The Competitor-Launch Name Probe
Test a name by pretending a rival just launched it and watching what it makes people imagine.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 90%
To evaluate a name without triggering people's instinct to critique, Placek recommends telling friends or employees that a new competitor just launched under that name and asking what they think — or asking employees 'what could this name do for us?' The trick shifts the response from opinion/evaluation to imagination, revealing what the name actually does. The gold-standard reaction is 'they're not like the other guys,' which signals a predisposition to consider the product.
Origin
David Placek's qualitative research heuristic at Lexicon Branding for detecting whether a name creates a predisposition to consider.
Core principles
- 01Humans are wired to evaluate and find what's wrong; you must design around that
- 02Ask what a name could DO, not whether people like it
- 03Framing a name as a rival's launch elicits imagination instead of critique
- 04The winning signal is 'not like the other guys' = predisposition to consider
- 05A name's fundamental job is to help people imagine
How to run it
- 1
Reframe the question away from evaluation
Never ask 'what do you think of this name?' Instead ask employees 'what do you think this name could do for us?' — a question about potential, not approval.
Watch out Direct evaluation questions trigger the human bias to find what's wrong and push you toward the safe descriptive choice.
- 2
Run the competitor-launch drill on outsiders
Tell friends who don't work for you: 'we just have a new competitor and their name is [X] — what do you think about that?' Because they're reacting to a rival, they tell you what the name does for them and what it makes them imagine, not a graded opinion.
Pro tip They know what you're doing; the framing is a device to extract imagination, not a deception.
- 3
Listen for 'not like the other guys'
In the responses, listen for the signal that the name makes them think the product is new and different — 'I don't know what they'll do but they're not like the other guys.' That reaction means the name creates a predisposition to consider.
Pro tip Prioritize whether the name fires imagination and expectation over whether it's 'popular' or 'fits the concept.'
Watch out If people react with 'I already have something like that, I'm busy,' the name failed to differentiate.
In the wild
Across years of qualitative work Lexicon looked for one consumer response: 'I don't really know much about that new product but I know that they're not like the other guys.' That reaction told them the name created a predisposition to consider rather than dismissal.
→ It became their reliable indicator of a good name — a name that makes people want something new and different rather than 'I already have one of those.'
Placek contrasts an experiential name (Google) with a descriptive one (Infoseek): Google makes people feel relief and curiosity that it isn't mundane and descriptive, which is exactly what the probe is designed to detect.
→ Demonstrates the target reaction the drill hunts for — a name that fires imagination and promises something new.
Common mistakes
Asking people whether they like the name
'Do you like it?' invites evaluation and the human instinct to find fault, biasing toward safe descriptors; the useful data is what the name makes people imagine and expect.
Optimizing for popularity or concept-fit in research
Placek warns that testing whether a name is popular or 'fits the concept' inevitably selects a descriptive name; research should measure whether the name fires imagination instead.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders and teams pressure-testing a name shortlist with employees or friends without a research budget.
Not ideal for
Situations requiring statistically rigorous quantitative validation, or products where differentiation isn't the goal.
From the transcript
“we just have a new competitor and their name is blank. What do you think about that?”
“You're asking them then what does that name do for you”
“I know that they're not like the other guys. That's when we knew we had a good (08:00) name”
“that name will create a predisposition to consider this product”
“it's not so much what do you think of this name? It's what do you think this name could do for us?”
From the episode
Naming expert shares the process behind creating billion-dollar brand names like Azure, Vercel, Windsurf, Sonos, Blackberry, and Impossible Burger
David Placek (Lexicon Branding)