Why are names so important?
Well… Your marketing starts from your business name. If your name sucks or fails to resonate with the people you set out to serve, then you have certainly started on a wrong note.
I am sure you must have seen a very great product with a very bad name or logo or choice of colours. The only way you can escape with choosing a terrible name for your business is if you have a good monopoly or you have such a superior product.
A friend once wanted to name his school “Ile-Iwe” (the Yoruba word for school), but I felt it was a terrible idea. Parents send their kids to school to get literate and become more sophisticated, I argued that Ile-Iwe would not fly with the target audience. My response shocked him because I have hugged a brand called Kowope (literally translates to “make money complete”) close to my chest for about 2 years now, but we have to realise that Kowope is targeted at everyday people, young tech-savvy students of higher institution, the market women, semi-literate workers and all that. To these set of people, I can argue that Kowope sounds fun, fresh and it sparks curiosity.
You also do not need to lock yourself by thinking all your product names have to sound alike and connected like the Virgin empire. Well, not really. Unless all your products are targeting the same set of people. I cannot imagine my Dad and I liking the same products, we are generations apart!
A good name is certainly worth waiting for. It may a few days, weeks or more likely a few months, but once you find it, you just know this is it!
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Watching The World
- We had to postpone BUILD YOUR IDEA till March, more details to follow.
- Meet the 15 year old kid that Facebook and Google are wooing just because he built an app that got downloaded 500, 000 times! (Wow!)
- Can $5,000 start your business idea? If yes, The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is accepting applications. If No, keep waiting. The world will soon come to an end (Of course, you should apply! I think it is for any type of business idea)
