Going animal for your brand

Naming a company is nothing to be taken lightly. Or  maybe it is. Consider the number of businesses that have decided to go animal for their brand.

• Barkbox.com delivers a monthly box of goodies for your dog.
• Dogpile.com is a search engine that combines results from other leading search engines.
• DuckDuckGo.com searches the Web without annoying filters than can limit search results.
• Aflac isn't named for a duck, but the company is now synonymous with one, having gained 90 percent brand awareness since introducing the Aflac Duck.
• Likewise, GEICO is synonymous with a gecko, drawing inspiration for its mascot from a common mispronunciation of its name.
• Tucows.com (two cows) is global provider of domain names and other Internet services.
• SnapFish.com offers custom digital prints and gifts from personal photos, and PicMonkey.com is an editing site that touts “fearless photo embitterment.”
• SurveyMonkey.com offers free online survey software and questionnaire tools.

Like animals themselves, there are many more breeds...er, I mean brands out there with names borrowed from our fine furry or feathered friends.

Still, naming experts continue to tout abstract names, informative names, and even made-up names. I can’t remember reading any advice about looking to your pet for inspiration.

If that were the case, my freelance writing business might have been called Purr-fect Prose instead of Amy Ink.