Renaming/rebranding my business - best practices?

QuickHitRecord

QuickHitRecord

Veteran
I'm planning to rename my company and do a brand refresh (too many people are mistaking me for a recording studio). It all starts with finding the right name, and I have been working at it for months. The trouble is that I have a list of about 175 potential names in a running spreadsheet, and almost all of them exist in one form or another. I won't knowingly take the same name as an established company, whether they are in the production business or not. But I keep coming across a other scenario where I really like a name and feel that it fits what I am offering, so I go online and look around to see if it is taken. Alas, it's a YouTube account with six Minecraft clips. Or a DeviantArt gallery. Or, it's page with "We're updating our site. Come back soon." Or, it's the title of a film/album/song.

Beyond checking for existing trademarks, I'm not sure where I should be drawing the line on this. In your view, what is off limits and what is up for grabs? Is there any etiquette around this?
 
I think Nick Brown, might do it.. apart from sorry to say it is quite a common name, maybe your middle name is more interesting, or your mothers maiden name.

To some extent Ive traded on my middle name, Morgan, which is sort of interesting.

I think naming a company VideoSolutionz or suchlike is a google hellhole.

Or at least a non video related word.. the 'moms favourite flower' video company.

Most DPs are thier name dot com

Most production companies are well..
Hurricane media
Omni productions
are two in my town.. 'nothing to do with video, media/productions'

Personally if you are a one man band then I feel presenting as a company is a bit thin but if you do end to end (plan shoot edit) then you are a production company in a form and productions is probably a good title.

Id look for a word you like, preferably a slightly feminine one and tie productions on that.

(moms faorits flower, interesting town your gandfolks grew up in etc)

Male words.. (IMO to be avoided..)
Steel, Granite,Titanium, Rockstar SWAT etc.
 
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As for the reel, Id keep some audio. specifically Im confused if you are showing your drone and flir camera or doing a promotion for flir.

One tiny thing I dont like is the man mansplaining the view at the top of the mountain, you have other shots in the film.

All the steelworks or whatever they are, I want to know what they are ! :)
 
I think in this day and age it all has to center around if the .com or maybe .net domain is available. If you can't get the web address then your business is pretty constrained. Maybe this can help you narrow it down. If you have a hosting company like GoDaddy or Ipower, log in and search their domain database to see what is available rather than surfing the web.

Outside of that, it seems one can name a company whatever they want these days. The largest retailer in the world is called Amazon??
 
Thanks for the feedback.

I've been a one-man-band since striking out on my own in 2015, but lately I've been making good progress in securing budgets for myself plus 1-3 crew (occasionally more). Also, I have enough volume to start working with another editor on least a project-by-project basis. So, I do foresee some expansion past being a OMB. Not sure if this makes me a "production company" in the traditional sense, but I have my regular collaborators and we want to go after clients who are budgeting for crewed shoots.

I'm hesitant to use my name because it's so common. It's also the name of someone else in our industry; a big time documentary producer in the UK. We even have the same middle initial and I've been mistakenly receiving his emails for years ("Congratulations on your Sundance win", etc.). I'd rather minimize any future confusion.

@morgan_moore
Thanks for the feedback on the reel. At this point, I have over two years worth of new footage to incorporate so I'm overdue for a refresh. The drone stuff will be the first to go. Still finding a lot of use for my HalfinchRails gear, by the way. The half dove mount comes with me on most shoots.

@Bassman2003
I am getting the feeling that outside of trademarks, anything goes. There are only so many commonly-understood words in the English language.
 
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When I registered my LLC it was sort of a regional thing. So if somebody in Portland had the name of my company, it would still be allowed in Texas. Maybe with a regard for industry type but it seemed pretty open ended. Maybe think of your target market and the terms they might use in relation to your services or your quality/dependability.
 
Wow!!! 175 potential names!!!

Finding "the right name" is always hard. So try to find something that applies to you personally.

My business is "Alcove Audio Productions" because my first "recording studio" was in a tiny alcove of my apartment. Even though I've now got a passably equipped studio and control room in my basement it's still "Alcove Audio" as it rolls off of the tongue nicely and reminds me of how I started. The studio itself I call "Low Bridge Recording" because you have to duck under a support beam to get into the studio.

Just for fun… A rehearsal and equipment rental house at which I once rehearsed was called Wachuwan Studios. You get the joke when you call them on the phone to book rehearsal time - "What You Want?"
 
Well, I was going to say to take inspiration by looking up the origin of your name and perhaps tying it to the greek or latin root, or the meaning behind it.

Turns out Nick comes Nicholas which was latin for Victory of the People, because Nike was a goddess of victory.

Sorry, I guess "Nike" beat you to the punch. But evidently, this confirms that my idea, in theory, was good ;)
 
^^ But perhaps you could apply the concept, as others suggested, to your middle name. Or a parent or grandparent or son/daughters name, or a spouses maiden name, etc.
 
You know best what inspires you and what kind of emotion you want to achieve, just coin a new name.

To synthesise new and original name, base should be something that is considered obvious in your line of work and then add something that will attribute it.

Eg. Allegory + Algorithm = Allegorithmic

A lot of car manufacturers do it all the time for their new line of models.
 
I agree with bill totolo that that's a good demo. And I agree with morgan_moore that usually your own name is best. In your case maybe not, because you said there's already a well-known producer named Nick Brown.

And normally I would say don't rebrand because you lose all the old sentiment that had built up around logo and name. But again in your case maybe you should. For one thing, I can see how people are thinking that Quick Hit Record is a music studio. For another thing, "Quick," "Hit," and "Record," as well as your logo, all imply a style that is your opposite. It implies fast, cheap, funny, and laid-back. But your About page talks about, and your demo delivers, a style that is cinematic, expensive, serious, and precise.

Do you maybe have a nickname? (No pun intended.) I find that more personable names ironically seem higher end. Which of these sounds higher quality: "Rise-High Architecture" or "William Baker, Architect." With the second one you feel like you're getting an artist. Also, it's fine to write in the first person: "I was working as a corporate video producer by day" instead of "Nick Brown was working as a corporate video producer by day..." Readers might guess that with such a small business the owner is probably just writing about himself in the third person, which can seem awkward once it hits them.
 
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Thanks for all of the feedback.

unclebob6958
"Wachuwan"... hilarious!

filmguy123
My middle name is actually Japanese (half of my heritage), which actually might stand out in a town like Portland. I'm going to have to give that one some thought. I'd love to grab a coffee again sometime soon, if you're free. Can you believe it's been four years?

laverdir
I have been toying with this notion. My main concern is having to spell it out for people every time I tell them about my business. It kind of slows down the momentum.

combatentropy
Thank you for checking out my site and giving such thoughtful feedback. I think I really needed to read your response because you spelled something that's been on my mind: contrary to the name of my business, there is nothing quick or freeform about the way that I approach the craft. I spend a lot of time planning and dialing in the motion and the lighting, which is definitely not right for every project. I'm going to give some thought to going with my first and middle names. Like you say, it might sound more premium; like a signature service. The only drawback that I can see is that it might be easier for my regular collaborators to rally behind and maybe take some ownership of a company name. But in my experience, it's the names of 5 to 7 biggest production companies in town seem to carry weight. The rest of the business seems to be conducted on individual names and word-of-mouth, regardless of company affiliations.
 
Just saw this thread....whatever you choose, the name of your company should be short, easily rememberable and easy to Google (think google). I'm not sure that using your name, is necessarily the best choice, but there the operative word is not sure. I do think, that if your business expands one day, and you use more people, that becomes problematic...perhaps think along the lines of how a marketing agency would name itself, because if you write, creative (agency aspect of work) should not be off the table, in fact it should be something to work towards one day, if it's within the scope of your capability.
 
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