February 4, 2003

Snark Hunting

Snark Hunting is all about naming and branding in popular culture. The name “Snark Hunting” comes from The Hunting of the Snark, by Lewis Carroll.

An important first step in the naming process is to figure out just what it is that your new name should be doing for you. The most common decision is that a name should explain to the world what business you are in or what your product does. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.

There is simply no imaginable circumstance in which a name will have to explain itself. This is fortunate, because having a descriptive name is actually a counterproductive marketing move which requires an enormous amount of effort to overcome. A descriptive naming strategy overlooks the fact that the whole point of marketing is to separate yourself from the pack. It actually works against you, causing you to fade into the background, indistinguishable from the bulk of your competitors. Remember: 1. Names don’t exist in a vacuum.

There is a ton of really good information here on naming.

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