Three steps to a perfect product name

Product naming can be one of the most infuriating and most creative exercises one can go through in a company. As a Developer Product Marketing Manager, you are the ringleader of the circus, but you are not the main attraction. Your coterie will include product, engineering, your fellow marketing managers, and, of course, your key decision makers, such as your Founders or VP.

I've been through so many naming exercises in my 25 year career, ranging from mundane features to products as big as "Visual Studio Team" and a whole litany of the Amazon Web Services services you probably use every day.

I have employed this process throughout in order to solicit feedback, give everyone in the organization an opportunity to provide input, and finally make a decision and stick with it.

The process involves three rounds.

Your naming team

Before you begin, you must assemble your naming team. These are the people with the most skin in the game. The goal is to make sure all objections are heard during the naming process, not after. Give everyone a voice, and genuinely listen to their thoughts and concerns.

For me in the past, the key drivers of the process have included:

• Product + Engineering Stakeholder: the one person in charge of the project in its entirety
• Product/Engineering team members
• Product Marketing Manager (you)
• Founders, the ultimate decision makers

The Project + Engineering Stakeholder will identify approximately 10 people to participate in the discussion as the “naming team”. This list of people should reflect ethnic and gender diversity. The 10 people do not all have to be contributors to the project, though there should be substantial representation from contributors to the project on the naming team.

A true story about diversity and inclusion

Years ago at Microsoft, I had gone through a naming and branding exercise for a product. Part of this exercise included a poster to be inserted into every product (this was back in the day when people bought packaged products in a store). We commissioned a Marvel Comics artist to produce this artwork, a comic book hero representation of "pair programming".

Thankfully, I sent this artwork out to our worldwide sales leaders before we went into production. A few sales leaders in one geography objected to the artwork because it perpetuated gender and cultural stereotypes. At the time, almost 15 years ago, they were the only ones who objected. We went back to the drawing board (literally) and reworked the finished product so it passed muster with our worldwide team. 15 years later, I think about the artwork in question and am eternally grateful. In those intervening years, our worldwide culture has evolved to a point where, yes, the original version would be considered offensive today.

Representation matters. Diversity and inclusion matter. Seek diverse perspectives on all your naming and branding projects.

Round 1: The Free-for-All

Preparation:

• Product Marketing will write a short 1-paragraph description of what we’re naming
• Product Marketing will frame the requirements for the name (e.g., “it must look good on a drop-down menu in the homepage”, “it must be on the same level as our primary brand”, “it can’t be over-cute and draw attention to itself”, etc.)
• Product Marketing will meet ahead of time with the other key drivers (Product + Engineering Stakeholder and Founders) and identify a list of potential sample names
• Product Marketing will prepare a survey with all the sample names and several “blank options” for people to include their own

Process:

1. Convene as a team for 90 minutes
2. Product Marketing provides a link to the survey
3. Everyone votes and adds their own suggestions
4. Product Marketing closes voting and takes the time to collate results
5. Product Marketing provides a link to a Google Doc with all names listed in order of number of votes received
6. Product Marketing leads a discussion of each name in the allotted time remaining
7. With 15 minutes left in the meeting, Product Marketing will cut off discussion and make sure everyone has an opportunity to declare their overwhelming affinity to any names not yet discussed
8. Product Marketing will prepare a survey of all names discussed and send a link out for people to vote. The top ten vote-getters advance to Round 2.

Round 2: The Winnowing

Preparation:

• Product Marketing will prepare a Google Survey with the top 10 vote-getters from Round 1

• Product Marketing will open the meeting by having people vote on the top 10 list. People can vote for more than one at this stage.

  • People may also come to the meeting with inspiration for other names, which can be added to the list at the Product + Engineering Stakeholder’s discretion.

Process:

1. Convene again via Zoom for 60 minutes
2. Product Marketing will present the votes and lead a discussion of the top 4-5 finalists.
3. At the end of the meeting, Product Marketing will prepare a survey of the top 4-5 finalists and each person will vote on the ONE they like.
4. After the meeting, Product Marketing will solicit feedback on the finalists from key customers and community stakeholders.

Round 3: The Exec Decision

This round can be done over Slack.

Process:

1. The Product + Engineering Stakeholder, the Founders, and Product Marketing will discuss the votes and make a decision on a name.

   1. At this stage, it is possible that none of the names are selected. If this is the case, go back to Round 1 and start over.

2. The Founders will socialize the name with close allies of the company, including a diverse panel of people, and return with any objections or concerns.

3. If there are no objections or concerns, throw a party. You’ve successfully named a project!