I am starting a company that would currently focus on exhibitions and expos and eventually graduate to corporate events over a period of time.

I wanted an ‘out of the box’ name for the same (snooze box/brain marrow/Dune drops etc – weren’t very much appreciated by industry people and friends) and was hoping that the tagline could define the concept and wondering if you could direct my efforts in the right direction.

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Jay’s Answer: Congratulations on your new business endeavor.

I generally don’t advise startups to pick a “highly creative” name for their business, because the name by itself doesn’t mean anything. That means it’s a lost opportunity for people to quickly understand what you’re offering and for who. Also, “highly creative” names require a big budget to educate people – something that most startups aren’t blessed with.

The #1 mistake I see people making in creating a business name is that they’re creating something that THEY like, rather than a name that appeals to their target audience. People are bombarded with marketing messages all day, and many people assume a quirky name will help the name either “stick” or invoke some “curiosity”.  The fact is that if people don’t quickly “get” the name, they’re more than likely to move to the next marketing message and forget about you.