ICYMI: A New Way To Name – Expert Guidance, 100’s of Crowdsourced Ideas, Confident Validation

Innovation. Such a powerful concept in today’s economy. The ability to create something new is at the heart of nearly every success story you read, whether it’s seeing something in a new way, envisioning and developing a new tech solution, or engineering and building a tangible and useful product.

Innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit drives the creation of nearly 50 million new startups each year, hundreds of thousands of new products, millions of books and so much more.

The development of Squadhelp’s Agency-Crowdsource Offering is similar to that of many other innovation successes. It is the story of disruption, listening to customers, improvement and expansion.

It all started with a problem

“I’m struggling to find a name for my…”

When you need a name for your business, brand, product, website, app, book, documentary, event or just about anything else (we’ve even named an air craft parts manufacture, a nuclear energy company, a boat, and a potato), you want a communication tool that will help you succeed:

• Something that resonates with you, your team and your target audience
• A name for which you can secure a relevant domain
• An idea that you can protect and that won’t result in a cease and desist letter

For many years, the primary way to tackle a naming project was to go at it alone (develop the name yourself.)

The problem with the Do-It-Yourself approach

• Limited ideas
• Time consuming
• Lack of validation

DIY naming projects often result in weak names (because of a limited breadth of ideas and a lack of talented, creative people working on the project), risky name choices (because of improper vetting) and unaligned names that do not resonates with the intended audience.

100s of ideas in 3-5 days or less

 Six years ago, Squadhelp.com was launched, offering crowdsourced naming contests. Users would:

• Fill out a quick brief
• Get hundreds of ideas from dozens of freelance names across the globe
• Auto-check for domain availability
• Choose one winner
• Use that name

When a Squadhelp.com customer runs a naming contest, a Quality Scoring mechanism keeps the quality of name submission high, and Gamification strategies promote freelancer engagement, strong ideation and brainstorming outcomes.

While this process is still used and loved as a fast and enjoyable way to explore an unmatched breadth of name ideas, many people in the throes of the naming process want more. By combining the unmatched ideation capabilities of the Crowd with validation services (including audience testing, linguistics analysis, and trademark risk assessment) and privacy features like Non-disclosure agreements, Squadhelp became an end-to-end naming solution—thanks to our users!

A Major Innovative Leap

Crowdstorming is typically a self-managed process. It is up to the customer to be the brand ambassador and drive their project forward. In contrast, Squadhelp Managed Contests provide an upfront consultation with a skilled and knowledgeable branding professional – like you’d get with an agency – who helps you setup naming criteria, choose a productive direction and communicate clearly and effectively with the Creative Community that works on your project.

Managed Naming Contests, which bridge the gap between the agency and crowdsourcing experience, have become popular with larger organizations who are used to the white-glove, one-on-one service of an agency or consultancy, but who want to explore a broader scope of suggestions, which can only be experienced by engaging with crowdsourcing.

SEE ALSO: Why is Squadhelp Called Squadhelp?

Managed Naming Contest are also popular with the owners and managers of small businesses who feel unsure of their ability to lead a branding project.

The Managed offering is unlike any creative project you’ve ever participated in. The process provides consultative support from an expert branding professional, a huge breadth of ideas from the minds of around 100 freelance creatives, rapid collaboration and iteration tools and robust validation services – allowing you to find awesome names that will help you succeed, and to choose the best option with confidence.

The ideas of marrying the benefits of crowdsourcing with those of a working with a consultant or agency through our managed service offering is an innovation that has been very well received by those who have tried it. So, if the ideas of an innovative and effective approach to naming your innovative new venture has gotten you excited – you may consider trying Squadhelp’s hybrid naming process.