fast food company, Names and Naming blog, by Scott Silverman, Los Angeles copywriter and brand consultant.

As a company naming agency, picking favorites would be like choosing which of your kids you like best. (Sorry, Timmy.)

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So, I’m not gonna pick a favorite company name. Not gonna do it. Wouldn’t be prudent. (Man, haven’t made that Bush-Carvey reference in ages!) Nope! Not gonna pick a favorite product name, either. Instead, I’m going to discuss the various naming style types. Of these, I certainly do have two favorites:  the unexpected and the operative metaphor. I find these to be “the brandiest” of the bunch. Meaningfully different and wonderfully sticky.

Examples of company names from my company naming agency that benefit from the unexpected would be IfThenWow™ and ManifestEquity™. I think the reason I like these so much is that they’re just so hard to generate. You really need to be knee-deep in the company naming process for things like this to surface. IfThenWow™ was the name chosen by a software and web development firm; the combination of brilliant coding with elegant design was the perfect set-up for a name based upon coding language, with a twist. ManifestEquity™ is a financial services firm specializing in connecting Americans with overseas investment opportunities. Not right for everybody, perhaps, but certainly a good fit for their investor base.

Examples of metaphors, probably the most common naming convention in the Hall of Great Names, would include Wildfire Networking, Shine Candles, Libretto Espresso and the entire suite of license plate recognition cameras my naming agency created on behalf of Perceptics, among them:  the PassPort Series, the Sentinel Series, etc.

What other category types do company naming agencies use?

The most commonly utilized naming category is the portmanteau, a conjoined form of two other words or word roots. While it typically lacks the appeal of some other name styles and can often result in a meaningless mouthful, it’s always worth exploring. Recently, my Los Angeles company naming agency had some major hits with Lessoneer, Parfecta and Orgodomo, so I would never retire this category completely. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to name Intuit QuickBase developer, Sympo, and I continue to think this will be one of my best names ever. Short. Kid-like. Benefit-driven. Yay, me. Or, as the tagline has it:  Click, click, hooray! From my list of available .com pharmaceutical names, I continue to put full faith in www.Benogen.com. It’s from the Latin, meaning good life. Who doesn’t want that? Correction: who doesn’t want that for a cool million?

For more on my company naming agency, ya know, point, hover and click in the manner in which you’ve become so masterful.

 

Okay, so this one isn’t a real fast food company name.

My friends Nick and Rich of Lucky Airlines were shooting a spot for Five Hour Energy and they needed a name to show what a pain the drive-thru line can be, especially during lunch hour. If you think your naming category is crowded, try naming a burger restaurant! It’s madness. Nevertheless, what was needed was a name that implied speed isn’t all it’s cracked to be. Also, costly and protracted litigation is a common client preference. Picky, picky. The answer: Beef Burners. Coming soon to a TV near you.