Burt Alper

At first glance, product names and company names like BlackBerry and Apple have nothing to do with the products they brand or even the industry they’re in. So why do they work? Because strategic naming rarely requires a literal descriptive name. In fact, if you want to set your brand apart and make it memorable, an evocative name borrowed from another field is often far more powerful. Here are some tips that will guide you in “successfully” borrowing a name from an unexpected source.

The recent movement to eat local and organic has people thinking a lot more about where their food is coming from and how it’s grown. And distinct, creative farm names help smaller farms differentiate their produce from that of their industrial agribusiness competitors (whose produce usually isn’t labeled in the supermarket).

Perhaps the question isn’t whether you can afford to hire a naming professional—but whether you can afford not to…. The threat of recession looms close (some say we’ve already made the plunge), and companies are studying the bottom line to see what’s working in the marketing department and what’s not. In times like these, the temptation to take a do-it-yourself approach to naming new products may be strong. Resist it.

What do Häagen-Dazs, Saint Benoît and Clinique have in common? Answer: they’re all successful European brand names for stuff manufactured right here in the U.S. of A. They’re also living proof that one of the most effective ways to telegraph luxury or premium quality is to use a product name or company name that’s derived from a European language. But it’s not all peaches and ice cream—here are both the perks and pitfalls to be aware of when considering a European-sounding name for your brand.

What do Häagen-Dazs, Saint Benoît and Clinique have in common? Answer: they’re all successful European brand names for stuff manufactured right here in the U.S. of A. They’re also living proof that one of the most effective ways to telegraph luxury or premium quality is to use a product name or company name that’s derived from a European language. But it’s not all peaches and ice cream—here are both the perks and pitfalls to be aware of when considering a European-sounding name for your brand.

At first glance, product names and company names like BlackBerry and Apple have nothing to do with the products they brand or even the industry they’re in. So why do they work? Because strategic naming rarely requires a literal descriptive name. In fact, if you want to set your brand apart and make it memorable, an evocative name borrowed from another field is often far more powerful. Here are some tips that will guide you in “successfully” borrowing a name from an unexpected source.

The recent movement to eat local and organic has people thinking a lot more about where their food is coming from and how it’s grown. And distinct, creative farm names help smaller farms differentiate their produce from that of their industrial agribusiness competitors (whose produce usually isn’t labeled in the supermarket).

Perhaps the question isn’t whether you can afford to hire a naming professional—but whether you can afford not to…. The threat of recession looms close (some say we’ve already made the plunge), and companies are studying the bottom line to see what’s working in the marketing department and what’s not. In times like these, the temptation to take a do-it-yourself approach to naming new products may be strong. Resist it.

At first glance, product names and company names like BlackBerry and Apple have nothing to do with the products they brand or even the industry they’re in. So why do they work? Because strategic naming rarely requires a literal descriptive name. In fact, if you want to set your brand apart and make it memorable, an evocative name borrowed from another field is often far more powerful. Here are some tips that will guide you in “successfully” borrowing a name from an unexpected source.

What do Häagen-Dazs, Saint Benoît and Clinique have in common? Answer: they’re all successful European brand names for stuff manufactured right here in the U.S. of A. They’re also living proof that one of the most effective ways to telegraph luxury or premium quality is to use a product name or company name that’s derived from a European language. But it’s not all peaches and ice cream—here are both the perks and pitfalls to be aware of when considering a European-sounding name for your brand.

Perhaps the question isn’t whether you can afford to hire a naming professional—but whether you can afford not to…. The threat of recession looms close (some say we’ve already made the plunge), and companies are studying the bottom line to see what’s working in the marketing department and what’s not. In times like these, the temptation to take a do-it-yourself approach to naming new products may be strong. Resist it.

The recent movement to eat local and organic has people thinking a lot more about where their food is coming from and how it’s grown. And distinct, creative farm names help smaller farms differentiate their produce from that of their industrial agribusiness competitors (whose produce usually isn’t labeled in the supermarket).