12 min 57 sec
Available in:
English
EnglishHello, My Name is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick
Shows how to choose a brand name customers grasp at once and remember, using two simple checklists, a solo method for finding candidates and practical rules for securing the right web address.
Table of Content
1. Introduction
1 min 01 sec
Alexandra Watkins argues that in business a name has a huge effect on how people see a brand, and that the wrong one always stinks. In Hello, My Name is Awesome, the founder of the naming firm Eat My Words argues that people judge a brand name in an instant, and a bad one confuses them, bores them or drives them off. Shakespeare suggested a rose would smell as sweet under any other name. In business, Watkins replies, the wrong name always stinks.
Her case is that naming well takes clear rules more than creative genius. A strong name is easy to grasp, easy to remember and pleasant enough to make people smile. She packs those rules into two memory aids, one for what great names do and one for the mistakes that sink weak ones. Then she adds a solo method for finding candidates and a field guide to web addresses. Any name on your shortlist can be tested in minutes, and the ones likely to embarrass you will show themselves early.
2. Pass the first-impression test in one second
1 min 36 sec
Two successful websites, two very different names. One told people exactly what it offered the moment they heard it. The other left even its own users unsure what the word meant, and that cost it for years.
3. Five qualities that make a name stick
1 min 52 sec
Amazon could easily have been called something sensible and forgettable. Watkins argues the difference between a sensible name and a great one comes down to five qualities you can check on paper before spending a cent.
4. Skip the clever spellings and borrowed tricks
1 min 42 sec
A twisted spelling can feel witty in a meeting room and fail the moment a customer tries to find you. Watkins names the habits that make brands look clumsy, including one test you can run on your phone.
5. A name strangers can say and grow with
1 min 49 sec
A major retail chain sells toys and tents, yet its name keeps telling shoppers something narrower. Watkins shows how names trap companies, and why the words that mean the most to founders often mean nothing to customers.
6. Start alone to find your best name
1 min 49 sec
Group brainstorming is treated as the gold standard for fresh ideas. For naming, Watkins thinks it often buries the best suggestions, and she offers a quieter process that still ends with the team agreeing.
7. Claim a web address that fits your brand
1 min 59 sec
Facebook did not start at the address you know, and fixing that kind of mismatch can cost a fortune. Watkins explains the workarounds when your domain is taken, and the reading mistake that has embarrassed real companies.
8. Conclusion
1 min 09 sec
What Watkins offers is permission and a rulebook. Naming can look like work for rare creative talent, and she insists it is not. A good name is simple: easy for customers to remember and easy to love. SMILE and SCRATCH turn that into questions anyone can ask.
She also refuses to treat a name as permanent. If you find a better one that you believe will help the brand, she sees no reason to keep a clunker. Changing used to be hard work. Now you can redirect the old domain and email your subscribers, which doubles as a reason to talk to customers. The costs are real: emotional attachment, a divided team, the expense of replacing branded materials. But if the old name confused people, Watkins thinks the gains can outweigh them.
So take the name you have now, or the one on your whiteboard, and give it to a stranger and a search box. Score it against the five qualities, check it for the seven sins, and read its web address aloud in lowercase. A rose may survive any name. A brand, Watkins shows, needs the one that makes people smile.
About this book
What is this book about?
A product or company name is often the first thing a customer meets, and it is judged in a second. A strong name helps people connect with what you sell. A weak one can confuse them, bore them or push them away, though there are tested ways to keep that from happening. Alexandra Watkins, who runs a naming firm, argues that great names come from rules, not from rare talent. She gives two memory aids: SMILE, the five qualities strong names share, and SCRATCH, the seven mistakes that leave customers puzzled. Her examples run from Amazon and Timberland to Canadian Tire, THX and a software company called XOBNI. She also explains how to find candidates without a crowded brainstorm, starting with a written creative brief, and how to secure a domain that fits, including what to do when the address you want is taken and how to avoid web addresses that read as something embarrassing. Readers finish with a quick way to test any name and the confidence to change a bad one.
Book Information
Who it's for
Entrepreneurs picking names
Founders and small business owners about to name a company, product or service.
Product and marketing teams
Marketers and product managers stuck between a safe, forgettable name and a risky one.
Business owners weighing renames
Owners whose current name confuses customers and who are weighing whether to change it.
About the Author
Alexandra Watkins
Alexandra Watkins founded Eat My Words, a firm that creates brand names for makers of snacks, software, sunscreen, sportswear and shoes. She began in naming when Gap hired her to name its first body care line, after years as an advertising copywriter on the West Coast, including five years at Ogilvy and Mather working on the Microsoft Windows launch. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc. and Entrepreneur, and has spoken several times at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Ratings & Reviews
Ratings at a glance
What people think
Listeners view this guide as a practical resource packed with effective tips and examples, presenting a clear strategy for identifying outstanding business names. Beyond being easy to digest and follow, the material is quite funny and includes various lighthearted stories. Additionally, listeners value the direct methodology, deep insights, and the way it stimulates creative ideas through brainstorming exercises. They feel it is a high-value purchase, with one listener highlighting that it saved them thousands of dollars in rebranding costs.
Top reviews
Sienna
Stop overthinking your brand name and just buy this guide immediately. The author breaks down the naming process into a simple SMILE and SCRATCH test that is both intuitive and highly effective for entrepreneurs. I found the 'Legs' section particularly helpful for thinking about how a name can evolve over several years of business growth. It is truly refreshing to read something that isn't filled with dry, corporate jargon about brand identity or complex market positioning. This book will give you the confidence to ditch those boring names that customers instantly forget.
Show moreTanawan
Finally, a marketing book that does not feel like a grueling chore to get through! Watkins uses humor and punchy examples to explain why names like 'Spoon Me' work while others fail to make an impact. The book is incredibly short, allowing you to finish the entire thing during a single flight or a long afternoon. You will walk away with a toolkit for naming that is far more useful than any expensive consultant could provide. It is well worth the money for any business owner looking to stand out.
Show morePornpimon
Watkins offers a very straightforward process that demystifies why some names stick while others just fail miserably. I loved her breakdown of the 'seven deadly sins' of naming, even if she is a bit ruthless about businesses like Speesees. Her point about not picking a name that rhymes with feces is a hilarious but very practical rule that most founders overlook. The book is a fun, quick read that encourages you to be brave with your branding choices instead of playing it safe. This is an absolutely fantastic resource for any business owner.
Show moreNutnicha
Picked this up on a whim and ended up saving thousands of dollars in potential consulting fees for my new agency. The concept of 'googlestorming' changed the way I look at creative research because it uses the internet as a giant, free association machine. I used the online tools she suggested, like the trademark checkers and specific dictionaries, to narrow down my list of potential names. This book turns a frustrating, subjective process into a step-by-step system that anyone can follow to get an awesome result. It is the best investment I have made this year for my brand.
Show morePriya
Ever wonder why some brand names stick in your head while others are forgotten before you even finish the sentence? This book answers that question with a practical framework that any founder can apply to their own project or small business. I loved the emphasis on creating an emotional connection through imagery rather than just picking a name that is boringly descriptive. The author encourages you to be provocative, which is necessary to stand out in a crowded and highly competitive modern marketplace. This is a quick read that packs an incredible amount of value for everyone.
Show moreTaw
As someone who has struggled with naming a startup for months, this book was a massive breath of fresh air. I particularly appreciated the tactical advice on domain names, especially the suggestion that you do not need the exact-match .com to be successful. Too many founders kill great ideas because the primary URL is taken by a squatter, but Watkins provides ingenious workarounds. The brainstorming techniques mentioned are actually applicable and go way beyond just staring at a whiteboard with a group of bored coworkers. If you are tired of generic names, Watkins provides a clear roadmap.
Show moreMingkwan
The chapter on the frozen yogurt shop 'Spoon Me' alone makes the whole purchase worth it for any marketing professional. Seeing a real-world case study of how a name is developed from scratch helps ground the more abstract concepts found earlier. The writing is direct and very funny, which is a nice change of pace from the typical, boring business books on my shelf. While some of the examples are a bit repetitive, the core message about creating an emotional connection with customers is vital. Every entrepreneur should keep a copy of this book on their desk for inspiration.
Show moreLaddawan
Look, the actual framework here is solid, but the author’s dismissive attitude toward successful brands is frankly quite exhausting. She spends a lot of time dancing on the graves of failed businesses as if their names were the only reason they went under. Her critique of Apple is especially weird because she seems to misunderstand their product history while trying to make a point about branding consistency. To be fair, the SMILE test is a great filter, but you have to ignore a lot of ego to get to the good stuff. It is a decent guide if you can stomach the snark.
Show moreSupranee
Truth is, the actual naming system is quite sound, but I found the constant sexual references to be unprofessional and distracting. Watkins frequently brings up things like 'Hand Job' underwear or 'Magnum' condoms to make points that could have been made much more cleanly. Additionally, her technical errors regarding the difference between a diaeresis and punctuation are embarrassing for a book that focuses so heavily on words. It is hard to trust her legal advice about trademarks when she incorrectly claims that song titles are always up for grabs. I learned a lot, but the execution left much to be desired.
Show moreRafael
The tone of this book is genuinely off-putting and often feels like it was written by a mean porn star. Between the unnecessary sexual innuendo and the constant 'idea orgy' metaphors, it becomes incredibly difficult to focus on the actual marketing strategies. Furthermore, her dismissal of massive successes like DocuSign or Instacart feels shortsighted and arrogant for a supposed branding expert who claims to know everything. She even gets basic facts wrong regarding Apple’s history and whether or not band names can be legally protected through trademarks. While the naming process is functional, the snarky delivery made this a frustrating experience.
Show moreQuestions about this book
What is the main idea of Hello, My Name is Awesome?
Alexandra Watkins argues that you do not need to be a creative genius to name a brand well. You need rules. A good name is easy to understand, easy to remember and pleasant enough to make people smile. She captures what to aim for in the acronym SMILE and the mistakes to avoid in SCRATCH, then explains how to find candidates and secure a matching web address.
What does SMILE stand for in brand naming?
SMILE lists five qualities of a strong name. Suggestive, like Amazon hinting at everything from A to Z. Meaningful, which is why Watkins advises against naming a company after yourself. Imagery, like Timberland calling up forests. Legs, meaning room for wordplay, as with Ben and Jerry’s flavors. Emotional, like the fragrance Obsession, backed by a Fast Company article saying half of business is driven by emotion.
What are the seven deadly sins of naming?
Watkins groups them under SCRATCH: changed Spelling, as with Häagen-Dazs; Copycat names like iSomething; Restrictive names, like Canadian Tire, which sells toys and tents; Annoying endings such as -ly or -topia; Tame, generic words like cloud; the Curse of knowledge, such as naming a pump company after the Schrader valve; and Hard to pronounce names, like THX or the backward XOBNI.
How should you brainstorm a brand name?
Watkins prefers working alone at first, because extroverts tend to dominate group sessions. Start by writing a creative brief covering your audience, what the brand stands for, what the name should communicate and words to avoid. Gather ideas, then search film titles, song titles and images tied to the brief. Only then ask trusted reviewers for feedback, never open public votes.
What if the domain name you want is already taken?
Watkins suggests several options: hire a search engine optimization expert, add a word as Dropbox did with GetDropbox.com, accept a longer but clearer address, try endings like .net or .biz, or make a low offer to the owner. She also advises buying common misspellings, securing trademark rights first and checking that the words in your address do not combine into an unintended meaning.
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