Creating a great brand name is almost half the battle in establishing your company or your product. But getting there involves the kind of creative thinking that might be outside a small-business owner's purview. If you're having trouble, branding experts say the first step is to pinpoint your strengths. Why are you the best? And what do you deliver that's unique? Then, consider the customers whom you're targeting and what they value most, such as social responsibility, authenticity or customization. Then, think about how you can best express these principles effectively through words.

    Here are the three best ways to come up with a brand name:

    1. Take inspiration from everywhere. Write down the first few ideas that come to mind when you think about your business' service, product and personality; try using symbols, metaphors and word variations, says Michelle Adelson, owner and creative director, of brand agency Copia Creative Inc., of Santa Monica, Calif.

    That's what Dan Kim, chief executive of Red Mango Inc., a frozen yogurt franchise in Dallas, did while trying to name the flavors of his frozen yogurt and iced tea drinks. He wanted names that would give customers 'an emotional experience' and appeal to their sense of adventure. For a tangerine-and-mango yogurt, he combined the flavors with the word 'pandemonium' to create Tangomonium. For iced tea drinks, he wanted customers to hear the 'tea' sound when they order, so he named drinks Fanteasia （a wild berry hibiscus tea） and Mysteaque （vanilla black tea with hints of bourbon flavor）. 'We embrace having fun with the names,' Mr. Kim says.

    2. Make your brand name memorable. 'If it sounds like something else, it's not going to be strong in the marketplace,' Ms. Adelson says. The founders of Bonobos Inc., an online-only men's apparel retailer in New York, wanted a name that was whimsical yet reflected that their clothing was clearly for guys, not gals. So they named the company after a great ape, an endangered species that's pronounced bo-NOH-bos, not BON-oh-bos. While some customers end up mispronouncing the name or asking quizzically about what kind of animal it is, it's an opportunity that Andy Dunn, chief executive and co-founder, relishes. While saying the name correctly, he mentions that the company also has donated $15,000 in the past year to a bonobos sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This gives anyone an 'excuse to talk about who you are beyond your product,' Mr. Dunn says.

    3. Make sure it matches your company's mission. Robbie Vitrano, a founding partner of Naked Pizza in New Orleans, wanted to differentiate his take-out and delivery-company's name from the buzz words surrounding the organic, healthy or green industries, since they don't necessarily work in appealing to a wide variety of customers. He should know. In 2006, the original name of Naked Pizza was the World's Healthiest Pizza. It was just a little too preachy-sounding, Mr. Vitrano says. It didn't bode well for a company trying to franchise and court investors. 'It was less customer-friendly,' he says. 'It was a bit egotistical. It was a little too much about us.'

    Leslie Homan, designer and founder of Femme Metale Inc. of Corona, Calif., makes edgy rock-n-roll jewelry for women. She wanted the company's image to be strong, chic and feminine. So, she played with the word, 'metal,' and the French phrase, 'femme fatale.' It clicked for her: 'Femme Metale.' The company's original name, Superstar, didn't seem as cutting edge; it 'was very junior and didn't say anything about what I was doing,' she says. Today, her jewelry line is sold at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's, and Ms. Homan counts Cheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera and Kate Moss as clients. 'I think you have to look into what makes your brand significant, different and interesting,' she says. 'What would make you stand out in the marketplace?'

    如果能構想出一個很棒的品牌名，那么成立企業或者確立產品幾乎就等于成功了一半。但是，要想真正做到這樣，需要創新的思維方式，而這可能正是小企業主缺乏的品質。品牌專家表示，如果你在構思品牌名稱時感到困難，那么第一步就是要真正認識到自己的優勢。為什么你才是最好的？你推出的產品或者服務哪些方面讓你獨樹一幟？接著，再考慮你的目標客戶以及他們最看重哪種價值，比如企業的社會責任感、產品貨真價實還是產品定制服務？然后，不妨思考如何能夠通過語言最有效地表達出這些理念。

    以下是創建品牌的三個最佳方法：

    1. 盡可能多地汲取靈感。位于加利福尼亞州圣莫尼卡的品牌公司Copia Creative Inc.的所有人和創意總監米歇爾？艾德爾森（Michelle Adelson）說，寫下最初幾個在你想到企業服務、產品和個性的時候腦海里浮現的想法；在這個過程中，試著使用標識、比喻和文字變化。

    達拉斯冷凍酸奶特許經營企業Red Mango Inc.的首席執行長丹？金姆（Dan Kim）在試圖給他多種口味的冷凍酸奶和冰凍茶飲料起名的時候正是這么做的。他希望品牌的名字能夠帶給顧客"感性的體驗",引起他們對自身內在冒險感的認同。對于桔子和芒果味酸奶，他將這些口味與詞語"pandemonium"混合，創建了品牌名Tangomonium.對于冰凍茶飲料，他想要顧客在購買的時候就能聽見"tea"（茶）的發音，因此他將這些飲料取名為Fanteasia（一種野莓芙蓉茶）和Mysteaque（香草味紅茶，暗示帶有波旁酒味）. 金姆先生說，我們喜歡有趣的名字。

    2. 讓品牌名過目難忘。艾德爾森女士說，如果品牌自身聽起來象是別的產品或者服務，那么它就無法在市場上立足。紐約網上男裝零售商Bonobos Inc.的創始人想要一個古怪的品牌名稱，但是又要能反映他們的服裝是為所有男性、而非女性設計的。因此，他們將企業以一種瀕臨絕種的猩猩的名字命名，讀起來是bo-NOH-bos,而不是BON-oh-bos.雖然一些客戶還是讀錯名字或者好奇地詢問這到底是哪種動物，但這正是首席執行長和聯席創始人安迪？鄧恩（Andy Dunn）所期望的。在正確讀出品牌名稱的同時，他提到自己的企業在去年還向剛果民主共和國的一個倭黑猩猩保護區捐款了15,000美元。鄧恩先生說，此舉讓所有人都有了一個談論產品之外事情的理由。

    3. 確保品牌符合企業的使命。新奧爾良Naked Pizza（意為裸體比薩餅）的創始合伙人維特拉諾（Robbie Vitrano）希望將他的外賣企業的名字與圍繞有機、健康或者綠色食品行業的流行詞匯區別開來，原因是這些名字并不一定能夠有效地吸引廣泛的顧客群體。他應該有所體會。2006年，Naked Pizza原來的名字是World's Healthiest Pizza（意為世界上最健康的比薩餅）.維特拉諾說，聽上去有點兒像是在說教。這對一家試圖進行特許并吸引投資者的企業并不好用。他說，這種名字對顧客不夠友好；有點以自我為中心；過多地談論自己。

    位于加州科羅娜的Femme Metale Inc.的設計師兼創始人萊斯利？赫曼（Leslie Homan）制作面向女性的前衛搖滾首飾。她希望公司的形像強悍、時髦并且女性化。因此，她擺弄起英文單詞"metal"（意為金屬）和法文詞組"femme fatale"（意為蛇蝎美人）.兩者的結合讓她非常滿意："Femme Metale".該公司原來的名字Superstar（意為超級明星）聽起來并不前衛；她說，這種名字"非常初級，沒有說出我正在設計的首飾的任何特點。"如今，她的首飾系列甚至在Nordstrom和Bloomingdale's等高檔百貨公司出售；赫曼女士還成功吸引雪兒？克羅（Cheryl Crow）、克里斯蒂娜？阿奎萊拉（Christina Aguilera）和凱特？莫斯（Kate Moss）等明星成為自己的常客。她表示，"我認為你必須審視自己的品牌到底因何而重要、別致和有趣；是什么讓你在市場上與眾不同？"