This is one of our favorite #tellthetruths videos ever because Rebeca is worked up on this topic! The bottom line is that you should use your own name as a brand name only if it confers some strategic advantage to the brand.
You Probably Shouldn’t Name Your Brand After Yourself
Otherwise, get your ego out of the way and find something that works harder.
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn
If you liked this video, try:
The Beautiful Challenge of Naming
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey guys, it’s Rebeca, and I’m going to try really hard not to be snarky in this video, but there’s snark running through my veins right now around this topic, which is people naming brands after themselves. It can be a good idea. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s more often a bad idea. Get over yourself, get your ego out of the way.
So if you are prominent in a field, if you are launching a business, and you are well-known in that area, and it’s going to be helpful to you, by all means, name the business after you. If you are a very well-known caterer in Connecticut named Martha Stewart, and for you to continue to grow your empire, using that name continues to make sense. Okay, go for it. (But by the way, when she started a media company, she named it something else. She named it Omnimedia, right?) But anyway, anyway, okay.
But on the other hand, if your name isn’t working for you, get your ego out of the way. There was this guy that was designing ties, neckties, and he was starting to take off. The necktie is the symbol of class and gentility. And his name was Ralph Lifshitz, and that is a shitty last name. And he changed it to Ralph Lauren, and built from the ties to an entire fashion and then lifestyle brand. And he couldn’t have done it on the back of Lifshitz. And he got his ego out of the way, and he made some crap up, and look where it catapulted him.
So yes, you have to think about names that sound ethnic, sorry. You have to think about is it giving you anything, or is it not? I mean conversely, if you have like a really establishment kind of WASPy name, and that works for what you’re selling, maybe you do name yourself. But it’s not just about your ego. Name it after yourself. You knew what I meant. It’s not just your ego. It’s strategic. Get out of the way, and make this a strategic decision.
I’ll say that my name, my company name, is not my personal name. And that was a strategic decision. That was me thinking about having associates that show up that people don’t say, “Where’s Rebeca?” That was thinking about my end game. I like my name, it… Rebeca Arbona, it has some flow. It’s not a company name that I like. I’m okay with that. I have a healthy ego, and I got out of the way of it. So that’s what I think. What do you think? Got any examples? Any spectacular failures? I love the spectacular failures. Thanks. Bye!
