Name testing is cheap, fast, and skipped almost every time, usually because the team has already fallen for the name. The value is entirely in doing it before the decision rather than after.
What to put in the public brief
- The languages and markets
- That written responses are needed
- Roughly how many names they will see
- That they should be a first-language speaker in that market
Keep the candidate names private. They are the most confidential thing you have at this stage.
What to put in the private instructions
Ask them to say it aloud before reading anything else
Then write down how they pronounced it, phonetically or in their own words. Divergent pronunciations are the most common finding and the easiest to miss.
Ask what it sounds like it means
Before you tell them what the product is. Afterwards the answer is contaminated and they will find a way to make it fit.
Ask what it resembles
Existing brands, common words, slang, anything close. This is where the expensive discoveries happen.
Ask whether it is awkward to say
To a colleague, out loud, in a meeting. A name that people avoid saying is a name that does not spread.
Proof worth requiring
Ask for
Written answers per name, their first language, and the country they live in now. Both matter: a speaker who has lived abroad for a decade reads differently from one who has not.
Do not ask for
A favourite. You are not running an election, and the ranking will encourage you to treat a preference as a verdict when the useful output is the list of problems.
When this task type is the wrong tool
If the name is already trademarked, printed and live, this produces anxiety rather than options. Do it before, or not at all.
If what you are testing is a tagline or positioning rather than a name, concept feedback is the better instrument because it asks about meaning rather than sound.