9 Rules For Finding the Perfect Product Name

A simple framework to help you land on a name that’s memorable, meaningful, and made to last.

One hill I’ll die on (and there aren’t many) is that Product Marketing should own the naming of new products.

Everyone else should absolutely be bought in - but it’s Product Marketing, with its deep understanding of the product and what resonates with customers, that’s best placed to lead any naming process.

Here are some tips to help you name your next product, feature, or initiative effectively.

1. You don’t need to make a brand out of everything

Be careful - and selective - before turning a product or feature into a sub-brand.

My rule of thumb? Almost never.

Save brand-building for work happening at the company-level. Most of the time, a good name and clear value prop will take you further than trying to build a brand within a brand.

2. Don’t underestimate the Ronseal approach

Sometimes the best name is the one that says what the product does.

Clarity beats cleverness. Customers don’t have time to unpick your creativity.

3. Keep it short and sweet

Don’t make life harder for your customers.

Long or complex names are forgettable, hard to type, and even harder to talk about.

4. Differentiate, but not at the cost of clarity

Competitive analysis is essential when naming a product.

But if every competitor calls their equivalent solution by the same name, there’s probably a good reason. Going too far in the other direction can confuse customers, and make it harder for them to recognise that your product solves the same problem.

You want to stand out. But you also want to be found, understood, and chosen.

5. Prioritise the right persona

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes.

Which audience matters most when it comes to understanding this product? Prioritise them above all others - including your internal stakeholders.

6. Don’t let it die by committee

Naming is emotional. And subjective.

Everyone will have an opinion, and a new product name is one of the easiest things for someone without full context to shoot down with a “that sucks.”

There’s a big risk with this. By trying to make everyone happy, you may well water it down so much it either doesn’t make sense or no longer stands out.

Identify the key stakeholders whose buy-in is critical. Get them aligned early. Tune out the rest.

7. You don’t need your brand name in every product name

Your customers already know your product is yours.

You don’t need to stamp your brand name at the front of every product or feature. It’s repetitive and bloats the name.

Imagine if I launched a bunch of sub-brands like The Product Marketer: Competitive Intelligence or The Product Marketer: PMM Co-Pilot.

Those names are too long and too clunky. Instead, short and simple product names, without the prefixes, can build their own equity and strengthen the overall brand they ladder into.

8. Name consistently

Inconsistency in naming conventions can chip away at your brand.

It creates confusion, looks unprofessional, and undermines the work you’re doing elsewhere to build a strong identity.

Pick a naming style and stick with it for all of your products.

9. Test and validate

Naming is more art than science. And your gut instinct will often lead you to the right answer.

But instinct isn’t enough on its own. Validate your shortlist through user interviews, surveys, or lightweight testing. It doesn’t need to be exhaustive - just enough to check you’re resonating with the customers who matter most.

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What’s in a name?

Good names make everything easier. They make your product easier to understand, easier to sell, and easier to talk about. They don’t just sound good - they do a big part of the product marketing job for you.

So be intentional and run a proper naming process, based on the above pointers. And if you want to work with a consultant who’s run this process before, then let’s chat.

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The Product Marketer is a London-based consultancy, helping ambitious companies across Europe - and the wider EMEA region - achieve world-class product marketing.