"Soft Corinthian leather": What's in a name?

In the past week, I've been working on the new name for a product we're about to relaunch.  A lot of names have been kicked around -- many descriptive of the product, and others that are more vague.  It's made me think a lot about why some product names are successful and others aren't.

On one hand, a descriptive name attempts to give the buyer an immediate idea of what you're selling.  (Think Coca-Cola versus Pepsi.  Upon hearing the names, you immediately know that Coca-Cola is a cola, but Pepsi could be a laundry detergent to someone hearing the name for the first time.)  Descriptive names can be good, but they can often be dull -- especially in the B2B world where you're naming a product or service that doesn't evoke an emotional response.  The name "Oracle Content Database Suite" tells you exactly what it is, but it sounds like it was created by a bunch of dull engineers.

Then you have the products/brands that use an existing word and attach the trendy prefix or suffix du jour.  Adding "e" to the front of a product was the rage in the 1990s (E*Trade, eToys), as was the infamous ".com" on the end of any name.  Today the letter "i" is the most fashionable, thanks to the iPod.  Half the products sold at Brookstone match this description...iMedic, iNeed, iGallop, iHome, iDesign, iConvert, etc.  If only I could predict what the next trendy prefix/suffix would be...

Next is completely made-up words, or combinations of Latin/Greek words.  These have been popular for the past decade or two as company names -- probably due mostly to the rise of the Internet and the necessity of securing a domain name, but also to avoid existing trademarks.  Verizon and Acura are a few consumer brand examples.  But often these types of names can be tough to remember -- unless you're doing a lot of branding and trying to establish that name in your potential customers' minds.  Most often I'd probably stay away from these types of names when I'm naming a new web product -- because it's not worth the effort to achieve flow-off-the-tongue status through advertising and promotion.

Another option is taking an existing English word or phrase that has another meaning, and bringing it into a whole new context that has no current meaning.  Chrysler is famous for doing this with "Corinthian leather" in the 1970s commercials featuring Ricardo Montalban.  It was called Corinthian leather simply for marketing sizzle -- "Corinthian" really meant nothing in the world of leather.  Similarly, the terms "leaderboard", "skyscraper", and "boombox" have become common sizes of online ads.  Each of those words all have their own meanings outside the online ad business, but they had no meaning to the advertising world until they were coined as names for ads.

So when it comes time to choose a new product name, consider all these options.  Think about your goals and the pros/cons of each type of name.  Then start brainstorming.  And if all else fails, hire a Mexican actor of Spanish descent to claim your product features soft Corinthian leather.

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