Name with Intention, Scale with Clarity

Your sub-brand and naming system should reflect how your products connect, and why they belong together. Whether you’re naming features, modules, product lines, or spinouts, a strong naming convention reduces confusion, builds trust, and supports marketing, SEO, and growth.

Why it's Important

Helps customers understand relationships between products
Simplifies navigation across your offerings
Strengthens your master brand or reinforces sub-brand equity
Reduces internal debates and branding inconsistencies
Increases recognition and recall in competitive markets

How to Implement

Define your brand architecture (Branded House, House of Brands, Hybrid)
List all current and future products, features, or modules
Decide if sub-brands need unique names, descriptors, or both
Example: "Slack Huddles" (descriptive feature under master brand)
Set rules for naming conventions
Prefixes or suffixes
Naming style (evocative, descriptive, invented)
Consistency across products or feature tiers
Create a visual hierarchy
Master brand → sub-brand → product line → feature
Review each name for clarity, memorability, and alignment with brand tone
Check availability for trademarks, domains, and app store listings
Document the system and share with product, marketing, and design teams

How You Know You Got It Right

Customers can easily understand product relationships and naming logic
Your internal team follows consistent naming without friction
Names reinforce your overall brand identity
You avoid duplicate or confusing product names
Each new product fits into the system without starting from scratch
Your names show up cleanly in URLs, app stores, and search results
Stakeholders feel confident launching and marketing new offerings

Real-World Examples

Google

Uses clear sub-brand hierarchy under a master brand (Gmail, Google Drive, Google Meet)

Salesforce

Names product clouds based on customer function (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud)

Notion

Keeps feature names simple and descriptive (Databases, Templates, Workspaces) to avoid cluttering the brand

Make It Better

Align naming with your brand personality and tone of voice
Involve cross-functional teams in vetting key product names
Use short, intuitive names for features and internal tools
Avoid over-indexing on creativity at the cost of clarity
Keep a living naming and hierarchy doc that evolves with your roadmap

Don't Make These Mistakes

Letting teams name products in silos without a system
Creating clever names that don’t explain what the thing does
Overusing acronyms or jargon that customers won’t recognize
Inconsistently applying naming conventions across products
Ignoring legal and trademark risks when choosing names