Online Brand Identity: What’s your name?

The first task that an online business will face is choosing a domain name. Sometimes this is as simple as extending the existing brand name online. Most often this is not an option because some one else already owns the domain. Successful Internet Marketing starts with understanding creative online brand name strategy and your target audience.

In some cases companies such as Coca-Cola or Ford Motor Company already have a brand that makes choosing and owning a domain name a no-brainier. For most of us however, this process is difficult given that our company name was created well before we thought about competing in the online world.

I have found that there are two pervasive naming strategies that companies can successfully employee to maximize their online brand:

1. Create a completely new online persona

A company will often use this strategy to sell products and services online without regard to their current brick and morter brand. This works extremely well for companies that are well established in their respective local markets and are new to the Internet. If you are creating an entirely new online identity then creating a good company name is crucial.

Michael McDerment of FreshBooks.com offers some insight into the process of discovering and creating a good company name in his recent article “How to Name Your Company“. In it he details the five critical steps necessary to generate a good company name. During this process it should be a key litmus test to check for the “.com” availability. Without it, there may be no reason to use the name. Although there are many top-level domain options available today (.us, .info, .biz, etc.) there is still a base line association with “.com” for anything web related.

2. Create a unique online identity that accentuates or complements your existing brand

This is sometimes the most difficult strategy to implement. It is generally chosen because the existing brand name is not always available as a domain name. This strategy requires a business to create a truly original domain name that complements its existing brand. As mentioned in the previous strategy, “How to Name Your Company” will offer some insight to the process.

In the case of Friedman’s Shoes, an Atlanta shoe retailer since 1929, all it took was a little creative brainstorming. All though the company name was available, the domain name was difficult for people to spell and worse, placed two letter S’s back-to-back (friedmansshoes.com). This was not acceptable. We decided to create a unique identity crafted around their product line and largefeet.com was born. It was not only a simple and easy name to remember but a brilliant stroke of marketing- both online and off line.

What successful online naming strategies have you seen?