Naming is fun, rewarding, creative and interesting. How's that for negating just about every post about the pitfalls of naming or how tedious it seems to be for many people? Granted, naming in a world of diminishing dot com availability is a challenge, but overall, I've found naming to be more gratifying than frustrating — when you have the right approach.

I've distilled four criteria that when followed, will greatly increase your chance for success and provide awareness of where the pitfalls lie so you can minimize time-intensive dead ends.

Faced with a corporate or product naming assignment, you may conjure visions of silly corporate naming competitions over cold pizza or the endless search for the elusive, available url, which often results in a substandard name by default. While happy accidents can happen, most naming exercises fail because they are purely subjective, not based on any brand strategy.

Because a name is the most visible manifestation of your brand, whether it is a corporate, product or service brand, it needs to be built on a solid foundation. Having lead quite a few naming processes, I've found success by breaking down the process into six steps.

What are the strategic considerations that should guide your product naming? What is the relationship of your product name to your corporate brand? When should a product have its own brand?