Web3 Brands All Sound Alike & That's OK
Why do so many web3 startups use the same words in their names?
Web3 natives love crypto slang.
These technical word jumbles can be both barriers to new users and signals of belonging to web3 natives.
Web3 brands have also embraced their own shortlist of important web3 words.
Half the startups in web3 use the same 12 words in their brand name. Some combo of crypto, coin, layer, proof, block, token, stack, etc. Let’s look at Coin for instance.
Conventional wisdom tells us that having a brand name or logo that resembles your competitors is bad.
That’s not always true though.
Successful brands can be made out of unique, ownable words (Google, Uber) or built on one or more fairly generic words (Bank of America, General Motors).
Both are happening in web3, and plenty of the generic brands are doing quite well.
Coinbase signals it’s a crypto brand similar to how CreditKarma signals it helps with your credit or Quickbooks helps you with bookkeeping.
Similarly, legacy brands have to make these decisions when launching web3 projects. You can speak to web3 natives and novices, but it likely requires different language and/or mediums.
How you name a project matters. Your target audience determines whether you launch NFTs or “collectibles.”
The terms web3 brands are gravitating toward are central to core web3 concepts (chain, stack, mint, three/3), but short and generic enough to work well in a brand name.
Brands Just Wanna Have Friends
Humans crave creativity. But, we also gravitate toward trends and signals.
We agree on unofficial rules and systems of identity. We tend to look alike and talk alike based on our geography or the groups we join.
Brands are no different.
10 years ago every other tech startup name ended in ly: Bitly, Grammarly, Feedly. The logos of successful tech companies tend to coalesce.
Fashion brand logos are some of the most homogeneous. Even as they evolve more modern, digital-friendly brand identities.
Banks tend to use blue in their logos. Fast food companies love red.
These are trends based on design research and signals that help consumers quickly identify brand categories.
As native brands coalesce around simple words that signal web3 concepts, they’re branding the industry. Native users understand the full meaning of these terms and novices learn to see them as signals of web3 identity. It not only signals consumers but also investors and potential partners.
The Web3 Brand Name Generator 5000
Now, it’s your turn.
At Sofresh Labs, using machine learning and various items laying around the office, we’ve developed a special proprietary algorithm to help you name your next web3 startup.
As a new web3 founder, your brand will quickly be identified as a very important crypto technology, while also not scaring off the web3 curious. Enjoy.
Work With Us
We help brands execute unique web3 strategies. Hit reply and say hello.
– Jason