CREATIVE THINKING TOOL #44: First Name Basis
Conventional wisdom has it that the best time to name a new product is after you create it. Unconventional wisdom has it the other way around: first you give your product a name, then you create it.
With this approach, the name -- instead of merely being the description of your creation -- becomes the catalyst for its existence.
The key is to come up with a compelling name -- one that intrigues, delights, and has embedded within it the kind of multiple meanings that stimulate you enough to decode them.
Let's use the topic of my new book -- creativity -- as an example.
If I was looking to invent new products to hawk in the back of the book, but had no clue what they were, I might start by generating some creativity-themed names -- and then work backwards from there.
CreativiTeas: Exotic teas that boost brainpower.
CreativiTees: T-shirts featuring photos of creative geniuses on the front and their inspiring quotes on the back.
CreativiTease: A strip poker card game in which players match famous quotes on creativity with the people who said them.
Invent some products that are sparked by these names:
Shower Power?
Chakra Chip Cookies?
Cheeses of Nazareth?
Sing Kong?
USING THE TOOL:
1. Make up a compelling name for something -- even if you don't know what that "something" is. HINT: Humor, double entendre, and spelling variations are good catalysts.
2. Now that you have a compelling name for an imaginary product, brainstorm what this something might be.
Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at May 6, 2008 09:51 PM
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