TL; DR: Names impact the longevity and prosperity of a business. This brand naming course teaches you how to properly develop professional quality and effective brand names.
If you could optimize one of, if not the most encountered assets of a business or brand would you? Who wouldn’t? Why shortchange your sales, brand salience, market position and perceived value? Imagine adding perpetual value to a core business asset. The course “Fundamentals of Memorable Brand Naming” teaches you how to do just that.
As most professionals can attest, we are always sharpening our skills. Furthermore, if you’re involved in brand or business development then you understand the power a “name” has. Recently I leveled up my Naming skills by participating in Rob Meyerson’s uber-valuable brand naming course “Fundamentals of Memorable Brand Naming” on Domestika. If you’re reading this review, then there’s a good chance you know a thing or two about Rob. If you don’t, Rob‘s a brand consultant, namer, and author of the book, Brand Naming: The Complete Guide to Creating a Name for Your Company, Product, or Service. He also created this blog, hosts the associated podcast How Brands Are Built, and runs Heirloom, an independent brand strategy and identity firm.
In short, the course was an excellent learning experience. A thorough and professional walkthrough of the ups and downs when generating professional quality names. With over 1,100 students at the time of this article, 33 reviews, and a 100% rating, I’m not the only one who’s happy about this brand naming course.
Clocking in at just about 2.5 hours’ worth of video content, the course is broken down into 5 major units containing 2–4 videos each, ranging from 2–20 minutes. Perfect if you’re involved or interested in naming a company, product, or service; hell, it could be applied to naming anything. Personally, the part that made this course stand out was the abundance of resources Rob provides and the walkthroughs of how to use them. From visual aids to functional spreadsheets and templates specifically formatted for name generation. It’s an open invitation to see how the leading professionals produce their results. It’s crystal clear that the information Rob provides is built on years of professional experience (15+ years to be exact). This course educates students not only on the “How to…” but also the “Why?” and the “Then what?” At the conclusion of this course, you’ll be eager to add value to any naming project you can get involved with.
Unit 1: Introduction
Rob starts off by providing some of his background and experience along with influences that have impacted him along the way. He explains how like most of us, he didn’t realize “naming” was a career. While he started in psychology and academia, he ended up exposed to brand development during his initial stint at Interbrand; from there the rest is history.
Unit 2: Brand Naming Basics
- Why the name matters
- What makes a good name
- Types of names
- Overview of the naming process
In Unit 2, Rob dives right into the heavy value a name carries, juxtaposed with the challenges that they often face. He points out that a name holds a special position in a company. It’s one of the few business assets that permeates almost every level of the company internally and externally, and it almost never changes. It’s something that’s important for you to get right.
So how do you do that? Don’t worry, Rob breaks down the nuances that help make a “good name” into three areas of consideration: Strategic, Creative, and Technical qualities. To kick things up a notch, Rob explains that there are different types of names and they each have their own strengths. Furthermore, there are unique ways that names can be used to accentuate qualities or emotions that the team may want to convey. At the end of this unit, Rob gives a high-level view of the naming process and the significant milestones that must be reached to develop a professional quality name.
Related: Every type of brand name in one simple chart
Unit 3: Generating Names
- The naming brief
- Basic generation
- Further research
Unit 3 is where students can start getting their hands dirty. Diving right in, Rob explains the basic purpose, structure, and audience needed to create a professional Naming Brief. Now it’s your turn. You can tailor the brief provided to the class or you can create your own brief from scratch. Afterward, you learn a host of Naming techniques including basic name generation and deeper research tips which all pair very nicely with the Name Generation spreadsheet resource Rob provides.
Free ebook: How to Write a Naming Brief
Unit 4: Getting to a Final Name
- Shortlist screening level 1
- Shortlist screening level 2
- Presenting
So you’ve got your brief, and list of names, now how do you proceed? Rob explains the hoops a name needs to jump through in order to solidify its position as a presentable client option. He goes into great detail about the pitfalls names can succumb to. While applying the Naming Brief direction and the lessons about “What makes a good name,” you scour through your list of hundreds (yes, hundreds) of generated names and you keep only the ones that check all (or most) of the boxes.
To further test your efforts Rob explains the basics of trademark searching. Rob isn’t a lawyer but it’s not his first rodeo using the USPTO TESS Trademark search database. Personally, I believe this to be one of the most valuable parts of this brand naming course.
Unit 5: Epilogue
- Finalizing and launching the name
- Final thoughts and tips
Here you learn the final steps to lock in a name and launch it. Following your presentation and the name(s) chosen by the decision makers, Rob drives home the importance of working with the proper legal counsel to confirm the legal availability of the chosen name(s). If more than one name is available, he provides a few strategies to hone the list down to a single name. Now you’re on the home stretch, Rob lists the final few items to lock down; trademark, domain name, and registering the new legal entity. Lastly, he leaves you with some parting words of wisdom about the value of refining your brand story and the importance of persistence.
Overall, this is a killer brand naming course for anyone interested in “naming.” Whether you are curious about pursuing a career in naming, want to increase your value as part of a brand team, or perhaps improve your own business; this course is a steal for the perpetual value it provides. Do not pass up the opportunity to learn from one the leaders in the naming industry. This class will only leave you better than when you enrolled.
Ian McEwen is a brand consultant, strategist, and designer. He operates The Truth Quarry LLC, a brand consultancy helping business leaders experienced in combat sports master their business’s competitive edge through its Brand Fight Camp and the power of Brand.
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