petrogurcak/brand-naming

Brand Naming

Complete 7-step naming process: brief, generation, linguistic analysis, domain check, final recommendation.

When to Use

• Naming a new company, SaaS, product, app, or service
• Renaming/rebranding an existing brand
• Evaluating existing name candidates
• Generating name ideas with professional methodology

When NOT to Use

• Logo design (use logo-design)
• Brand voice/personality definition (use brand-voice from copywriting)
• Domain-only search without naming process

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Process

Step 1: Brand Brief

Check for existing brand context first:

Does a brand voice document exist? (brand-voice.md, brand-guidelines.md, etc.)
|- YES -> Load it, extract: personality, tone, values, audience
|- NO -> Run mini-discovery below

Mini-discovery questions (ask one at a time):

1. Co je to za produkt/sluzbu? (1 veta)
2. Kdo je cilova audience? (demografie, psychografie)
3. 3 adjektiva ktera popisuji osobnost brandu
4. Jaky ton? (seriozni/hravy/technicke/lidske/premium/dostupne)
5. Hlavni konkurenti? (2-5 nazvu)
6. Co ma nazev evokovat? Co NESMI evokovat?
7. Target trhy/jazyky? (dulezite pro cross-language screening)

Unusualness Score (Brad Flowers): Ohodnot 1-5 tyto faktory a secti:

• Mnozstvi konkurentu (1=malo, 5=presyceny trh)
• Reklamni budget konkurence (1=nizky, 5=masivni)
• Geograficky rozsah (1=lokalni, 5=globalni)

Score 10+: potrebujes vysoce unikatni nazev. Score <7: muzes pouzit beznejsi slova.

Output: Strukturovany brief — uloz do pameti pro dalsi kroky.

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Step 2: Name Taxonomy Selection

Prezentuj 3 strategicke kategorie (Miller) s formacemi:

Naming Spectrum (od doslovneho k abstraktnimu):

| Kategorie | Popis | Priklady | Vyhody | Nevyhody | |-----------|-------|----------|--------|----------| | Descriptive | Rika co delas | PayPal, YouTube, Whole Foods | Okamzite pochopeni | Tezke TM, omezujici | | Suggestive | Naznacuje benefit/zkusenost | Pinterest, Slack, Lush | Evokuje bez omezeni | Muze byt subtilni | | Abstract | Prazdna nadoba — vyznam doda brand | Apple, Kodak, Bluetooth | Unikatni, TM friendly | Vyzaduje brand building |

Name Formations (jak je nazev vytvoren):

| Formace | Popis | Priklady | |---------|-------|----------| | Real Words | Existujici slova | Apple, Kindle, Oracle, Tesla | | Compound | Spojeni 2 slov | Facebook, Firefox, Salesforce, WordPress | | Blended | Prekryvajici se slabiky | Groupon, Pinterest, Instagram, Accenture | | Constructed | Nove tvary ze skutecnych casti | Shopify, FedEx, Snapchat | | Invented | Uplne nove slovo | Xerox, Kodak, Dasani, Etsy | | Foreign | Slova z jinych jazyku | Volvo (lat.), Audi (lat.), Honda, Mercedes | | People/Places | Vlastni jmena | Tesla, Patagonia, Samsonite | | Phrases | Kratke fraze | Black Diamond, Mountain Dew, Dave's Killer Bread | | Affixed | Prefix/suffix pridany | iPhone, Spotify (-ify), Napster (-ster) | | Misspelled | Zamerna chyba | Flickr, Tumblr, Krispy Kreme, Chick-fil-A | | Acronyms | Inicialy | IBM, NASA, Aflac |

Altman 25 Name Species (pro inspiraci — ukaz relevantni):

Poetic, High Class Gibberish, Derivative, Initials, Descriptive, Part Descriptive/Part Fun, Americana, Into the Wild, Someone Special, Remember When, Suggests the Solution, Back to Basics, Daring, Adrenaline, Made-up People, Foreign-feeling, Literary/Historical, Place Names, One Letter Off, Mythical, Exclamation, Name as Statement, Latin Class, Interesting Letters, Acronyms.

Doporuceni: Na zaklade briefu a Unusualness Score doporuc 2-3 formace. Uzivatel vybere.

[WAIT FOR ANSWER]

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Step 3: Name Generation

Fail Early (Altman): Nejdriv generuj 10-15 SPATNYCH nazvu a pojmenuj proc jsou spatne. To vycisti mysleni od klise.

Pak generuj 40-60 nazvu rozdelenich podle vybranych formaci.

Brainstorming techniky (pouzij kombinovane):

A) Make It Concrete (Flowers):

1. Napis 5 faktickych vet o brandu (subjekt/sloveso/predmet)
2. Free-associate 15-20 slov pro kazde sloveso a predmet
3. Pouzij tato slova jako zaklad pro nazvy

B) Make It Abstract (Flowers):

1. Napis 3 metafory a 3 prirovnani pro brand
2. Generuj 5-10 asociovanych slov pro kazde
3. Kombinuj s formacemi z Step 2

C) Miller 5-Day Sprint temata (pro sirsi zamery):

• Den 1: Perspektiva zakaznika (zkusenosti, smysly, vysledky, hodnoty)
• Den 2: Literarni zdroje (knihy, filmy, hudba, citaty)
• Den 3: Ocividne a neviditelne (firemni slovnik, slang, oborove terminy)
• Den 4: Lide, mista, prostory (geografie, landmarks, osobnosti jako metafory)
• Den 5: Word Twister (compound, suffix, puns, foneticky vynalezena slova)

D) Expansive Research (Flowers):

• Thesaurus — synonyma a antonyma
• Wikipedia — historicke a vedecke terminy
• Literarni zdroje — citaty, jmena postav
• Insider lingo — hobbyisticke a oborove terminy
• Mythologie — recka, rimska, nordická

Lingvisticke techniky:

| Technika | Popis | Priklad | |----------|-------|---------| | Portmanteau | Slouceni 2 slov | Pinterest (pin+interest), Instagram (instant+telegram) | | Blending | Prekryv hlasek | Spotify (spot+identify), Groupon (group+coupon) | | Affixation | Prefix/suffix | Shopify (-ify), Coursera (-era), iPhone (i-) | | Clipping | Zkraceni | Cisco (San Francisco), Lego (leg godt) | | Metaphor | Preneseny vyznam | Amazon (velka reka), Jaguar (rychlost) | | Mythology/History | Mytologicke/historicke | Nike (bohyne vitezstvi), Oracle (vestirna) | | Sound crafting | Tvorba z hlasek | Xerox (ostry X), Zoom (onomatopoeia) | | Rhyme/Onomatopoeia | Rymovani, zvukomalba | StubHub, Lean Cuisine, Zipcar, Meow Mix | | Foreign words | Cizi jazyky | Volvo (lat. "valim se"), Audi (lat. "poslouchej") | | Vowel/Consonant swap | Zamena hlasek | Modifikace beznych slov do novych tvaru |

Format vystupu: Ke kazdemu nazvu uvest etymologii a pouzitou techniku.

## [Formace] nazvy
1. NazevA — [etymologie, technika]
2. NazevB — [etymologie, technika]
...

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Step 4: Evaluation & Filtering

Ohodnot KAZDY nazev ze Step 3 pres tri vrstvy:

4a. SMILE Test (Watkins) — kazde kriterium 0-5:

| Kriterium | Otazka | |-----------|--------| | Suggestive | Evokuje neco o brandu? | | Meaningful | Ma asociaci s necim znamym? | | Imagery | Vyvolava vizualni/smyslovy obraz? | | Legs | Da se s nim pracovat (slogany, kampane, rozsireni)? | | Emotional | Vyvola emoci? |

4b. SCRATCH Test (Watkins) — red flags (ano/ne):

| Red Flag | Otazka | |----------|--------| | Spelling-challenged | Tezke napsat spravne? | | Copycat | Prilis podobne existujicimu brandu? | | Restrictive | Omezuje budouci rust? | | Annoying | Iritujici tvar/zvuk? | | Tame | Prilis genericky/nudne? | | Curse of knowledge | Pochopi to jen insider? | | Hard-to-pronounce | Tezke vyslovit? |

4c. Quick Tests (Flowers):

| Test | Co overuje | Jak | |------|-----------|-----| | Toddler Test | Vyslovitelnost | Rekl by to 3-lety? Vyhni se shlukum j, l, r, s, sh, ch, th | | Rhyme Test | Prirozeny zvuk (pro invented) | Rymuje se s realnym slovem? (Lexus ~ Texas) | | Awkwordplay Test | Plynulost blendu | Je jasne kam pada duraz? (Groupon OK, Uniqlo sporny) | | Visual Cadence | Jak nazev vypada | Zkontroluj v Title Case i ALL CAPS, ascendery/descendery |

Filtr: SMILE >= 18/25 + ZERO SCRATCH flags + projde Quick Tests -> top 5-8 finalistu.

Prezentuj vysledky:

| Nazev | S | M | I | L | E | Total | SCRATCH | Toddler | Rhyme | Visual |
|-------|---|---|---|---|---|-------|---------|---------|-------|--------|
| ...   | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 21    | clean   | pass    | pass  | good   |

Ice Cream Principle (Altman): NEVYBIREJ nazev skupinovym hlasovanim. Skupiny se shodnou na "vanilla" — bezpecny a nudny. Doporuc na zaklade dat, ne konsenzu.

[WAIT FOR USER CONFIRMATION of finalists before continuing]

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Step 5: Linguistic Deep Analysis

Pro kazdeho finalistu (top 5-8 ze Step 4):

5a. Sound Symbolism

| Typ hlasky | Evokuje | Priklady | |------------|---------|----------| | Plosives (p, b, t, d, k, g) | Sila, rozhodnost, energie | Bold, Kick, Tap, Kodak | | Fricatives (f, v, s, z, sh) | Rychlost, plynulost, elegance | Visa, Zara, Swift, Swiffer | | Nasals (m, n) | Mekost, comfort, duvera | Amazon, Nimble | | Liquids (l, r) | Plynulost, premiovost | Rolex, Lexus | | Front vowels (i, e) | Malost, preciznost, lehkost | Mini, Etsy | | Back vowels (o, u, a) | Velikost, sila, stabilita | Volvo, Ubuntu |

Soft undulating sounds ("maluma") = jemnost. Abrupt jagged sounds ("takete") = ostrost. Initial hard consonants (B, D, P, T, K, G, V) = vysoka zapamatovatelnost.

Analyzuj: Sedi zvukovy profil nazvu k brand personality z briefu?

5b. Morfologicka dekompozice

Pro kazdy nazev rozloz na komponenty a vysvetli co kazda cast komunikuje:

• Spotify = spot (najit) + -ify (udelat z toho akci) -> "udelej z hledani akci"
• Airbnb = air (mattress) + b&b -> primy popis puvodniho konceptu
• Accenture = accent + future -> duraz na budoucnost

5c. Cross-Language Screening

Zkontroluj nazev minimalne v:

• Cestina, Slovenstina
• Anglictina
• Nemcina
• Spanelstina, Francouzstina
• Dalsi jazyky podle target trhu z briefu

Hledej:

• Negativni/vulgarni vyznamy
• Nechtenou homonymii
• Tezkou vyslovitelnost v cilovych trzich

5d. Vyslovitelnost a Visual Cadence

• Foneticky prepis (IPA pokud relevantni)
• Varianty vysloveni v ruznych jazycich
• Risk dezinterpretace pri ustnim predani (telefon test)
• Visual Cadence: jak nazev vypada v Title Case, ALL CAPS, lowercase
• Ascendery/descendery vytvarejici vizualni rytmus (Marlboro = dobry rytmus)
• Palindromicke/symetricke tvary (SONOS = vizualni echo)

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Step 6: Domain Check

Pro kazdeho finalistu spust domain check pres instantdomainsearch MCP:

Checkuj tyto TLD:

• .com (priorita #1)
• .io (tech/SaaS)
• .co (alternativa)
• .app (pokud mobilni)
• Country-specific: .cz, .sk, .de (podle target trhu)

Prezentuj:

| Nazev | .com | .io | .co | .cz | Alternativy |
|-------|------|-----|-----|-----|-------------|
| XYZ   | volna | volna | obsazena | volna | getxyz.com, xyzapp.com |

Pro obsazene domeny nabidni alternativy:

• Prefix: get-, try-, use-, go-
• Suffix: -app, -hq, -labs, -io
• Jina TLD

Non-Starter Screening (Miller): Pred zamilovanim se do nazvu prohledej Google, app stores, social media vanity URLs, a trademark databaze (USPTO, EUIPO) pro okamzite konflikty.

Doporuc take: Zkontrolovat social handles (@nazev na X, IG, LinkedIn).

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Step 7: Final Presentation

Prezentuj top 3-5 nazvu s kompletnim profilem:

Name Score (Miller) — ohodnot kazdeho finalistu:

| Dimenze | Co hodnoti | |---------|-----------| | Strategic Fit | Positioning, ton, jasnost, emocionalni spojeni, technicke pozadavky | | Namescape | Jak odlisny je od konkurence, jak obhajitelny (TM) | | Market | Rezonance s cilovkou, zapamatovatelnost (recall rate) |

Format:

## #1: [NAZEV] (Doporuceny)

**Typ:** Suggestive / Compound
**Etymologie:** [dekompozice a puvod]
**SMILE Score:** 23/25
**Name Score:** Strategic Fit 9/10, Namescape 8/10, Market 9/10

**Lingvisticky profil:**
- Sound: [popis zvukoveho profilu a co evokuje]
- Slabiky: 2
- Vyslovitelnost: vysoka ve vsech target trzich
- Cross-language: cisty (zadne negativni vyznamy)
- Visual Cadence: [jak vypada, ascendery/descendery]

**Domeny:**
- nazev.com — volna
- nazev.io — volna
- nazev.cz — volna

**Proc #1:** [Jasne oduvodneni proc je toto nejlepsi volba vzhledem k briefu]

**Legs:** [Priklady jak se da nazev rozsirit — slogan, kampan, sloveso ("just ___ it")]

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## #2: [NAZEV]
...

## #3: [NAZEV]
...

Na konci:

• Doporuc #1 s oduvodnenim
• Pripomen dalsi kroky: trademark check (EUIPO/USPTO), social handles, logo-design skill
• Post-naming (Flowers): Descriptive tagline (max 5 slov), Elevator Pitch (What, How, Why), core Values
• Nabidni iteraci: "Chces upravit brief a generovat dalsi kolo?"

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Reference

Klicove frameworky

| Framework | Autor | Kniha | Pouziti v skillu | |-----------|-------|-------|-----------------| | SMILE/SCRATCH | Alexandra Watkins | Hello, My Name Is Awesome | Step 4 — evaluace | | Naming Spectrum | Rob Meyerson | Brand Naming | Step 2 — taxonomie | | Naming Brief | Rob Meyerson | Brand Naming | Step 1 — brief | | Plan-Sprint-Select | Jeremy Miller | Brand New Name | Step 3 (sprint temata), Step 7 (Name Score) | | 5 Steps + Tests | Brad Flowers | The Naming Book | Steps 1-4 (Unusualness, Toddler, Rhyme, Awkwordplay, Visual Cadence) | | 25 Name Species | Eli Altman | Don't Call It That | Step 2 (inspirace), Step 3 (Fail Early) | | Ice Cream Principle | Eli Altman | Don't Call It That | Step 4 (anti-group voting) | | Sound Symbolism | Lingvisticky vyzkum | — | Step 5 — deep analysis |

Ilustrativni case studies

| Brand | Typ | Technika | Proc funguje | |-------|-----|----------|-------------| | Spotify | Invented | Blending (spot+identify) | Foneticky prirozene, 3 slabiky, -ify suffix = akce | | Nike | Evocative | Mythology | Bohyne vitezstvi, 2 slabiky, plosive K = sila | | Airbnb | Descriptive | Portmanteau (air+B&B) | Primy popis, storytelling potencial | | Shopify | Suggestive | Affixation (shop+-ify) | Jasna akce, skalovatelne ("Shopify your store") | | Slack | Abstract | Real word + quirk | 1 slabika, plosive K, embracing negative connotation | | Stripe | Abstract | Real word | 1 slabika, fricative S + plosive T = rychlost+preciznost | | Starbucks | Literary | Moby Dick character | Evokuje morskou tradici, nauticky puvod | | Hagen-Dazs | Invented | Foreign-feeling | Umele "danske" jmeno = premiovost, exoticnost | | Groupon | Suggestive | Blend (group+coupon) | Plynuly blend, jasny vyznam, 2 slabiky | | Patagonia | Place name | Geografie | Drsnos, dobrodruztvi, aspirace |

Doporucena literatura

• Alexandra Watkins: Hello, My Name Is Awesome (2nd ed.)
• Rob Meyerson: Brand Naming: The Complete Guide
• Jeremy Miller: Brand New Name
• Brad Flowers: The Naming Book: 5 Steps to Creating Brand and Product Names that Sell
• Eli Altman: Don't Call It That: A Naming Workbook (3rd ed.)
• Marty Neumeier: The Brand Gap

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Integration

| Skill | Vztah | |-------|-------| | brand-voice (copywriting) | Vstup — pokud existuje, nacti brand personality | | logo-design (branding) | Vystup — navazujici krok po vybranem nazvu | | instantdomainsearch MCP | Step 6 — domain availability check | | uvp-optimization (marketing) | Kontext — UVP muze informovat naming brief |