A great brand name can be one of the most valuable assets a business owns. It shapes first impressions, drives recall, and sets the tone for everything that follows. Yet many businesses treat naming as a creative exercise rather than a strategic one.
For Chris Laws, brand naming begins long before brainstorming starts. The best names aren’t lucky accidents or clever wordplay – though they can be. They are the natural result of a clear, disciplined strategy that defines what the brand stands for and who it speaks to.
The Strategic Foundation
Before you think about words, you need to think about meaning. What space will the brand occupy in people’s minds? What emotion or idea should it own? And how does it fit within the broader category?
Chris Laws often begins naming programs with a positioning workshop. This helps teams clarify the brand’s purpose, values, audience and competitive landscape. The outcome is a set of principles that guide creative exploration.
Without this foundation, naming becomes guesswork. With it, every name concept can be judged on its ability to deliver against strategy rather than personal preference. The goal is not just to sound good but to say something meaningful about who you are and where you’re heading.
Exploring the Right Territory
Once the strategy is clear, the creative process can begin. The key is to explore a range of naming territories rather than fixating on a single style.
Chris Laws often categorises names into four broad types: descriptive, evocative, abstract and heritage. Each has strengths and limitations. Descriptive names, like Booking.com or Budget Direct, are straightforward and easy to understand but harder to protect. Evocative names, such as Thankyou or Who Gives a Crap, use emotion and personality to tell a story. Abstract names, like Qantas or Aesop, are distinctive but require strong branding to build meaning over time. Heritage names can leverage authenticity or credibility when a legacy exists. The benefits of descriptive names are often offset by their lack of availability, and the challenges they bring in ‘owning’ a name in search. Conversely, abstract names are
easy to register and own out in the world, but they require significant investment to attach meaning to the name.
The right choice depends on the category, the competitive set and the desired tone. For example, a start-up challenger might benefit from a bold, expressive name that breaks conventions, while an institutional brand may need something confident and timeless.
Balancing Creativity and Clarity
A good brand name needs to be creative, but it also needs to work. That means checking for simplicity, pronunciation, memorability and cultural relevance. Chris Laws recommends testing names with different audiences, reading them aloud, and considering how they might look or sound in conversation, advertising or digital search.
Clarity matters. If a name confuses or alienates, it fails before the brand even launches. The best names strike a balance between being interesting and being understood.
Australian examples like Koala, Bellroy and Heaps Normal demonstrate how simplicity and story can coexist. Each name is short, easy to remember and infused with brand personality. They feel confident without trying too hard.
Validation and Protection
A creative favourite can quickly become a legal headache if due diligence is ignored. Trademark searches, domain availability, and cultural checks are essential steps in protecting a name’s value.
Chris Laws often partners with legal specialists to ensure naming decisions are viable for long-term use. This step is especially critical when operating across multiple markets or product categories. Protecting a name is as important as creating it.
Validation also extends to internal alignment. A name should be something a team can stand behind and feel proud to represent. Internal buy-in helps ensure consistent usage and advocacy once the brand launches.
A Strategic Lens for Creative Freedom
When naming starts with strategy, creativity becomes more focused and productive. It is easier to recognise the right answer because it feels inevitable. The name fits like a missing piece in the brand story.
Chris Laws believes that while great design and storytelling bring a brand to life, the name remains its anchor. It is the word people search, say and remember. And when it is grounded in strategy, it becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
For any business embarking on the naming journey, start with strategy. The creativity will come, but meaning must come first.