A Quirky Brand Name, Coupled With a Creative Module Does Wonders

Jeff Bezos had looked through the dictionary to settle for Amazon, not only because its sounds "exotic and different' but also because its start with "A', so alphabetically too it would be on the top of the charts. "Brand names are more important online than they are in the physical world," he said during an interview. Owing to the changing times, founders today put a lot of thought into branding their businesses. Whether their target audience can relate to the product? Does the logo design catch their fancy? So much so, even its name should tell a unique story.

"CARRYING A STRONG CONCOCTION

I always wanted to have a brand name which would match the characteristics of my product. Being the first company to provide innovative stays, I was looking for a name which signifies innovation and also cuteness. Hence, the name "Beetle' matched the criteria and since then the association has been growing stronger.

Tanmay Bhatkal, Founder and CEO, Beetle Smartotels

IT'S A FOOL'S WORLD

"We had thought of a quirky English name for the brand but realized that way we can't really distinguish ourselves from other fashion brands. It got us thinking. Both Siddharth and I chased a dream instead of chasing a high-paying job. For this, people often sarcastically called us Bewakoofs (stupid). It stayed with us and moreover it has a stickiness and stirs curiosity in people's minds. That's how the name came up."

Prabhkiran Singh, Co-founder & Director, Bewakoof

OUT OF THE COMIC BOOK

"Considering that we weren't new in the category, we didn't want us to be associated with words like cook, meal, food, smell, taste, chef, etc. While branding ourselves, we focused on the idea of finger licking food. Moreover, both of us are fans of Ovelix (from Asterix). That's how the name was derived."

Shripad Nadkarni, Co-Founder, Fingerlix

A SPONTANEOUS RESCUE

Having curated products from handpicked vendors across the country, the debate has always been over the brand name, agreeing and then disagreeing on several names. Finally, Prashanth's (co-founder) wife came to the rescue, suggesting the name Qtrove, an abbreviation for curated trove, which means a carefully selected store of unique products and that is what we stand for.

Vinamra Pandiya, CEO and founder of Qtrove

(This article was first published in the July 2018 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine. To subscribe, click here)