By Robin Zhang, July 2026

It's not unusual for me to get pulled into debates about naming, whether it's a company name or the name of a product or service. Having been through this exercise countless times, I can't help sharing a few observations of my own, even if they don't entirely align with what the classic marketing textbooks tell us.

My premise is simple: building a brand is expensive, and a strong marketing engine can build a successful brand regardless of whether the name itself is brilliant, mediocre, or even somewhat awkward.

Company names

When it comes to company names, my advice is straightforward: founders should have the final say.

A company name should be creative rather than descriptive. Companies evolve quickly, especially in their early years, and overly descriptive names often become limiting. As strategies shift, products change, and markets expand, companies frequently find themselves spending time and money on rebranding.

Instead, a company name should reflect the company's original story. It should feel personal, whether it is inspired by a person, a place, or an idea that carries meaning for the founders. As I discussed in my earlier piece on storytelling, that original story can become an important anchor as the company evolves.

Over time, the name gradually takes on a meaning of its own. Eventually, it becomes associated not with what the company once was, but with what it aspires to become.

Think about some of the world's most recognizable brands, such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Stripe, Plaid, and Snowflake. None of these names clearly described the businesses behind them when they were first created. Some were inspired by ambitious ideas, while others drew on symbols or metaphors that resonated with their founders. Their meanings emerged over time as the companies grew and succeeded.

The same principle applies to early-stage companies today. Founders are often tempted to choose names that precisely describe the products they are building. The problem is that companies rarely remain exactly what they were on the day they were founded. A distinctive name gives a company room to evolve.

In today's B2B technology market, I have only one firm piece of advice.

Don't put "AI" in your company name.

Think back to the dot-com era. How many companies that survived still carry names that reflect that trend? Companies are built to endure. Trends come and go.

The best company names are not explanations. They are containers into which companies pour meaning over time.

Product and service names

My philosophy is almost the opposite when it comes to products and services.

This is where creativity often becomes less important than clarity.

Products and services, particularly in B2B markets, evolve rapidly. You rarely have the luxury of investing years and millions of dollars in building awareness around every product name. Instead, the name should communicate its purpose as quickly and clearly as possible.

I learned this lesson firsthand at EY.

When I joined the firm, conflict minerals compliance had become a major regulatory challenge. We needed to move quickly because the issue aligned naturally with our broader supply chain compliance offerings. Rather than spending time inventing a clever name, we focused on clearly defining the problem we were solving.

As regulations evolved, we were able to adapt quickly and establish ourselves as an early leader in the market. A year or two later, the issue had largely faded, and we simply retired the solution.

I've seen variations of this pattern many times throughout my career.

One important exception is when companies package multiple offerings around a common capability or platform. In those situations, consistency matters.

A family of related solution names reinforces a company's core strengths while helping customers quickly identify the use cases most relevant to them. Consider examples such as AWS for Financial Services or AWS for Healthcare & Life Sciences. The names may not be particularly imaginative, but they immediately communicate both the common foundation and the specific application.

In summary

Naming exercises are often surprisingly emotional. Discussions that begin with excitement can easily become lengthy debates that create unnecessary friction.

Naming is only one aspect of a company's broader brand identity. In the end, customers care far more about the quality of a product or service than they do about the name attached to it.

If anything, visual identity may be even more important. Logos, colors, design systems, and other visual elements take years to establish and can be extremely expensive to change.

But that's a topic for another day.