"Blink" names are simple, straightforward and usually descriptive of what the product is or does. It only takes the blink of an eye to "get it."

“Think” names are different. A Think name causes you to pause and consider it because the meaning of the name is deeper than a Blink name. There are pros and cons to each type of name, but you should consider both and make an informed choice.

Because Blink names are so straightforward, your brain does not have to work hard to get it. For example, consider the name Zyliss gave their food chopper: Easy Chop. That name pretty much says everything you need to know about this product. It easily chops food.

Malcolm Gladwell wrote Blink which covered in detail those decisions made in an instant. Gladwell’s premise is that in seconds a person can form an intuitive first impression that can be more valid than a carefully considered, well-thought-out, researched conclusion. Your unconscious brain takes over, which is exactly what happens with a Blink name. Your brain says “got it, now move on” in a matter of seconds.

Blink names are like "tequila shots" as they are simple, quick and effective.

Here are some examples of Blink names from the food chopper category.

Blink names are quite popular because companies want to save money in marketing their brands. Clients who choose a Blink name are essentially saying “I don’t have a lot of money to create meaning for a name, so I’m going to choose a name that is so simple even a caveman could get it instantly.”

But there are a few issues with Blink names. First of all, Blink names tend to be generic in nature and therefore are difficult to trademark. Even when a trademark is granted, its protection will be weak.

There is usually very little differentiation by using a Blink name. As proof, here are a few competitors of the Easy Chop food chopper:
• Easy Chopper
• Quick Chop
• Turbo Chop
• Turbo Chopper

This lack of competitive differentiation can lead to substantial consumer confusion. Imagine your customer going to the store and looking for the Easy Chop product. Because the name is a generic description of the product function, he/she may get lost in the competitive confusion and end up buying the wrong product.

Another problem with Blink names is the potential for lack of registration in long-term memory. If the name of your product or service gets the “Blink treatment” it may be in and out of the brain so quickly that it just does not register, and therefore won’t be available for recall later when your customer is shopping.

“Think” names are different. A Think name causes you to pause and consider it because the meaning of the name is deeper than a Blink name. Think names engage the brain in a way that enhances memorability.

Think names are like the "single malt scotch" that you savor and enjoy as it unfolds.

Here are some examples of Think names.

Amazon - Amazon is the top online seller of books, music, and everything else you can possibly think of so is it any wonder why Jeff Bezos chose the name of the largest river in the world to describe his web business (launched with the slogan “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore")? Other subtleties of the name include: Amazon is close to the worcognate of "amazing," the name includes “A to Z” which indicates they cover the entire spectrum of shopping (the logo adds emphasis to this by an arrow moving from A to Z), and the ending says it is always “on.”

Apple – When Steve Jobs came up with the name for Apple, he was on one of his “fruitarian diets" and had just returned from a local orchard. He said he thought the name sounded "fun, spirited and not intimidating," which is a perfect way to describe the user experience of Apple technology.

Google – Google is a play on the word "googol," a mathematical term for the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. This name reflects Larry Page and Sergey Brin's mission to organize a seemingly infinite amount of information on the web.

Viagra - The Viagra name works on many levels for a treatment for erectile dysfunction. It rhymes with Niagara and anyone who has seen Niagara Falls can testify to the endless power of the rushing water. The first syllable of Viagra is closely related to energy words like vitality, vigor, virile, and the last part of the name contains the word “Agra” which is the site of the Taj Mahal, the world’s best-known monument to love.

A Think name usually stands out and is distinctive in its category, therefore getting a trademark is usually possible.

A Think name causes you to pause and consider it because the meaning of the name is deeper than a Blink name and your brain has to work to make the connection.

Sticking with the food chopper category, consider the name The Pampered Chef uses for its food chopper: Cutting Edge. This name is a Think name because it causes you to think about how a futuristic term (e.g., the cutting edge of technology) can apply to a mundane product such as a food chopper. By making an in-depth connection (something like: cutting edge => high tech => better design => improved performance => Cutting Edge food chopper is better), your brain has expended a sufficient amount of effort to store away the complex meaning behind the name, which enhances recall and persuasion for the product.

Think names generally require more marketing investment to register in the minds of consumers. To get Monster.com established as a premier job hunting site took a lot more investment than JobHunt.com.

But don’t go too far with Think names. If you make people work too hard to get the meaning behind the name, you may confuse them and perhaps even anger them. In the food chopper category, the Starfrit Swizzz Prozzz Chopper is a great example of this. Sure, the name stands out because the use of “-zzz” is quite unusual, but “-zzz” does not have a lot of relevance for food choppers (certainly not as much as it does for sleep products, e.g., ZzzQuil sleep aid). People will think about the name but in the end will decide it does not make sense, so they will reject it.

An example of going too far is Xobni. Insiders knew the name for the app was the word "inbox" spelled backward, but consumers found the name to be confusing and unpronounceable. The company was sold to Yahoo in 2013 and they changed the app name to Smartr by Xobni.

In my book, The Science of Branding: (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TBOL6YA), I discussed a study in The Journal of Consumer Research in 2005 where the researchers looked at the impact of Think names (aka ambiguous names) on consumer preference (http://d1c25a6gwz7q5e.cloudfront.net/papers/1295.pdf ).

The researchers used crayon colors as a proxy for the trend in Think, or ambiguous, brand names in all types of product categories (such as Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream). The standard Crayola® Crayon color palette contains over 130 colors including ambiguously named colors such as purple heart, razzmatazz, and fuzzy wuzzy brown.

The researchers developed a 2x2 grid for categorizing color names based on whether they are typical or atypical and specific or unspecific. The resulting categorization put the Crayola names into 4 categories:

1. Common (typical, unspecific; e.g., dark green, light yellow)
2. Common Descriptive (typical, specific; e.g., pine green, lemon yellow)
3. Unexpected Descriptive (atypical, specific; e.g., Kermit green, rainslicker yellow)
4. Ambiguous (atypical, unspecific; e.g., friendly green, party yellow)

The researchers then measured how the names impacted consumers’ product perceptions and purchase intentions. The results suggest that color names can influence purchase intent and that this effect is related to the typicality and specificity (or lack thereof) of the names. In general, consumers preferred ambiguous names to plain descriptive names.

The scientists speculate that the use of ambiguous and unexpected names creates a “mind puzzle” that the customer will have to solve. When the customer makes the connection and understands why the name was chosen, he/she will have higher recall of the name and positive attributions to the product. If you use a slightly ambiguous name, the consumer might actually enjoy the “mind puzzle” and won’t have to work too hard to get your point. When consumers solve the puzzle, they will then have a sense of accomplishment because they were able to figure it out. However, if you use a truly ambiguous name (such as Party Yellow), consumers may just get frustrated, confused and move on.

If you want to see other science-based branding considerations, please read my book:

The Science of Branding: 20 Proven Ways To Make Better Branding Decisions.

It is available for Amazon Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TBOL6YA

If you want a better name just get in touch with Mark Prus at: www.NameFlash.com