BRAND NAMING AND TAGLINE
Names screened for the mouth, the browser bar and the market, not just the deck.
Naming goes wrong in two ways. Either nobody can say it out loud, or it is lovely and already in use by someone with better lawyers. So this runs less like a creative exercise and more like a screening pipeline: generate widely against a written brief, then eliminate ruthlessly on pronunciation, availability and prior use before anyone falls in love with a favourite.
The brief comes from the positioning, because a name has a job. To be remembered, to be spelled correctly after being heard once, and to not promise something the business cannot deliver in three years. I generate across routes — descriptive, suggestive, coined, metaphorical, heritage, compound — then read every survivor aloud in both Hindi and English, because a Mumbai brand gets said both ways.
The tagline is a separate job with a separate test. It should do work the name cannot: state the frame of reference, or the promise, or the trade. If the line could sit under any competitor logo without looking odd, it is not a tagline, it is filler. Most of this step is deleting lines that pass as nice and fail as specific.
WHAT I DO
- Naming brief — the job the name has to do, the construction routes in scope, and the constraints agreed before any list exists.
- Long list across routes — descriptive, suggestive, coined, metaphorical, heritage and compound candidates, generated in order to be cut.
- Screening pass — said-aloud test in Hindi and English, spell-after-hearing check, unfortunate-meaning check, and a knockout search for existing use.
- Availability snapshot — domain and social handle status, plus a public registry and search look for anyone already trading under the name.
- Shortlist with rationale — a handful of survivors, each with what it claims, what it risks, and why the rejected ones lost.
- Tagline options — lines tested against the competitor set to confirm none of them could sit under a rival logo unchanged.
HOW I WORK
- 01
BRIEF
Write down what the name must achieve and which routes are in or out, so generation is not a free-for-all.
- 02
GENERATE
Build a long list across every construction route, obvious ones included, so the field is genuinely covered.
- 03
SCREEN
Say each candidate aloud in both languages, check spelling and meaning, then knock out anything already in visible use.
- 04
SHORTLIST
Present the survivors with rationale and risks, recording why the rest died so the argument is not re-run later.
BEST FOR
- New businesses or products that need a name and want the availability problem found early, not after the logo.
- Companies whose current name no longer matches what they actually sell.
- Brands keeping their name but stuck with a tagline that says nothing specific.
NOT THIS
- Not trademark clearance. I run public searches and registry checks, but I am not a lawyer and this is not a legal opinion — a TM attorney signs off before you commit.
- Not logo design. The name is decided here; how it looks is Creative Direction & Visual Identity Direction.
- Not domain purchase or negotiation. I report what is available and roughly what it would cost; buying it stays with you.
THE PROOF
Published case studies from brand solutions work. Each one names the client and shows what was delivered.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
REST OF BRAND SOLUTIONS
MAKE A
WISH.
Tell me what you're building. I'll tell you how loud it can get.
- /01
YOU WRITE
Tell me what you're building and what's in the way. Two lines is enough.
- /02
WE TALK
A 30-minute call, booked within 7 days. Real questions, no pitch theatre.
- /03
YOU GET A PLAN
Scope, timeline and an honest number, usually within a week.