The Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test (as seen in The Wall Street Journal), is based on our philosophy that a name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head.
SMILE if your name has these 5 success factors:
Simple – one easy-to-understand concept – NO
Meaningful – your customers instantly “get it” – NO
Imagery – visually evocative – creates a mental picture – NO
Legs – carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay – NO
Emotional – empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens – NO
SCRATCH it if it has any of these deal-breakers:
Spelling-challenged – not intuitive – CHECK
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand – CHECK
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced – CHECK
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, non-emotional – CHECK
Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it – CHECK
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious – CHECK
Thanks to our buddy Paul K. for sending us this doozie.
