Naming new software product

A name can help people create a mental model for your product, which helps them to remember and associate your product with a particular job. Catchwords 10 qualities of great brand names is an essential companion to creating the perfect name, and the perfect resource for anyone just beginning to create a new product or company name, or at the end of a brand naming process. Software name generator free names suggestions for. Mar 25, 2019 whether youre choosing a title for an single new product or completely reinventing your entire product portfolio, its hard to define something so complex in a single word or phrase. For instance, are you naming a totally new type of product which could be worthy of a proprietary, branded name or merely a line extension.

If youve spent time leading a technology marketing team, you are probably familiar. Simply enter words that you want your business name to include and browse catchy company and app name. Increase your odds of product success by leveraging market research to find the ideal name. Search out for unique name ideas via our cool app names generator. Build a plan, explain your reasoning, and consider releasing a new product, service, or update at the same time.

We offer you one more way to spark your creativity. The audience for your business may be those who pass or drive by your brickandmortar shop, store, or restaurant. As the industry leader in network video, axis offers products and. Unlike music titles, software people usually prefer short descriptive names. All apache podlings, and any apache top level project tlp must use this process when coming up with a new project name, or when coming up with a name for a new subproject or downloadable software product. Short domains are very expensive, yet longer multiword names dont inspire confidence. Naming a baby may be hard, but naming a product can be even harder. While there are no product feature or pricing changes taking place, this new naming does unlock two important customer conversations. Around a year ago we desperately needed a name for the new test management software we had been working on. Naming your software and uniqueness software engineering stack. For a software product, youd like it to be unique worldwide. Heres the structure that we used to come up with our new product name.

Whether youre naming your baby, your boat, or your brand, the process can breed. When naming is done wellbe it for a business, a band, a product, or anythingit paves the way for a good impression, enticing the listener or reader to come in closer. Simplify tech product naming by building a brand architecture diagram. Commit to a few simple business naming exercises and im willing to bet youll come up with brilliant ideas.

A key point in software product naming is to have some sort of naming architecture in place. New project and software product naming process apache software. Just enter a few keywords and browse inspiring naming ideas in our business name maker. Whats your prefered method to name your software releases. Our free business name generator is here to help you find exciting titles for. Naming your software project in 5 minutes or less slaptijack. Product line s software solutions product type 1 2 recorder. The weird science of naming new products the new york times. Booking birthday parties online more accurately describes our current product offering.

Noah is currently the coo at palo alto software, makers of outpost and the. Software name generator free business name ideas anadea. How to name a product 10 tips for product naming success. When a customer sees a new name they expect a brand new and different product, with brand new features.

Here we address whats in a name, by considering product vision, short and longterm goals, customer profiles, competitor names, positioning opportunities, industry trends, desired image attributes and stylistic preferences. Since 1998, we have worked with over 500 companies across sectors, while pioneering many naming best practices. Just like you have product road maps this doesnt solve all your naming problems, but at least sends a message to all constituent holders that in this company, software product names will be of this style. A product name should be more informative, focused around selling the product, whilst adhering to and supporting the brand identity. Find a great name for your software product, program or app. In 2019 many startups are choosing a short, branded name a name thats unique, memorable and. Be it a mobile app or erp software, as a fullservice software development company.

Product naming software free download product naming top 4 download offers free software downloads for windows, mac, ios and android computers and mobile devices. A downside of a masterbrand is that if one product area in a masterbrands suite is performing poorly, the entire masterbrand may take a hit, especially if the masterbrand only contains a small number of product subbrands. Brandlance provides you with a naming expert tool to simplify this process. For new businesses, naming options can seem quite limited. Software design and release is so often driven by the engineering team rather than by product marketing. If you take a name of a product which already exists in the same or similar market, this product.

We all know about phoenix becoming firebird becoming firefox because it clashed with other software product names. Trademark resources site map and podling name search guide. Catchword is one of the worlds leading brand naming agencies, with offices in the san francisco bay area and new york city. The more specific your keywords, the better the results. Software engineering stack exchange is a question and answer site for professionals, academics, and students working within the systems development life cycle. An example of a descriptive naming strategy is apple, with its ipod, iphone, and ipad products. If your product solves a similar problem to other search results, thats a problem. Name for your product, service or company brand naming. Although theres ample research to guide marketers in naming new products, little of it has addressed followon offerings, even though these make.

A great app name is a user magnet which makes it easier to find your mobile app in the app store. Unfortunately, every great company needs at least a basic naming strategy. By decomposing each name proposal one can verify that the name doesnt contain any inappropriate words in any languages and also fully. Similar nonsoftware product names are rarely an issue unless they are famous trademarkslike nike or red bull, for examplewhere the companies behind them wont look kindly on anyone using a. In fact, we used a codename for the project until the very last minute, so that we didnt have to come up with the product name earlier. Whether youre choosing a title for an single new product or completely reinventing your entire product portfolio. In naming software products or services, or if you are trying to find a good name for a. Other factors come into play, including how a name sounds, and how distinctive, appropriate, likable, extendable, and protectable it is. In some cases, new business owners will be interested in international company names. The name change accompanied a new product, and a new statement of company vision. Heres how we named our new product, outpost, and the method we used to choose the. Although i may sometimes have to wear that hat, the beginning of a new software project is not that time. Users may gravitate to an existing product instead of a new one.

What to keep in mind when you are naming your product best. Product naming as a business for business the new york times. What to keep in mind when you are naming your product. Discovering new concepts requires knowledge of the business domain. Any word can be powerful, but names are transformative.

Software product naming challenges brighter naming. When you name something, it anchors it in peoples minds. Business name generator free aipowered naming tool namelix. From now on, i will generate all software project names using a random word generator. Playstation for example, use brand name continuation. This may seem like a silly concept, but its very satisfying.

Ill be using the terms product and business interchangeably. Nor would you want to start with a new software name thats likely to be confused with some other organizations software products. My view is you should pick a name that has a strongsounding brand, or the potential for one. This new naming format better reflects our approach to product delivery. The uniqueness of the name is important for three reasons. Qualtrics recommends using qualitative research to test product names and values of your prospective customers. How to brand a nextgeneration product harvard business. When coming up with a new product name, you need to research, plan, and brainstorm, then test before you launch. As webmaster on two download sites, i see thousands of new product names, and some of them. We believe your product name should be with you for the long haul, which means the work we do will be just as relevant at launch as it will be five or ten years from. Some open source software project name releases after the date they were released. Naming exercises for businesses or products highfive. Plus now we have extensive consumer product and service naming experience too, with very large databases of names and roots. And in a world where new apps are often described by comparison to existing tools thats not very surprising.

Changing our version numbering for new software releases. We used to say that software was similar to services. The 8 principles of product naming even at the best of times, naming is a contentious and emotional business. Upgrades to existing product lines make up a huge part of corporate research and development activity, and with every upgrade comes the decision of how to brand it. Here are a few naming brainstorm exercises that will help you find a killer name. As you develop your product you will release new versions and you. However, that difference wont affect this naming process. Whether youre choosing a title for an single new product or completely reinventing your entire product portfolio, its hard to define something so complex in a single word or phrase.

Instead of aligning our most impactful features for a larger. If you ve spent time leading a technology marketing team, you are probably familiar. The product is perceived to be riskier than a next generation product, however, it may be more rewarding, for example be of a higher quality, or have a more satisfying user experience. Spotifys success led to a boom of companies ending with ify, apple spawned an endless gallery of fruit names and the iphone had given rise to a passion for ieverything. The product maps, for example, describes the products function. Software engineers are very opinionated when it comes to naming their creative works, even though few have marketing experience at all. We are probably the only naming agency headed by a former technocrat, so we can relate to all staff stakeholders in the product naming process. How to name software products and programs and apps. Certain types of names are better suited for certain products. This brandscape naming brainstorm exercise establishes the personality of your company, product, or service. Our expertcertified online name testing survey template can verify that your customers or target market like and understand your new name. Or they can come up with a new name for the next version, as nintendo did with its n64, gamecube.

If we chose to implement the name change after deploying the new reporting solution, wed double the development workload, since every report would have to be adjusted to align with the new naming convention. Namelix uses artificial intelligence to create a short, brandable business name. In fact, we used a codename for the project until the very last minute, so that we didnt have to. Upsell to microsoft 365 business premium aligning microsoft 365 business standard and microsoft 365 business premium to the same naming convention makes the upsell conversation clearer. And consider the digital side of your product marketing. Gourville and elie ofek teamed up with marco bertini to suss out the best practices for naming nextgeneration products.

You dont want something too common, and obviously dont want to tread on someone elses toes with a name, but imo you also dont want to go the web 2. A good product name gives that product a certain shape for the team designing it, and for those who use it. While less descriptive than apples product names, the oxo product names still strongly suggest what distinguishes the different line. Cycles range from its initial development to its eventual release, and include updated versions of the released version to help improve software or fix software bugs still present in the software computer users are most likely to be familiar with the beta phase, as software. Search for domain availability, and instantly generate a logo for your new. During my career, i named or was part of a team that named dozens of products, created taglines and technology brand marks.

An ideal name is something that reflects your identity and describes your business. How to name a product copywriting for startups and marketers. Product naming software free download product naming. I consolidated that research into a fourstep naming process. The right name will anchor a product in users minds and create brand recognition. Naming your software and uniqueness closed ask question. In this essential guide, well explain precisely how to name a product. So lets categorize the types of names that exist note. I can help your company or brand with the naming process from concept to logo creation to trademark to packaging. First, make sure that your product name is not already in use by. To choose a memorable name for a product, start with the jobs you want people to associate it with.

As weve accelerated our speed of development, we can now deliver new product capabilities at a faster pace. How to name an app, a program, a company, or a service. Over 100 new products are created every day in the usa alone. A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software. A business name however is a brand built through consumer perceptions, expectations, and experiences with all products or services under a brand umbrella. Naming new technology products can be a painful experience. If youre naming a company, the answer is usually pretty straightforward. Product line s software solutions product type 1 2 recorder appliance 9 other desktop terminal, ups variant form factor. But the most important thing to keep in mind is your company. To help ensure early adoption of your idea, its important that you get feedback from potential customers on what youre going to call it. We are experts in every aspect of name development, including naming strategy and architecture, product and. If youre going to follow suit and change your name, take a note from moz. Individual brands are where product naming becomes interesting and challenging.

When software applies the same nomenclatures as the business, an ubiquitous language is established evans, 2003, one that allows professionals from different areas of expertise to speak the same idioms. Business name generator free aipowered naming tool. Your product name should tie back into what your product is, what the feeling you want people to have when experiencing your product is, andor what idea are you trying to get across. Jan 18, 2015 the weird science of naming new products. Product naming software free download product naming top. If youre writing about the product in a subject line, you dont want it to be 25 characters in length cos your subject line should be 50 characters or fewer. When it comes to marketing a new brand, the selection of the right name is critical, said. New agile software tools have accelerated the speed of development, as well as changed the definition of what is a product. But ubuntu is not the only linux distribution that uses this method. Although i may sometimes have to wear that hat, the beginning of a new. For products, though, the answer is not always as simple. This is a pretty broad question there are a lot of things you could and should keep in mind when naming your product or company, including the things others have already mentioned. After all, naming a product is really the job of a marketing professional.