered by consumers.
The aim of making the product name easy to write is manifold: to encourage consumers to search for it easily online, for salespeople who are likely to carry your product to make it an easy reference for their point of sale, and also for search engines, which will be able to index the product's pages more quickly on the chosen term. The goal is to make your product easily accessible in a simple and practical way.
Playfulness and/or humor
Depending on your product style and brand positioning, you can consider using a playful or even humorous product name.
If your product is aimed at a young audience or even children, this tip is even more relevant. If your product is itself a playful accessory or has bright colors and an entertaining use, then giving it a quirky or humorous name will lend itself to this.
Other brands use this type of product name, even if their positioning is more upmarket: this is particularly true of certain cosmetics ranges, which tell an entertaining story about a quality product. The brand Benefit, for instance, is accustomed to playing on this type of register to name its product ranges, which feature ultra-original packaging.
Dare to invent a name
Sometimes product names have no real meaning, or they're simply words invented by the entrepreneur. This concept can also be the subject of invention but using existing words to create catchwords.
This type of example is widespread in all fields. An invented word will be all the more relevant if it has a consonance or includes terms that are close to the product or service being sold.
Like the name Blablacar, for instance, the concept of the service is linked to carpooling, i.e., the possibility of meeting other motorists and sharing a moment during a car journey.
Try an acronym
Acronyms are the use of initials alone to form a name. Depending on the type of brand and goods you want to sell, this may be a good idea. Be careful to create an acronym that users are going to remember.
For example, the name ABBA is an acronym for the names of the musicians in the band. In this case, the acronym creates a separate word that's easy to say and write. If the acronym has to be a set of vowels or consonants, then it's best to find another name to be sure of creating a commercial title.
Rely on metaphor
Sometimes, certain names come from a distant metaphor that helps create the storytelling around the product. To find this type of name, you sometimes have to look for a distant meaning.
This is the case with the Nike brand name, which derives from the Greek goddess Nike, the goddess of victory, capable of moving at very high speed. In this way, the Nike sports equipment brand takes its meaning from a very distant metaphor, from the history of ancient Greece and mythology, to ultimately present items that are accessible and sold on a very large scale.
How do you find a luxurious and attractive name?
List examples of products on the market
If you're launching a product in the luxury sector, it's best to start by doing some market research and looking at competing goods. Once you've compiled a list, simply compare the items you feel match your brand's identity and your buyer persona.
Following this analysis, you can determine what kind of name you want to give your product and how descriptive or non-descriptive it should be. In the case of a luxury brand, the key is to use terms that will appeal to your target customer's buying habits. They are the key to your analysis.
Think about elegant names
In the luxury sector, brand names and products are often derived from existing first and last names. Just as the Hermès "Birkin" bag, for instance, was named after Jane Birkin, it's sometimes just a matter of finding the right first or proper name for your product.
This can also be an idea to create a partnership if you want to name one of your offerings after a celebrity: this often happens in associations between brands and influencers. The product launched by a brand is then that of the influencer who is going to be able to promote and enhance the release of the article to these internet communities.
Always consider emotion
In the luxury sector, the emotion you create with your product is crucial to the marketing of the goods you're selling. The name of your references will play a role in the public's perception of the product, and can incite a certain emotion that may encourage the consumer to go ahead with the purchase.
For instance, French luxury brand Jacquemus has made its Chiquito micro-bag a best-seller, and this playful, original name was a perfect match for the product, which continues to win over new customers every day.
The Chiquito is a very small bag, available in a range of bright colors. In this way, the emotions associated with the bag are reflected in its name.
Emotion is the key element when it comes to product naming: for an item to be memorable and stand out from the crowd, the positive intention associated with the product must be reflected in its name, an argument for charm and a central marketing issue.
