Should the company be named after a product?
I think a lot of people with ideas wonder about this - should they come up with a company name first or figure out the name for a product, get a domain name matching the name and then register a company with the same name? Famous software companies like 37 Signals have multiple products offered and inspire many of us to start software companies that aspire to make many great products. But then there are companies like GroupOn, which is the name of a product and company, simple and effective from a branding point of view.
Questions to all you entrepreneurs, investors and branding/marketing specialists:
- When does naming a company after a product make sense?
- What are the pros and cons of each approach?
Getting Started Naming Entrepreneurship
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review http://www.brightjourney.com/q/use-separate-domain-name-apps - similar question with relevant answers. – Jim Galley 12 years ago
3 Answers
I wouldn't name my company on the basis of the name of my product. Some of the reasons for such attitude are:
- The product can fail
- You can come up with an idea for a new product
When you do something unique, it gets confusing to have a company name and a service called something else. Packages with different pricing and levels of service can always be setup.
Salesforce.com started with a lone product but created several others as they grew.
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Right, that's what I was thinking as well - which brand do you refer to (and thus promote) on business cards, email signatures and in conversations? How do you introduce yourself, etc. Google and Facebook are other examples of a single brand, where Google built many other products after building a strong brand around one. – Webbie 12 years ago
Several Amsterdam based entrepreneurs give us the advice NOT to name our company after our first product, simply because of possible product failure.
Being able to rebrand or ditch your product, without being stuck to a legacy name, is priceless.
When it comes to B2C products, customers interact with the brand; not the company. For B2B products, it might be a little different, as other companies do require your company name for some of the tax forms.
In the Netherlands you can get a default name for your company, but do business using several others. Resulting in a lot of flexibility.
(We chose OMGWTFBBQ as our company name. It has been a little bit of an easter egg ever since. People chuckle when they find out.)
