What does a business name tell you?
I met a dear friend recently for lunch in Westford MA, equidistant between our offices. Neither of us had been to the restaurant selected by my Virtual Admin. I had never heard of the restaurant and the name meant nothing to me. Located in a strip mall, I entered wondering if we would choose to stay or head around the corner to another option. I knew the conversation would be great as I had met this friend, Rita, when I was launching For Marketing Matters ten years ago. She too was launching a business and we would meet maybe twice a year for lunch and share ideas, seek advice and support each other however we could. It is a friendship that I treasure and unfortunately we had not seen each other for many years so we had lots to catch up on.
The restaurant’s name is BixBite. The name meant nothing to me so of course I immediately asked our waitress about the name. Rita laughed that of course I would ask about the brand! (the name meant nothing to Rita either) The waitress explained that the owner had survived cancer and decided he wanted to open a restaurant once through his ordeal. He chose to name his restaurant after the rarest gemstone found in the United States – bixbite, a red emerald. As the restaurant website shares, the gem is thought to have healing powers.
Kudos to the owner of BixBite Restaurant! Not only did he put thought into his restaurant’s name, he carried the theme to the décor with deep red walls and menus. This may seem obvious to some, but for many of us we often see a disconnect between the brand and extending the brand consistently. I had never heard of this gem and now want to learn more about him and the gem.
Bixbite – the gem
Play the name game! From naming a restaurant to naming your consultancy, put the time and thought into the name just as you would naming a child or a pet. Initials are meaningless to your target audience. Consider how your brand name could tell a story or clearly position what you do and what you are passionate about.
My daughter was recently confirmed and she chose Jude as her confirmation name given her commitment to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. For many of us, our business is our baby. Choose the name carefully. And when in Westford MA, go to BixBite. The food was delicious and the owner is a cancer survivor and has a story to tell.