With a proliferation of brands across all categories, it’s getting harder and harder to find a meaningful, pronounceable and trademarkable name for a new business or product. It can even get absurd, as evidenced by the product names consisting of seemingly random combinations of letters & numbers used by some Chinese manufacturers to get a trademarkable “brand” for their products so they can qualify for higher placement and sponsored ads in Amazon (WMYCONGCONG, BM-800 or IENZA anyone?)

But a name is just the first step in creating a brand, so those “brands” of random non-words aren’t really a brand, they are simply product names. It can help to have a brand that has some meaning for the product, even if in another (yet still pronounceable) spelling, like Fenix or Koffi, as this gives consumers a hint about the brand. Yet even having a name that alludes to the product isn’t enough. To be a true brand, you need to invest in creating meaning for the name and engage consumers in it too. To create such a brand, begin by defining what the brand is about, then repeatedly communicate that meaning in every touchpoint and every interaction with the consumer. You’ll get bored of the repetition far before consumers will understand your brand, so remember “Just Do It” has been Nike’s brand slogan since 1987 and is still going strong.