4 types of names for men’s stores: a showdown

Choosing a name for your store is one of the most important tasks when starting a business. Obviously, naming is of particular importance for clothing stores, because competition in this niche is quite fierce. To surpass all competitors in popularity, increase customer loyalty and create the right image, you need to develop a capacious, cool, memorable name. We’ll talk about the features of naming for men’s stores in this article.

Why is it so important to choose the best name?

Let's be honest, many business owners often underestimate the importance of naming and the impact of the brand name on the business. What does this usually lead to? Moreover, faceless, boring names constantly appear on the market that do not attract the audience and do not in any way reflect the specifics of the stores.

Vivid examples of this are men's stores, proudly bearing names such as “Gentleman”, “Esthete”, “Alexander” and so on. The only advantage of such names, perhaps, is the beauty and euphony of the word itself. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to highlight other advantages. Such names mean nothing to the client and are very difficult to remember precisely because of their impersonality. As a result, store traffic (and therefore the success of the entire business) is significantly reduced.

At the same time, some men's stores have names that attract potential buyers with their unusualness, novelty and creativity. And at the same time, they also manage to emphasize the specifics of the trading platform.

Therefore, it is so important to pay enough attention to developing the name of a men’s store and approach this process as creatively as possible. For this, effort alone may not be enough - experience, professionalism and knowledge of the laws of naming are important. The specialists of the WeLoveBrands studio possess all these qualities. Contact us if you want a cool, unusual, sonorous name for your store.

Name for a men's store: the main criteria for a good name

As the practice of professional namers shows, there are several criteria that a good name for a men’s store must meet. These include:

• relevance;

• associativity;

• uniqueness;

• simplicity;

• memorability;

• euphony.

Let's look at each of these criteria of "goodness" in more detail.

Relevance

Relevance is the degree to which a search query matches the results returned by a search engine. To a greater extent, this concept applies to online stores than to real trading platforms. But given the fact that virtual and real life today intersect and layer on each other, the concept of relevance can be considered applicable not only to online stores.

Take, for example, a men's clothing store. If we consider its name from the point of view of relevance, then it is determined by the degree of compliance with the needs of a specific target audience. To determine the relevance of an online store name, simply enter the products in the search bar of your browser. In this case, the search engine will provide tips, which are actually nothing more than the most popular user requests regarding these products. Why do you need this information? It's simple - to create titles with the maximum degree of relevance.

As for offline men's stores, an indicator of the relevance of their names is their compliance with the needs of potential buyers. The name in this case must correspond to the needs and tastes of a specific group of the target audience for most of the indicators that characterize it. Namely:

• floor;

• social affiliation;

• age;

• market segment (level of material well-being).
  
  

Associativity

The name of a men's store should be associated with the qualities that characterize the brand and are its essence. They rely on associativity when the store’s products are universal and a simple mention of the product in the name is not enough to identify the brand. How to get out of this situation? As an option, imagine the area of application of the goods (connecting link) and find common words or expressions that are semantically related to it. For example, a men's store specializing in the sale of suits (in the upper-average market segment) should evoke associations such as:

• style;

• high quality;

• elegance;

• coolness;

• and so on.

In this regard, the Arber or VDone brand can be considered an excellent name. These names have rhythm, clarity and a capacious sound, so they fit perfectly on the ear, are well remembered and evoke the right associations.

Uniqueness

Any name, in particular the name of a men's store, must be unique. This is important because it is the difference from other brands that allows you to stand out from them. For online stores, the uniqueness of the name is even more important, because the name also acts as a domain name, which must belong to one owner. Otherwise, registering a domain name, and therefore an online store website too, will be impossible.

Simplicity

There is one immutable rule in naming: the simpler the name, the better. The thing is that simple words with clear semantics evoke positive emotions in the audience. Consequently, they help increase the degree of loyalty of potential customers. The name should be easy to pronounce and simple to read. In addition, a short name is much more convenient to use in advertising. A very simple name for the men's clothing store "Meat". Simple and at the same time incredibly cool, thanks to the non-standard use of this lexeme in relation to a specific group of products. It is this discrepancy that catches the attention of the target audience. In addition to the fact that simple names attract the audience much better than complex ones, they have a much better effect on SEO optimization. And this is extremely important for promoting online stores. Simple names are found faster by search engines and more often appear in the top search results than polysyllabic names.

Memorability

Ease of remembering is another parameter of a good store name, which the audience perceives as a positive quality of the brand. The memorability of a name is directly related to its simplicity and brevity. If the name is too complex and difficult to hear, it will also be very difficult to remember it. Therefore, it is better to replace it with a simpler option. If we analyze the names of the world's most famous brands, we will see that they are all as simple as possible, easy to pronounce and remember. For example, Kodak, Coca-Cola, Audi, Skoda, Chupa-Chups and so on. The same principle should be used to develop a name for a men's store.

Euphony

The euphony of its name has a huge impact on the recognition of the name for a men's store. In order for a name to be perceived as euphonious, it must be easy to pronounce and fit well on the ear. You need to work hard on the euphony of the name, because it is perceived by people on an intuitive level. However, there are special criteria for the euphony of names that are important to know and take into account in the naming process. For example, the sound “o” makes the sound soft and seemingly relaxed, while the sounds “a” and “e” create the effect of emotional upliftment. Unpleasant emotions in people are caused by the sound “s” and a pile of hissing consonants (especially if they come in a row). Therefore, it is better to avoid these sounds in the name.

Names consisting of complex words that cause difficulties in pronunciation and memorization are also difficult to perceive by ear. Consequently, they generate negative emotions in the audience. The best examples of such names are abbreviations of several words at once (Moststroyservis, Mosselprom, Avtomotozapchasti, and so on). This is very difficult to say, let alone remember. Imagine how such names will look on a monitor screen or as a website domain name.

Types of names in the naming of men's stores

Unfortunately, naming is not an exact science, and it is impossible to come up with a name using a clearly defined formula. Each case is individual, and therefore requires a separate approach and the use of different methods for developing names. However, in professional naming, some principles have already been formed to simplify the process of creating names. All names can be divided into 4 groups:

1. Index marks.

2. Functional.

3. Associative-rational.

4. Emotional.

Demonstrative names are usually the name of the store owner (firm, company, etc.) or the name of the store location. In most cases, index names are used when a trading platform is being created from scratch: the specifics are unclear and there are no direct competitors. The most striking example of a demonstrative name is the chain of men's stores "Mikhail Voronin", named after the famous men's clothing designer and fashion stylist.

Functional names differ from index names in that they contain the category of goods sold in the store. For example, the name of the store “Swiss Watches” contains an indication of the place of production of the product and its category, and therefore belongs to the category of functional names.

Associative-rational names are used when there are many competitors nearby with similar products and you need to differentiate yourself from them. In such a situation, index names will not help increase brand awareness. You need to come up with a name that will evoke the necessary associations among the target audience or emphasize the main characteristics of the goods. For example, an excellent name for a men's sportswear store, Barcelona, immediately evokes an association with a famous football club.

The category of emotional names includes those that are practically devoid of semantic meaning. They are usually invented when the market is already crowded with stores with similar products and all more or less suitable names (related to the previous categories) are already taken. In such situations, they usually begin to “put pressure” on emotions. One of these names for a men's store can be considered “Yours”. This name is literally tailored to the emotional perception of the audience, as it clicks on the right points and causes a fairly strong response.

Naming methods

The most common naming techniques are:

Use of literary devices (alliteration, allusion, metonymy, etc.)		Combining words
Abbreviation and acronyms		National character
Use of first and last name and		Geographical features
Foreign words or stylization for them

On the market, the most popular methods for creating names for men's stores are methods of combining words, using first and last names (usually the designer's) and foreign words.

For example, the names A.TAN, Indposhiv, VD one combine several lexemes. The category of names using first and last names includes Pierre Cardin, Corneliani, Massimo, Roy Robson, Lagerfeld, Stefano Ricci, Voronin.

And such names as Top Men Style, Boggi, Canali, Brioni, Caribou shop, Clan Garniture, Manline, Matrix, Prestige, Senator are striking examples of the use of foreign words.

However, when developing a name for a men's store, you should not rely only on popular trends. The target audience, price segment and the essence of the brand, which must be revealed in the name, should be at the forefront.

It is from these three components that the specialists of the WeLoveBrands studio start when developing names. Order professional naming from our studio if you want your store to receive a succinct, sonorous, original name that will set you apart from your competitors, reveal the whole essence of the brand and reach the very heart of the target audience.