Insights / Brand naming in India
How to name a brand in India: lessons from naming High & Dry
How we named a luxury laundry like a mood, and what any Indian founder can take from it.
Naming a brand in India is harder than it looks. Your customers may speak three languages. Your domain and trademark may already be taken. And your name has to work on a shop sign, an Instagram handle and in a WhatsApp forward, often all in the same week.
We have named restaurants, clinics, cafés and products from our studio in Hyderabad. One of our favourite examples is High & Dry, a luxury aftercare studio in Banjara Hills that cleans, restores and protects sneakers, shoes, bags and accessories.
Name the feeling, not the service
A laundry could have been called anything with "wash" or "clean" in it. We named it High & Dry instead: a phrase that describes how shoes leave the studio, and a mood customers recognise. It sounds like a sneaker brand, not a service counter, which is exactly who the customers are.
Describe the service and you sound like everyone else. Name the feeling and you sound like no one else.
Test it in every language your customers use
In India, a name will be read in English, said aloud in Hindi, Telugu or Tamil, and typed on a phone keyboard. Say it out loud to people who speak each of those languages. Check that it doesn't mean something unfortunate, and that it can be spelled after hearing it once.
Make sure it can carry a line
A strong name gives you something to say next. High & Dry led naturally to the line the whole brand runs on: wear 'em reckless. Leave the cleaning to us. If your name can't carry a line, it probably can't carry a brand.
Check the boring things early
Before you fall in love with a name, check the domain, the Instagram handle and the trademark classes you need. Many good names fail here. It is far cheaper to drop a name in week one than after the signage is printed.
The best name is the one you can own, not just the one you like.
Give it room to grow
High & Dry started with sneakers and now covers shoes, bags and accessories. The name never had to change. Avoid names tied to one product, one locality or one price point unless you are certain you will never move beyond it.
Shortlist, then live with it
Never choose a name from a list on the first day. Shortlist three to five names, then live with them for a week. Write them on a sign, type them as an Instagram handle, say them as you answer the phone. Show them to customers, not just friends. The right name usually becomes obvious when you imagine using it every day, and the wrong ones start to feel awkward.
Remember the people who will say it
In India, many of your customers will hear your name before they see it: in a recommendation, a phone call, a delivery app. A name that is easy to say and remember travels by word of mouth, which is still the most powerful marketing a new brand has.
A simple naming checklist
Is it short enough to say over a noisy phone call?
Can someone spell it after hearing it once?
Does it suggest a feeling, not just a function?
Is the domain, handle and trademark available?
Will it still fit in five years?
If you want help naming your brand, see how we named High & Dry and Telugu Medium, or read how to name your startup.
