I was talking today with one of my advisors, let's call him Charles, who was giving me advice on how to structure the latest revision of the good old business plan. He mentioned that he's renaming his company. I can't give you the name of the company but it doesn't matter because they have no web presence right now and it's going to change anyway. Also I can't tell you what they do exactly, partly because I think they're still in a sort of "stealth" mode and I don't want to risk upsetting Charles because he gives me really good advice.

So anyway, I'm not a professional marketer (although I am an award winning marketer ! :-) but I'm really interested in naming. For example, take semacode, it's a really good name, in my opinion, and it wasn't like I just tossed it off one day. A good name takes work and it's important to the company in all kinds of intangible ways.

Take one of the greatest names in corporations today. Apple. They make computers, and the name doesn't have anything in it like "sys"/"soft"/"gen"/whatever. There's probably some story about why Steve Jobs -- the ultimate marketer -- chose that particular name but for sure looking at the logo, it's obvious. It's the apple of knowledge, from the Christian biblical Adam and Eve story. Adam took a bite of the apple, and they got knowledge. Of course he was also cast out of paradise but hey, nothing's perfect.

There's several general categories of names. First, there's the named after the founder(s) name. Like HP, Dell, and thinking of Waterloo specifically, how about MKS. A lot of these are acronymized either immediately or later. These names are usually pretty bland. They don't really contribute or take away anything from the company. I suspect they come either from ego or from not wanting to work hard on a name.

Next there's names that are sort of techno-sounding, but don't really mean anything. Prominent examples include Microsoft, Sybase. And related to them are names that are totally made up to just be unique, and totally meaningless in any language, like Kodak.

There's a few basic rules that all company names have to conform to. They have to be distinct enough to be found in google. They can't be rude in foreign languages. They can't be silly or make people laugh at you. If you meet those basic rules (like all of the above) then you've got something "that will do" as they say. But you'll never be Apple.

To get a good name you have to start thinking about words and the meaning that people attach to them. Thing semantics and semiotics. Think about the way words sound like other words, in good or bad ways. Think about the psychology of words. And the emotions of them.

If you want to come up with a good name, start writing down words that you associate with your idea, technology, business model, company. Also, write down words that you literally like. I really like the word "semantic" and wanted to use it in my name. "Code" was natural from barcode. Also, think about what you want people to think or feel in association with your company. Do they want to feel comfortable? Challenged? Hip? Smarter? Better able to cope? Better able to communicate?

Research in Motion (RIM) is the name of the company that makes the Blackberry. Now, RIM is a name that came from someone who wanted you to think of them as, well, researchers. Intelligent, investigative, always innovating. "In Motion" has a double-entendre which is REALLY good, because it both indicates that they deal with wireless, but also they they are always moving forward technologically. The killer drawback is that five syllables is just too long for a company name.

You can tell that "blackberry" was made by a marketer because on the face, it's meaningless. Lots of good names are (like Apple and Google). It has nothing to do with the product. But "blackberry" is a cool, tasty fruit, so that's a positive connotation to something that's cool and easy to use. Also, "black" is kind of a cool word, black is a hip colour. And "blackberry" reminds me of "blackbird", the stealth fighter jet. You can bet that they had that connection on their white board. The idea is a technology that will give you a high-tech edge on your competitors.

(Incidentally Apple is also a double-entendre, because it's also a tasty, friendly fruit. Everyone loves apples. And their computers are friendly and easy to use.)

You too would like to have these kinds of positive connections, but you need to figure out precise what the connections are. In my case, I wanted a friendly name. What do you want? If you're making a data mining tool, friendly is right out. I worked for a data mining company that renamed themselves "RightPoint" while I was there. I don't know if marketers where involved, but it's not an impressive name. Sure, it makes you think you're going to "point" to the "right" thing, but it doesn't convey a feeling, except a sort of sharp pointy feeling. On the other hand, they were bought out by e.piphany. Definitely a weird name, but think about it. You're staring at all this data, you're looking for some meaning. You use a data mining tool and it finds some kind of hidden connection you were missing. What's that like, like an epiphany. Sure, it's bad in other ways (weird punctuation, the horrible "e-something" hype wave, etc) but "epiphany" conveys the right sort of investigate, startling/learning feeling that data mining customers are looking for.

Anyway, yet another long post, but a good name can help your company. And it can help you and your customers and your team have an "instant understanding" about what the company is about.