naming-and-branding

Naming and Branding

Build a distinctive identity that acts as a permanent competitive weapon and emotional anchor.

Help the user with naming and branding using insights from 11 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

How to Help

1. Define Strategic Intent - Use the Diamond Framework to align on the business goals and the specific emotional association the brand should own.
2. Generate at Scale - Facilitate high-volume naming brainstorms (1,000+ ideas) using AI and linguistic techniques like sound symbolism.
3. Evaluate for Distinctiveness - Filter names based on their ability to stand out and spark imagination rather than literal descriptiveness.
4. Guide Visual Execution - Structure the design process to move from high-level aesthetic directions to narrow technical specifications.

Core Principles

Prefer Suggestion Over Description

Arielle Jackson: "I personally tend to like those kinds of names that are suggestive or evocative, where when I tell you what the company does, you're like, oh, that makes sense. But it's not that what the name is tells you exactly what the company does."

Effective names should hint at the product value and evoke emotion rather than being a literal description of what the product does.

Own a Singular Association

Arielle Jackson: "So over time, a word can come to mean something that is beyond what that actual word means. Like Disney means magic today. Volvo means safety. Those names are not good."

A brand is the specific emotional or functional association a customer holds in their mind. Define one core concept, such as magic or safety, to represent the brand.

Prioritize Distinctiveness as an Asset

David Placek: "Your brand name, nothing's going to be used more often or for longer than that name. Design will change, messaging will change, products will change, but that name is there."

A brand name is a permanent element of identity. A distinctive name provides a long-term advantage by cutting through marketplace noise and inviting curiosity.

Embrace Initial Internal Tension

David Placek: "Most clients, they come to a naming project absolutely believing with full confidence that they're going to know it when they see it, and the truth is it almost never happens."

Powerful and imaginative names often create initial discomfort. Avoid the trap of looking for a name that everyone likes immediately, as these are often too safe to be effective.

Treat Brand as a Core Business Pillar

Kevin Aluwi: "I'm a very big believer that the two most important things in a consumer business are product and brand in that order. And I don't think I need to sell the idea, especially to your audience. That product is absolutely critical and probably the most important. But brand as an afterthought is definitely one of the areas where I think there's a giant missed opportunity for consumer tech businesses."

Brand is a driver of escape velocity and competitive defensibility. It should be prioritized alongside product development from the earliest stages rather than treated as a luxury.

Define a Bold Promise

Seth Godin: "AI very soon is going to stop being a feature the same way electricity is not a feature. What AI companies and all companies need to do is say, what's in this for the user? What promise do I want to make a difficult promise, a remarkable promise, and then how do I keep it?"

A brand is a remarkable and difficult promise that a company consistently keeps for its users. It is not just a logo or a feature set.

Use Volume to Bypass Mediocrity

From "How to find the perfect name": "Quantity breeds quality. Developing a brand name is a treasure hunt. You need to explore, and then explore again. And you need to explore in places where you think there may be no chance of finding the name."

Effective naming requires a disciplined exploration of at least 1,000 ideas. This high-volume approach moves past the low-energy results of traditional group brainstorming.

Leverage Sound Symbolism

From "How to find the perfect name": "Imagine the sound of your brand before you start naming. Should your name sound fast? Full? Reliable? ... An invented name with the Latin word for health (“san”) in the middle, a “da” sound that delivers a crisp, clean experience, and an “i” sound that feels light and slim at the end."

The inherent sounds of letters can subconsciously communicate attributes like speed or cleanliness. Map out the desired brand sound before generating specific word options.

Templates & Frameworks

• The Diamond Framework (How to find the perfect name) - A four-question strategic alignment framework used at the start of any naming project to force clarity on business, marketing, and naming strategy
• Lexicon Naming Process Steps (How to find the perfect name) - The step-by-step process Lexicon uses to go from brief to final brand name, synthesized from the newsletter's various case studies
• The Three Pillars of Effective Naming (How to find the perfect name) - A three-dimensional framework for evaluating and creating brand names that are memorable, differentiated, and trusted
• Linguistic Sound Symbolism (David Placek) - Using the inherent sounds and vibrations of letters to evoke specific feelings for a brand.
• 7 Criteria for Names (Arielle Jackson) - A checklist to evaluate and filter a shortlist of brainstormed names using a red/yellow/green scoring system.
• Naming Brief (Arielle Jackson) - A document to align stakeholders before brainstorming names.
• Naming Brainstorm Process (Arielle Jackson) - A structured 1-hour meeting format to generate hundreds of name ideas.
• Pentium Naming Case Study (How to find the perfect name) - How Intel differentiated from AMD's identical 486 processor by creating a coined name that sounds like a scientific element

See references/artifacts.md for the full list with details.

Questions to Help Users

• "What is the specific, difficult promise your brand is making to the user?"
• "Does your current name act as a 'cage' that prevents you from expanding into new categories?"
• "What is the one emotional or functional association you want to own in the customer's mind?"
• "Are you choosing a name because it is comfortable or because it is distinctive enough to stand out?"
• "How does the 'sound' of the name communicate the core attributes of your product?"
• "What utilitarian issues, such as legibility at small scales, does your current visual identity face?"

Common Mistakes to Flag

• Choosing Literal Descriptions - Descriptive names are often generic and limit the company's ability to expand into new service categories or industries.
• Searching for Immediate Consensus - The best names are often polarising at first and require processing time; aiming for comfort leads to forgettable brands.
• Mistaking a Logo for a Brand - A logo is a visual marker, but the brand is the kept promise and the value delivered to the user.
• Ignoring Brand as a Day One Pillar - Consumer startups that treat brand as a later-stage polish miss out on early defensibility and escape velocity.

Deep Dive

For all 15 sourced insights from 11 guests, see references/guest-insights.md

Related Skills

• Launch Planning
• Plg Sales Integration
• Enterprise Sales Motion
• First B2B Customers