Picking a Name Is a Major Part of Success in Business
What’s in a name? Would a company by any other name still sell as sweet?
Would you, for example, launch a hostile bid for International Totalizator, buy stones from Medusa Corp. or aspirin from the Nuclear Pharmacy Inc.?
Whether catchy, enigmatic or downright obvious, the business of choosing the perfect company name is precisely that--big business.
“The best way to crystallize your corporate vision is through choosing the appropriate name,” said an executive at Addison Design Consultants, the San Francisco-based arm of Addison Group Plc, which specializes in naming companies.
“It identifies your whole vision, philosophy and how your company sees itself,” she said. “It also cuts down on later advertising costs, because you create value.”
Name-calling is hard work, the experts say, worth about $25 million a year for the companies choosing a name and much bigger money for companies that choose their names wisely.
Other executives cite personal favorites like Apple Computer Inc. and health care group Humana Inc.
“Apple was trying to create the image of being simple, user-friendly,” said the executive. “What could connote that idea more simply than the apple? The apple of knowledge, an apple for the teacher? It was perfect.”
Companies in banking and other stodgy fields tend to be conservative namers, experts say, while high-tech and mass-market ventures often gamble on anything from mythological allusions to homespun humor.
Machismo is definitely in vogue in today’s climate of merger mania. What raider would dare touch Explosive Fabricators, Thor Inds., Giant Group Ltd. or International Rectifier?
Due to the current insider trading scandals, honesty is “in” as well, as in Integrity Financial Group, Justice Investment Corp., Realist Inc. and Up-Right Inc.
Food and restaurant groups tend to put their money where their mouths are: 1 Potato 2 Inc., Stuff Yer Face Inc., the Good Taco Corp., Old Spaghetti Warehouse Inc., First World Cheese and Twistee Treat Corp.
Stuff Yer Face owner Bill Washawanny said the name choice was inevitable. “We knew there was going to be a restaurant with that name some day. No one will ever forget it, and we kind of live up to our name,” he said.
And Washawanny has received little angry feedback from demure patrons. “Are you kidding? We’re in New Jersey. They love it,” he said. “But they didn’t like the name very much in our (now defunct) Georgetown location.”
Companies rarely choose obscene names, said officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Association of Securities Dealers, as the harm would be only self-inflicted.
“Most people are pretty mature by the time their companies go public,” a NASD spokesman told Reuters.
Still, a glance at some companies makes you wonder: S & M Co., Federal Screw Works, Funtime Inc., Love Oil Co. Inc., Peek ‘n’ Peak Recreation Inc., Hooker Enterprises Inc. and Fuddruckers Inc.
Others simply make you wonder at all: Chock Full O’ Nuts, Egghead Inc., Big O Tires Inc., Art Explosion Inc.--a good bet for a “poison pill”--Sandwich Co-operative Bank, State-O-Maine (based in New York) and Oshkosh B’Gosh.
A confident name can project the image of strength to customers, the experts say.
Such big-talkers include: Best Buy Co., Blockbuster Entertainment Corp., Ego Resources Inc., Fabulous Inns of America, Peerless Chain Co., Top Brass Enterprises, The Wiser Oil Co. and Winners Corp.
Mythological or regal names suggest a lofty image, such as Helen of Troy Corp.--beauty products, of course--Little Prince Productions, Noble Roman’s Inc., Zeus Components, Atlantis Mining & Mfg. Co., Apollo Computer and Pegasus Gold.
Yet others prefer a down-home image: Blue Grass Breeders, Earthworm Tractor Co., Farm Fresh Inc. and Po Folks eateries.
Some names seem oxymoronic: Inertia Dynamics Corp., Liqui-Box Corp., Pre-Paid Legal Services, Service Fracturing Co. and One Price Clothing Stores Inc.
Others seem to offer bizarre wares: Combustion Protection Corp., Arabian Shield Device Co., Flamemaster Corp., Pain Suppression Labs, Facelifters Home Systems and Wedding Info. Network Inc.
As for personal name-calling, the list is long: Crazy Eddie Inc., Flakey Jake’s, Max & Erma’s Restaurants Inc., Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, and the Pep Boys--Manny, Mo and Jack.
