In every naming project, potential names will be subject to literal interpretation. The literalist will offer objections to names based upon dictionary definitions. The evidence they cite in their efforts to kill a name is irrefutable fact, yet completely irrelevant and counterproductive. Here’s how the literalist would have stopped these names from being:
Slack
- In business, Slack means “characterized by a lack of work or activity; quiet”
- A Slacker is someone who works as little as possible. A terrible message for our target audience
- Slack means slow, sluggish, or indolent, not active or busy; dull; not brisk. Moving very slowly, as the tide, wind, or water. Neglect, reduce, tardy
lululemon
- We are an upscale brand for women, lululemon sounds like a character from a 3-year olds’ picture book: “lululemon and her best friends annabanana and sallystrawberry were climbing Gumdrop Hill, when suddenly from behind a rainbow the queen of the unicorns appeared…”
Virgin Air
- Says “we’re new at this”
- Public wants airlines to be experienced, safe and professional
- Investors won’t take us seriously
- Religious people will be offended
Hotwire
- It has one meaning, “to steal a car!”
- Crime is the last thing we need to be associated with
Yahoo!
- Yahoo!! It’s Mountain Dew!
- Yoohoo! It’s a chocolate drink in a can!
- Nobody will take stock quotes and world news seriously from a bunch of “Yahoos”
Oracle
- Unscientific
- Unreliable
- Only foretold death and destruction
- Only fools put their faith in an Oracle
- Sounds like “orifice” – people will make fun of us
LoveSac
- Do we really need bullet points for this one?
These literal objections are not reasons to abandon a name, rather they have demonstrably positive effects on a target audience. Consumers don’t process names literally, they process them emotionally. Getting your committee to acknowledge this difference and to interact as the public does is step one.
Having the naming committee evaluate names based on their positioning is the next step:
Virgin
- Positioning: different, confident, exciting, alive, human, provocative, fun. The innovative name forces people to create a separate box in their head to put it in.
- Qualities: Self-propelling, Connects Emotionally, Personality, Deep Well.
Oracle
- Positioning: different, confident, superhuman, evocative, powerful, forward thinking.
- Qualities: Self-propelling, Connects Emotionally, Personality, Deep Well.
Slack
- Positioning: naming the problem we solve!
- Qualities: confident, different, focused on solving the target’s problem.
Hotwire
- Positioning: a travel hack, exciting, fun.
- Hotwiring a car is a hack, that’s why this name works
- Qualities: Exciting, different, memorable, viral
In short, marginalize the literalist.
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