Naming & Taglines
A name has one job: to be remembered and repeated correctly. Everything else, including how clever it sounds in a meeting, is secondary and usually a distraction.
Naming looks like the fun part and turns into the hardest. The good names are taken, the available names are awkward, and everyone in the room has an opinion informed by nothing. Without a process, the group defaults to whatever offends the fewest people, which is how businesses end up with names nobody can spell after hearing them once.
We run naming as a funnel with criteria agreed up front. Distinctiveness, ease of saying out loud, spelling on the first try, legal clearance, and domain availability. A name that fails any one of those is out, regardless of how much anyone likes it. That discipline is what stops the process from going in circles for two months.
Taglines follow the same logic. A tagline is not a slogan and not a description. It is the one line that makes the promise concrete enough to be worth repeating. If it could sit under a competitor logo without anyone noticing, it is not finished.
What this includes
Naming criteria brief
Agreed rules for what a good name looks like for your specific business, signed off before generation starts.
Generation
Broad exploration across several naming territories, descriptive through abstract, usually two hundred candidates or more.
Screening
Knockout rounds against the criteria, plus preliminary trademark and domain screening on the survivors.
Linguistic check
Pronunciation, unfortunate readings, and how it holds up said quickly on a phone call.
Presentation
A short list with rationale for each, including how it looks set in type and used in a sentence.
Tagline development
Lines written against the approved name and the brand promise, tested for whether a competitor could steal them.
How we run it
Agree the rules
We define what wins before we generate anything, so decisions later are objective.
Generate wide
Hundreds of candidates across multiple territories. Volume is what makes the good ones possible.
Screen hard
Most candidates die here. That is the point of generating so many.
Present and decide
A short list with honest arguments for and against each option.
What you receive
- Naming criteria brief
- Long list of candidates
- Screened short list with rationale
- Preliminary trademark and domain screening
- Recommended name
- Tagline options with usage examples
Every file, in every format, with full ownership transferred to you. No licensing games, ever.
Questions about naming & taglines
Do you handle the trademark filing?
We do preliminary screening so you do not fall in love with something clearly blocked, and we flag risks in writing. Actual clearance and filing should be done by a trademark attorney, and we will happily work alongside yours.
What if every name we like has the domain taken?
Very common. There are good options: a modifier, a different extension used deliberately, or buying the domain from the holder, which is often cheaper than people expect. We will lay out the realistic paths rather than sending you back to the drawing board.
Can you rename an existing business without killing our search traffic?
Yes, with a planned migration. Redirects, brand search protection, and a transition period where both names appear together. It is a real project, not a find and replace, and we scope it as one.
How many names do we get to choose from?
Typically six to ten fully screened finalists. Presenting fifty would feel generous and would actually make the decision harder and worse.
The capabilities that usually come next.
Key Brand Messaging
The exact words your whole team uses so the company sounds like one company.
ExploreStrategy & Copywriting
Words that do a job: get read, build trust, and ask for the next step.
ExploreDiscovery & Research
We learn your business, your buyers, and your competitors before we recommend anything.
ExploreLet us find a name that survives the process.
The good names are taken, everyone in the room has an opinion, and without criteria the group settles for whatever offends the fewest people. We run it as a funnel with rules agreed before we generate anything.
800.274.6775Free consultation · Family owned · Never outsourced
- You talk to the people who do the work, not an account handler.
- Fixed scope and fixed price before anything starts.
- You own every file, every login, and every asset. Always.
- Straight answers, including when the answer is that you do not need us.
Tell us about your business
A few details and we will follow up within one business day.