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Ask HN: How much does the product name matter in the early days? (B2C)

by lilouartz on 5/21/24, 5:58 PM with 2 comments

I wanted this to be not a blocker, so I picked whatever the name that I could come up in the first day. However, now that I am doing user interviews, I get a few people telling me that they are confused by the name.

For context, the name of the service is Pillser. I am still working on the elevator pitch, but it is kinda like iHerb if iHerb was prioritizing scientific data in supplement discovery over marketing materials.

I also asked ChatGPT if it thinks my name is good for what I do, and how it stacks against the likes of Vitacost, iHerb, and a few others, and it gave similar feedback to what was said in customer interviews, i.e.

> While unique and memorable, this name might not immediately convey the idea of supplements or health products as clearly as the others. It could also be associated with medication, which might not be the desired impression for a supplement store.

Personally I have come to like the name (which is really just a concatenation of "pill" & [search]). However, given that Pillser is a long-term SEO play, picking the name feels quite important and I don't want to disregard customer feedback.

What should I do?

  • by JohnFen on 5/21/24, 8:39 PM

    In my experience, the product name is unbelievably important. Probably in the top five most important things.

    But with my products, the name is usually one of the last things I come up with before release. Very often, the right name emerges more or less naturally during development (often from beta testers).

    Prior to release, I refer to it with a temporary name for convenience. That name can be literally anything, and doesn't have to be good or descriptive.

  • by logtempo on 5/21/24, 9:52 PM

    in the mc Donalds movie, at the end one of the founders say that the reason they chose to include Mr Donalds, is because of its name that convey a "USA vibe".

    Also, why Apple is called Apple and not Macintosh anymore?

    I'm not in marketing, but I think it tells a lot about the importance of a name product/company.

    also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilsner

    I think you should find a name that convey better your product or image of "scientifically based pills that give you nutrients". But bit before the final version of your product/company.

    I think actually that for it's even good to change the name during the process, because at first you're going to talk at investors. Which is different than talking to consumers.

    on a side note, sci-pills could be a cool name ahah