How to pick the perfect product name

Picking the right product name isn't just important, it can be the difference between success and failure. Product names are the foundation of brand recognition and consumer connection. As markets become increasingly crowded, and consumers become more aware of their choices than ever, a powerful product name doesn't just identify, it differentiates and drives action.

According to research, the right product name can:

• Increase brand recall by up to 40%

• Improve shelf visibility and consumer recognition

• Create emotional connections with target audiences

• Influence purchase decisions at the point of selection

For brands launching products in competitive retail environments, ensuring each product name hits the mark isn't just good practice, it's essential for market success and consumer adoption.

The traditional product naming challenge

The traditional product naming process is fraught with challenges:

• Subjective decision-making based on personal preferences

• Lack of data to validate naming choices before market launch

• Internal politics and "highest-paid-person's-opinion" syndrome

• Limited ability to test international and cross-cultural reception

• Time-consuming and expensive market research processes

These challenges often lead to last-minute name changes, market underperformance, or, worst of all, embarrassing naming failures that damage brand reputation.

The five rules of successful product naming

Building on established naming principles while incorporating modern testing capabilities, here are five essential rules for successful product naming:

1. Establish a consistent naming strategy

Establishing consistent naming frameworks saves time and builds expertise. A strong naming strategy includes:

• Clear guidelines on descriptive versus creative naming approaches

• Established naming conventions within product families

• Consistent evaluation criteria for all potential names

• Frameworks for measuring naming success

The most successful brands develop naming systems rather than treating each project as a completely new challenge.

2. Research the competitive landscape

Before finalising any product name, understanding the competitive landscape is essential. Effective competitive research includes:

• Analysing competitor naming patterns and conventions

• Identifying white space opportunities in the naming ecosystem

• Evaluating market potential and shelf visibility

• Checking for trademark and domain availability

By having unity in your product names, you make it easier to build brand awareness, but that unity needs to exist within a competitive context that allows for differentiation.

3. Test early and often

The most successful brands use name testing throughout the process. Testing should be:

• Iterative rather than a single validation at the end

• Conducted with actual target audience segments

• Designed to measure both emotional response and recall

• Contextual, showing how names perform across different touchpoints

Early testing prevents brands from going too far down the wrong path with names that ultimately won't resonate with consumers.

4. Choose names that live beyond the product

The strongest product names become part of consumers' everyday language. These names:

• Can be easily incorporated into conversations

• Often have verb potential (like "Google" or "Zoom")

• Create clear mental images and associations

• Maintain relevance as products evolve

Go for a product name that can be used the same way Kleenex and Hoover can be used in everyday conversation. Creating a name with this versatility can significantly enhance brand recognition.

5. Optimise for clarity and memorability

Whether opting for descriptive or creative names, clarity and memorability remain essential. Strong names are:

• Easy to pronounce across languages

• Simple to spell after hearing them spoken

• Distinctive enough to be remembered

• Clear in their meaning or association

How Loops is transforming the product naming process

Loops offers a revolutionary approach to product naming that addresses the traditional challenges brands face. Unlike conventional market research that can be slow, expensive, and disruptive to creative workflows, Loops integrates seamlessly into a brand's existing process.

Rapid testing capabilities

Loops enables brands to test dozens of potential names in hours, not weeks. This rapid testing capability means:

• More name options can be evaluated

• Early concepts can be validated before significant investment

• Internal presentations include data-backed recommendations

• Last-minute changes can be validated quickly

Audience-specific insights

With Loops, brands can test potential names with precisely the audiences that matter most:

• Target demographic and psychographic segments

• Different geographic and cultural contexts

• Various consumer segments and shopper types

• Existing customers versus potential new users

These targeted insights ensure names resonate specifically with the audiences that will drive business success.

Contextual evaluation

Names don't exist in isolation – they appear on packaging, in advertisements, on products, and in conversations. Loops allows testing of names in context:

• How names look on packaging mock-ups

• How names sound in conversational usage

• How names perform across different brand touchpoints

• How names interact with taglines and supporting messaging

Emotional measurement

Beyond simple preference testing, Loops measures the emotional connections names create:

• What associations do names trigger?

• What feelings do they evoke?

• Do they align with brand values and positioning?

• How do they influence purchase intent?

These emotional insights help brands select names that don't just sound good but actually drive business results.

The Loops advantage: A case study in naming excellence

When a leading consumer packaged goods company needed a name for its new sustainable product line, the traditional approach would have involved:

• Weeks of internal brainstorming

• Expensive focus groups with limited participation

• Subjective debates among stakeholders

• Last-minute changes based on executive preferences

Using Loops, the team was able to:

1. Test 50+ potential names with target consumers in just 48 hours

2. Identify clear patterns in naming preferences by demographic segment

3. Measure emotional responses to different naming approaches

4. Present data-backed recommendations that stakeholders immediately accepted

5. Validate the final name choice across packaging, retail, and advertising contexts

The result? A product name that achieved 87% recall after just one exposure, significantly outperforming category benchmarks and contributing to a successful product launch.

Why consumer brands choose Loops

For consumer brands operating in competitive markets, Loops offers distinct advantages:

Speed and efficiency

• Get results in hours, not weeks

• Test more names without expanding timelines

• Make data-driven decisions without slowing creative momentum

• Respond quickly to changing market requirements

Cost-effectiveness

• Test more names without increasing budgets

• Reduce costly name changes late in the development process

• Eliminate expensive traditional research methods

• Maximise the ROI on naming investments

Strategic depth

• Move beyond simple preference testing to understand why names resonate

• Identify naming patterns and preferences across different markets

• Build proprietary naming insights that strengthen brand expertise

• Create repeatable naming frameworks based on validated approaches

Team collaboration

• Involve stakeholders in the testing process for collaborative wins

• Present options with data rather than subjective arguments

• Demonstrate team value through methodical, research-backed approaches

• Build stronger cross-functional relationships through shared decision-making

From naming chaos to naming confidence

The stakes in product naming have never been higher. In today's consumer-focused world, names need to be:

• Instantly recognisable and memorable

• Easily spotted on shelf and differentiated

• Globally appropriate and translatable

• Legally available and protectable

Yet many brands still approach naming as they did decades ago, through subjective brainstorming, internal voting, and hope-for-the-best market launches.

Loops transforms this chaos into confidence by enabling brands to know, not guess, how names will perform before they go to market. This confidence translates directly into stronger consumer relationships, more effective creative work, and better business outcomes.

Conclusion: The future of product naming

The future of product naming isn't just creative, it's creative and validated. By implementing a data-driven approach to naming using tools like Loops, brands can reduce subjectivity, strengthen consumer connections, and deliver names that genuinely resonate with target audiences.

In a market where competition is fierce and consumer expectations are constantly rising, having a systematic, evidence-based approach to product naming isn't just nice to have. It's essential for brands that want to deliver consistently exceptional work.

Ready to transform your approach to product naming? Book a demo to discover how Loops can strengthen your naming process and deliver names that don't just sound good but actually work.