The Power of Words: Alexandra Watkins on Crafting Standout Brand Names

Our guest today is Alexandra Watkins, a leading and outspoken authority on brand names and author of “ Hello, My Name is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick “, a go-to resource for leading branding and naming firms nationwide.

Short overview

We start out our conversation by discussing Alexandra’s advertising background and transition to becoming a professional namer. She observes that naming has become increasingly challenging over time due to trademark and domain name restrictions and trends such as omitting vowels or using unconventional spellings. These challenges are addressed and simplified in her book.

We explore common mistakes in naming brands. Alexandra introduces her 12-point name evaluation smile and scratch test, based on the philosophy that a name should make people smile instead of scratch their heads. She advises against using names with numbers, foreign words, or multiple pronunciations to maintain brand clarity.

Regarding domain names, Alexandra suggests that businesses should prioritise finding a great brand name before fixating on domain availability. She highlights how successful companies like Tesla, Facebook, DropBox, and Basecamp creatively addressed domain challenges by selecting unique brand names first and securing compromise domains. They later upgraded to their perfect domain names as the business grew and their concept was proved.

We discuss the ideal time for someone to seek the expertise of a naming professional like Alexandra. While her book provides valuable insights and a DIY approach, collaboration with a naming expert is beneficial when clients require a name that aligns perfectly with their brand’s unique characteristics, ensuring a more focused and efficient naming process.

Alexandra recommends using personalised domain names to enhance user experience, enabling redirects to specific website pages. She also encourages creative domain usage for marketing campaigns or courses. She emphasises the use of fun and creative names for internal divisions and departments to improve corporate culture.

In our conversation about new technologies, Alexandra mentions that AI tools like ChatGPT can be helpful for brainstorming names but notes that they cannot replace professional naming expertise.

Listen to the full podcast at https://smartbranding.com