I just completed another naming exercise for a client, and in doing it was reminded of an offbeat and simple test I came up with several years to qualify brand and product names -- by testing them in Scrabble. Using a small sample survey, I've found that successful names tend to score higher in Scrabble. YouTube, the world's largest video sharing site, scores an impressive 12, while fast-growing Facebook weighs in with a rack-busting total of 19. Well-known brand names like Microsoft, at 16, McDonalds (15), Disney (10), Coke (10), Nike (8) and Google (8) support the hypothesis, and a score of eight seems to be a minimum to shoot for. Vator.tv scores a 13. The theory isn't scientific and ... [ Read more ]