This time, I'd like to write a blog for those who are currently thinking , "How should I name my store?"
Actually, the other day I had to decide on a name for my new store, and I had a really hard time deciding.
My team and I came up with a total of 36 ideas for the store name. Each idea had some good points, but others left us pondering, so it was difficult to decide.
What's needed at times like these is to organize your thoughts! With that in mind, I compiled my own list of "points to consider when naming a store" and screened each of the candidates against those points.
By doing so, I was able to arrive at a place that I would never have been able to reach if I had just gone with my intuition . And now, the name feels right to me.
This time, I would like to share how I organized my thoughts and narrowed down the candidates.
I hope this will be helpful for anyone thinking about naming their new shop.
In my opinion, there are three things to consider when deciding on a store name :
1) Easy to eat
2) Search-friendly
3) It has a story
I will talk about each one in turn.
1) "It must be an easy-to-pronounce name."
From now on, that store name will be called every day. Naturally, customers and business partners will also call us by the store name.
In other words, the number of times you say the store name is far greater than the number of times you say it yourself. Therefore, if the name is not "easy for customers and vendors to say," it will be difficult for it to become familiar. I think this perspective is often overlooked.
Here's a serious but funny story: A bakery in an area with a lot of elderly people named their store "Boulangerie XX", and was shocked to find out later that people were calling their store "You know, that store called Lingerie". This is no good. In this case, the correct name would be "XX Bread".
So what makes a store name that is easy to pronounce? It is simply a short name .
There is a wine bar in Nagoya that I like called " non ". It has three alphabetical letters and two katakana letters. When a customer asks "Do you know any good places?", it's super easy to explain. Just say "N.O.N., non ." A short name is easy to pronounce and easy to communicate. In other words, it's easy to introduce to people.
"Whether or not the sound reaches the other person" is directly related to the power of word of mouth.
2) "The store name must be search-friendly."
This is a newer element compared to 1), but I believe it is now an point that cannot be ignored.
In this day and age, "the value of your store name is determined by how well it is googled ." You need something called a "direct search." If you get word of mouth in 1), when people google it, your store's website will come up. This flow is very important. So, you don't want the names of other stores to come up.
For example, if the name you want to give your store is already being used by another store, you should swallow your tears and give up on the name. It's the same name, but it's a store in a different area, so it's okay, right? I don't think that's a good idea.
For example, if you search for a store with a name like "XX-chan", you will find a ton of them all over the country. Unless it's a store for a generation that doesn't use the internet, I don't think it's a good idea to challenge a senior XX-chan when opening a new store.
This is because these days, if a customer cannot find what they are looking for immediately when they Google it, it can be so stressful that they immediately lose motivation to visit the store.
It is important to have a unique store name that people can remember and that will bring up information about your store immediately when you search for it. This is as important as having a sign in front of your store these days.
3) "The store name has a story to tell."
I think this is the most important thing.
Since opening the store, I've always been asked the question, "Why did you choose this store name?" I've been running the store for 11 years, and I've probably been asked this question about 500 times. That's how much the origin of the store name is an important topic of interest for customers who are interested in the store.
So, I think it makes a big difference whether or not that "store name that everyone is interested in" has a story behind it. This is because once a story is created in your mind, it is very easy to remember. When people understand that "I see, that's the story behind the name," the store name is deeply engraved in their minds.
For example, the origin of the name of the shop I run, "Bokumo," is this.
Before I started a restaurant, I was a radio director and mainly made music programs. At that time, there was a musician who made the biggest impression on me. It was RADWIMPS before their debut. I fell in love with them, and wanted to introduce their charm in Nagoya, so I wrote a program proposal. Then, I was lucky enough to have a regular program with them for a year. Now it's a precious memory. After that, I wanted to try my hand at a restaurant, and their music always helped me when I was training or when things didn't go well and I was about to get depressed. That's why I wanted to put their mark on the name of the restaurant. So, with the consent of the artists and the president of the agency, I decided to use some of the lyrics of their songs from before they became famous for the restaurant I created. That's "Bokumo" . However, now the artists and the president have forgotten about it and say, "Huh? Isn't Bokumo a copy of the name of our agency, Bokuchin?"
It's a bit of a long story, but when I tell it to customers, I feel like they remember me and my restaurant. They know, "Oh, that guy works in the food and beverage industry now, but he used to be on the radio" (actually, he still does that). When that happens, the information becomes more three-dimensional, and it seems to make the memory stronger.
One of my favorite books is called "Competitive Strategy as a Story."
among them,
The key to a good story is that the person telling it is "interested"
("Competitive Strategy as a Story" by Ken Kusunoki)
There is a part that says, "I think this is really important."
I also get asked a lot about the story behind the origin of the store's name, so I try to tell it in a slightly different way. Every time I'm asked, I add and subtract a little bit, and it's fun to talk about it.
And there is more to this story. Why did I go from radio to food and drink? Why wine? When did I become a sommelier? All of these stories are connected. In my case, because of my background, I seem to be seen as a "strange person" to customers, and it makes me think, "I see, I'm strange," and it's interesting. I realize the originality of the story I have.
However, when drinking, these longer stories can sometimes be forgotten. For those people, I say, "Come on! This is the third time!" and tell the story again. That's fun too (laughs).
Taking these three points into consideration, I discussed the matter with my team members.
We will run a wine shop specializing in New Zealand wines .
Oh, I haven't mentioned it in this blog, but that's right. I'm planning to start around May, and I'm currently preparing for it.
So, I'm preparing various documents for preparation, but soon I'll have to write the store name on the documents. So, what should I do? I came up with 36 ideas.
From there, as mentioned above, we sifted through them.
- "Easy to eat"
XXX Wine is the simplest and immediately makes it clear that it is a wine-related shop. And the XXX has to be a simple word. It needs to be a name that can be easily pronounced.
- "Strong in search"
The domain www.bokumo.jp that I have been using for the past 11 years has a certain degree of strength. There is a certain amount of direct search for Bokumo, and it seems to be a ranking target from Google . I want to make effective use of this. Therefore, it would be good to have a new store name linked to this domain. By utilizing the domain, it will be easier to create a foundation that makes it easier to deliver New Zealand wine to people all over the country.
- Has a story
I fell in love with New Zealand wine and have been introducing it at my store, " Bokumo ". I have been talking about the charm of New Zealand wine almost persistently. As a result, more and more people in Nagoya have started to think that New Zealand wine = can be drunk at Bokumo. Now I want to spread this to the whole country. I want more people to know the charm. With that in mind, I decided to create an "online shopping site" with sales channels nationwide. In Nagoya, where there was no base for New Zealand wine, a restaurant called "Bokumo" has become a hub for New Zealand wine. Now I'm going to create a new story about New Zealand wine set on a national stage. Let's put that enthusiasm into it.
With that in mind, the new store name we chose from 36 candidates was...
"Bokumo Wine"
That's what we decided.
Huh, normal!!!
I can hear some of you saying this, so let me quote it again here.
"The condition for a good story is that the person telling the story is "interested" in it ." ("Competitive Strategy as a Story" by Ken Kusunoki)
This is it. After much deliberation, conflict, and exhaustion, I came up with 36 ideas. From those, I organized my thoughts, focused on the key points, and sifted through them to come up with an extremely simple name.
It's just a name that we came up with in the early stages, just adding "wine" to the store name "Bokumo". However, we want to make our new store widely known and deliver New Zealand wine to many people, while also emphasizing that it is a store based in Bokumo. There is a logic of 1, 2, 3 to make this idea a reality.
This is what I find interesting about it. The result of twisting it is a name that looks natural. It turns out to be normal! But isn't that interesting?
So, I am very happy with the new store name, Bokumo Wine.
I'm sure that those of you who are thinking about what to name your store right now are burning with passion for the new challenge that lies ahead. I think that passion is very important.
However, more than passion, I think you also need to be calm and think about choosing a name that you won't regret . After all, it's a name you'll use for a long time. If you like, first check the three points of "story, brevity, and searchability."
This week's wine and snacks
VILLA MARIA
Merlot / Cabernet Sauvignon 2018
Villa Maria is the best value for money wine in New Zealand. You really can't go wrong with it.
This "slightly dark red" Merlot Cabernet is a little unusual in New Zealand , where gentle Pinot is the specialty. Or rather, it's quite rare. To put it bluntly, "dark, cheap red" hardly exists in New Zealand . But Villa Maria, a major winery, can make it. It's very rare to be able to produce this quality for 2,200 yen including tax. And what's more, it's easy to get hold of in Japan. There are so many wonderful things about it.
The aroma has a faint vegetal nuance, but also a pleasant oak nuance. The taste is a well-balanced blend of berry-like familiarity and moderate astringency. It is very well-balanced and extremely elegant. If it were 300 yen cheaper, I think it would be able to compete with Bordeaux blends from other countries. Since the company has incredible technical capabilities, I feel that this will be realized in a few years.
The snack I paired this time was Genghis Khan . The other day, when I was talking about New Zealand wine on Clubhouse , I met a New Zealand wine fan living in Hokkaido, and I bought the Genghis Khan meat from "Kanehiro" that he was pushing so hard.
"It goes really well with the deep red of New Zealand ," he said, and when I tried them together, they really were perfect. It's always good to hear the opinions of people with the same tastes!
For those who are interested, here is the official website!
