4 ms·
Two-man start up can't afford chi-chi branding, could use your advice.
We're about to launch our first product, and we got attached to a name we had picked for it early on. Turns out there's another company who goes by that very name, and they also work in the same field that we do. So we scrambled to pick something new.
Our product is a video-based hosted application that organizations can use to train and educate their members. It's more virtual learning than an LMS. Our customers can upload their own training videos, and if they want they can subscribe to packaged content made by professional trainers. Reporting is an important part of our application, and we can accommodate organizations large and small.
Since we're two guys, and neither one of us are experts in the field of naming products, the past 48 hours of creative thinking has left us exhausted. We're left with three potential names, and if we're lucky you'll let us know which one you prefer.
Idea 1: Leaderboard
Leaderboard urges you to reach for the top. A leaderboard inspires competition, aggressiveness, and acknowledges performance. A Leaderboard is physical, concrete and highly visual.
Idea 2: GoldStar
GoldStar is reminiscent of your childhood, when performance was rewarded with gold stars on your homework. GoldStar is also concrete and visual, and symbolizes a reward more than an acknowledgement.
Idea 3: Canopy
A Canopy sits atop of tall trees, and invites you to stand on the shoulders of giants. A Canopy is a place in a forest where life thrives, where collaboration and coexistence is most evident, a safe home for an entire ecosystem. A Canopy is literally where the Sun meets the earth, and a Canopy urges you to reach for the sky.
We'd love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, and other names that come to mind.
Thanks in advance,
Max and Cam from Big Bang Technology in Toronto.
- mrfish 17y agoIt doesn't really matter what it is called. Call it turtlepoo.com if that helps. Branding is less about describing your services and more about sticking in people's heads. That's the problem with most of these tricky names. Most people can't remember them. But something like fishpajamas or thundergnat would probably stick in the mind of people who heard of you. BTW I'd upload my instructional videos if I knew people would subscribe to them. Let me know when you go live. Paul
- camwest 17y ago(this is Cameron the other half of Big Bang Technology) We really appreciate any feedback or questions anyone has on this.
- w-ll 17y agoCanopy, Its a strong sounding name. Not as sketcy as Goldstar, or leaderboard.
- Jim_Neath 17y ago+1 for Canopy
- adamhowell 17y agoAnother for Canopy, great name for an app.
- lukosan 17y ago+1 Canopy
- BigCanOfTuna 17y agoDefinitely not GoldStar. Reminds me of the third rate electronics company (notorious for cheap products). That being said, they did become LG. Good luck!
- omgsean 17y agoI like Canopy as well.
- ars 17y agoWhat is "shee-shee branding"? Google did not help me figure out what shee-shee means. Edit: Submitter changed title to say chi-chi.
- chrismear 17y agoI think perhaps it was a play on 'chichi', meaning 'affectedly trendy': http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chichi#Adjective http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chichi#Adjective
- maxcameron 17y agoThanks for the correction. I meant to say we don't have the resources to bring in a firm that specializes in branding the product.
- jeremymims 17y agoThe correct spelling is chichi. According to dictionary.com it is an adjective which means "showily or affectedly elegant or trendy; pretentious."
- ahoyhere 17y agoAka, "sour grapes" in this instance.
- trevelyan 17y agoI also prefer Canopy.
- dtby 17y agoMy intial thoughts, I hope they help you in your search: Leaderboard implies a competition. Are you going to ranking my progress against other students? How do I win? GoldStars are for children. Are you going to have exclusively elementary education videos? Is this some sort of achievement system, like in Halo? A Canopy casts a wide shadow and protects me from the elements. Do you have such a breadth of video-training programs that it covers everything in which I might be interested? From what are you protecting me?
- maxcameron 17y agoWe're definitely not after the kids market, but we love the idea of incorporating gaming elements into the app, like achievements. Competition is a tricky subject: it's good to compete in some circumstances - but education isn't always about beating your opponents.
- jdee 17y agoDont like any of them to be honest. all sound very 'old web'. You really need a 5,6 or 7 letter domain name that is humanly speakable and brandable. Tying to track a brand called 'Leaderboard' on the web is going to be impossible as there are so many other search results that will use the same word but rank much higher. Same for Canopy. Use a good domaining tool ( I like justdropped.com ) and pick a good domain that you are going to be able to make your own and stamp with your own identity. For a website use themeforest.net if you cant afford a designer. Sell your car to pay for a good designer logo though. its essential. Get good quick at writing web copy for your site. Hope some of this helps. all of this advice was passed to me and I havent a clue when it comes to branding, but its helped me on more than a few occasions. good luck!
- maxcameron 17y agoGreat point about tracking leaderboard on the web - that would be a mess. Not to worry - we hired a kick ass designer for logo/identity/UI revisions - I hated having to tell him that our first idea fell through.
- jparicka 17y agoimho laderboard is perfect for what you do. sounds inspiring and smells like work! All the best - apologies for broken english, been up all night traveling.
- bbhacker 17y agoYou should setup a Google Adwords account and test the different names. Just put the different names in there and use the same description. This will give you quickly a feeling what attracts clicks (and therefore also views) and what not.
- Travis 17y ago+1 for leaderboard!
- joeld42 17y agoCanopy sounds like Canopus, which did something with video or something. Might be confusing. Plus it sucks. probably some of these are taken but... ideas: ladderboard, tugboat, spryboard, scrycam, scrysat, canoworms, pandabox, unlift, topknot, teachr, learnr, smartr, trainr, dumdum, bighead, fathead my favorite is pandabox, it's an oblique allusion to pandora's box (knowledge), it's a "negative" or "dangerous" connotation (which helps stickiness, see the Igor article) but yet still cute and cuddly, and also has obvious ideas for branding and mascot, etc.. This is a good link about naming. http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-product-company-names.php http://www.igorinternational.com/process/naming-guide-produc...
- camwest 17y agoJoel, Thanks for your feedback and suggestions, you've got our brains working!
- arsehole 17y agoI like 'Big Bang Videos'
- wushupork 17y agodid you try to run this by PickFu to see what happens? http://pickfu.com/ http://pickfu.com/