How 16 Great Companies Picked Their Unique Names

Posted on | July 27, 2010 | 1 Comment

When I started ConnectiMass, my digital marketing company 3 years ago, when I said the name out loud to people it made them stop, roll it through their brains again, shake their head with understanding, then smile and say ahhh ok.

For me it was a process where I wanted to find a name that had the following properties: was unique, representative of the industry I was working in, didn’t have my name attached and sure as hell didn’t end with Associates and sounded like an ad agency. I wrote down the word Connect…as some of my friends were always calling me a great connector since I know alot of people across varying groups….I wrote down the “I” because we’re in the internet industry which is all about connecting, locally regionally and globally….then the Mass represented people and…in short it’s about Connecting people using the Internet…ConnectiMass.  So ConnectiMass…is a Digital Marketing company that helps Caribbean brands use the Internet and the mobile phone as marketing and communication channels to grow their business; we also run technology and internet related workshops, trend briefings, conferences as well as publishes information products. Our slogan came later  ” Connecting the Caribbean to the World, Online and On the Go.”

My  long time friend Marlon James, an award winning designer and critically acclaimed writer who created the logo for me…added the graphical element of the dragonfly. I was puzzled until I Googled it…and I loved what I found…”in Japanese culture dragonflies are symbols of courage, strength, and happiness”, and “for some Native American tribes they represent swiftness and activity.” I read additional places that it was also a transformation icon and after finding out all of that, I was sold.

Now I’m considering another venture, I am researching again and I came across this really cool article that I simply had to share….How 16 Great Companies Picked Their Unique Names…which lists how companies like Google, Hotmail, Skype and Lego came up with their names. It’s helping me and I’m sure it will inspire you too.

Example: 15. Skype: The original prototype of the company’s flagship product had the name “Sky-Peer-to-Peer,” which was shrunk down to Skyper, then finally Skype.

Find the others here.

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