Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Marketing research studies from the 50's & 60's showed that buyers are liars.

Heinz changed the classic Ketchup bottle design after customers surveyed showed they were ready for a change. They switched back. Quaker Oats and Aunt Jemima faced the same problem Money spent with successful professionals is worthwhile.

IMHO, this a dangerous investment for an entrepreneur.

I disagree Gary. We are frequently contacted by clients with terrible domain names.

Using a pun as your domain name should be really, really obvious for you to consider it. I'm pretty sure a Company like "Name This" would help businesses avoid a confusing domain.

I agree Rick, but alson flank you - there are two things in internet age what are equally important - company name and domain name associated to it. Its allmost imposssible to find any meaningful domain name, they all are taken how do you solve this?

Not sure about this really - a name is such a fundamental part of the business' identity, I question the logic of outsourcing it, regardless of how many people are doing the naming.

Sure, it's great when you want to start with a list of plenty of names, which are puns on your business model/sector, and some of these may even be great names, names which you may have decided upon yourself had you spent the time to think them up yourself.

But that's the point. Why outsource such a fundamental part of your brand's identity to anyone? Surely this is the stage where you want to confront the blank page and see what comes of your brainstorming about your own brand and desired marketplace identity?

Just because a name is popular, does that make it a good name for your business? I would argue not necessarily. Crowds tend towards each other's ideas, and there is always the chance that a name might get presented that is very popular because everyone started following each other's lead.

So what's in a name? Well for me the name of your business should be personal, it should express the personality of your company as well as perhaps expressing the type of thing your company does. No matter how many people you get to think about this issue, ultimately you should be the person that understands the way you would like to position your business in the marketplace and the types of associations you would like people to have with your business' name.

How can you expect total strangers to understand the DNA of your nascent brand, to understand the space you want it to occupy in the marketplace now and in the distant future, to be able to channel the unique personality of the brand's founders and the principles upon which the brand is built?

Outsourcing this function of your business may be attractive because it takes the blood, sweat and tears out of staring at a blank page and trying to imagine a brand identity and name, but I would argue it is those very blood, sweat and tears that you should be investing in owning your brand name and identity. That creative energy really helps to make sure you have the pulse of your own organisation.

The personal time and effort you invest in this fundamental step in the birth of your business shouldn't be viewed as a pain, or as a chore. It should be viewed as a great opportunity to perfectly capture the essence of your brand.

@Scott - crowdsourcing and outsourcing are not necessarily the same thing. With this tool you are simply getting the potential wisdom of a crowd and perhaps even your market. That doesn't mean you take the suggestions blindly, but you don't name your company in a vacuum either.

My experience with small business owners is that this is something they are very bad at. A tool like this may not get them the world's greatest name, but I bet it will be better than the one they would come up with on their own.

@Gary - I'm guessing the so called professionals used market surveys to conclude that changes were needed in all of the examples you cite.

The thing about all of those is they were about change - where much had been established. With Name This I think the real use is to get you started with a creative idea where none exists.

The fact is for $99 you get a host of ideas and take or leave them all - I think it's well worth the investment just to get you thinking.

I guess it is OK to get additional ideas if you are stuck and are having trouble with a name.

John,

Your addendum makes this a sensible, affordable source for ideas outside of your own box, especially if one is stuck and cannot afford professionals and some small sample test marketing. I'm not a believer in turing creativity and in the end some testing is needed, no matter how limited. And I am all for affordable consulting and leveraging technology.

Ji John,

interesting idea. however, how much value do you really see in something like this? with free tools such as twitter, linkedin, email, etc. why bother?

Jacob

I think it's a good idea - many minds are always better than one or two. There's certainly no harm in seeing what other people come up with as you'll always have the final choice. In the past for domain names I've used Picky Domains - I haven't used the suggestions every time but they have helped.

Actually, the company I work for, GeniusRocket has been doing crowdsourced naming projects for a while to much success. Guess NameThis (Kluster) is just getting on the bandwagon.

"A fancy, but as of yet unnamed, algorithm goes to work and spits out the three best suggestions."

I am going to suggest calling this a vote counter.

@Crowdfish - c'mon that's a little boring - what about Vote Amalgamater

I like "Name This" idea. I used it recently when I was stuck on finalizing a name for my financial services company. I didn't like any of the names suggested by Name This members but I was amazed by the amount of participation. Also, a one time charge to post your name request is little too heavy ($99).