When you’re thinking of a name for a new product or a company, what is the process you go through? It can be a tough process, and there are many ways to go.

• There’s the combo-word approach, where you take two descriptive words and cram them together to make a new one. Examples: Nabsico, Conoco, Carfax.
• There’s the regular-word-word-that-sounds-cool approach, in which you use an otherwise mundane word, preferably with one or two syllables. Examples: Ford Focus, Apple, Intel.
• There’s the historical/literal allusion approach, in which you name your product after a Greek, Latin or Biblical reference. Examples: Nike, Raytheon, Samsonite.
• Of course, you can always name your company after the founder.
• Or, you can take the simple, straightforward approach, like these guys.

Brett Duncan over at MarketingInProgress.com has a nice post about what to look for in a marketing agency. He has some good tips. Here is my favorite:

Next time an agency is pitching you on spending tens of thousands of dollars on a website, ask them why you shouldn’t just get a web designer and build a site on Wordpress. If they fumble, then you just found a cheaper alternative.

True enough. Often agencies will push for an expensive Erector Set of a solution when a simple solution – like building a site on Wordpress – is all that’s needed. So you should never be afraid to ask the tough questions.

But if you do hire a branding agency or consultant, keep in mind that you are paying good money for their expertise and advice.  It’s a common mistake for companies to not take the advice of their agencies, even after spending so much money to get their ideas.

That’s just a waste of money.

When your agency comes to you with recommendations or ideas, you should trust them as you would your lawyer or accountant.  They are experts, after all.

However, don’t trust them blindly.  If something doesn’t seem right, trust your instincts and voice your concerns.  It’s your brand and your company.  You deserve an explanation.

If your agency has your best interests in mind, they will give you a solid justification for their thinking.  They should be able to demonstrate the strategy behind their ideas and tell you how they will help you build your brand, increase your exposure and drive sales.

Want some advice? Never let your lawyers do anything that affects your brand.

Hansen Beverage, who markets Monster Energy Drink, has ordered tiny Rock Art Brewery, Morrisville, Vt., to cease and desist from selling its “Vermonster” brand of beer.  They claim the name “Vermonster” will confuse consumers with the Monster energy drink.

Much has been said about the validity/absurdity of this case, so I won’t get into that. Instead, I want to discuss the marketing & public relations lessons of this story.

Rock Art, for their part, could have simply dropped the Vermonster name, and they would have been fine. They offer some 18 other beers.  But they chose to stand and fight. How? Not in court; they can’t possibly match the legal muscle of a billion-dollar corporation.

Instead, they harnessed the power of Social Media – the story has been all over Twitter and Facebook. The brewery has produced a YouTube video:

Whether they planned it or not, this was a very shrewd move by Rock Art. Not only have the Twitter and Facebook lines been burning up, the story has been covered dozens of times by television news, newspapers and blogs.

Clearly, this could not have worked out better for Rock Art. The exposure they received is enormous, the support they generated is immeasurable. And I’d be willing to bet they have sold an extra case or two of Vermonster.

What surprises me is that Hansen took the step of picking on Rock Art in the first place. Whomever signed off on the cease & desist order clearly didn’t check with the PR department – or if they did, the PR department should be fired, along with the law firm.

Even if they had legal standing (which it appears they don’t), they had to know they would be perceived as the villain in a story that had serious viral potential. They market their product to young people. You’d think they would understand how this might play out.

The thing is, with just a little cooperation and creativity, they could have handled this in a way that would have been positive for them and for Rock Art. They still can, in fact. I’m just riffing, but here are a few ideas:

• Hold a contest on the Web in which people can suggest and vote on a new name for Vermonster. Winners get a year’s supply of the beer and the energy drink.
• Create a “Dunk the Lawyer” game on their Web site.
• Have the president of Hansen armwrestle the president of Rock Art for the name. Create a big event around it, with admission proceeds going to Rock Art’s favorite charity. I think Southwest Airlines did something similar eons ago.

There are two lessons to this story. The first is this demonstrates the power of Social Media. I don’t know how this will turn out, but Rock Art suddenly has the support of hundreds of thousands of people who never heard of them before. This would have been much more difficult without Twitter and Facebook.

Second, it almost always a colossally bad idea to let lawyers anywhere near your brand and your public image, especially on something so trivial.

Whew! That was a long post. I’m tired. I think I’ll go have a Red Bull.

Not long ago, my wife and I went through the process of buying a new (actually used) car. We ended up not buying, and decided just to buy out the lease on our current car. Why did we make that decision? In large part because of a tired, old routine at the car dealership.

I think you already know what I’m referring to. You’ve picked out the car, test drove it, and now you’re sitting down with the salesman to hammer out the numbers. Then he has to go back and “check with his boss”.

What a silly, stupid thing. In this age of transparency and increasingly smart consumer, I can’t believe this routine is still around.

In my case, I was left at the guy’s desk, waiting for what seemed like 20 minutes. You know what happened? I got to thinking. I began to wonder if buying this car (an ‘04 Honda Odyssey, if you must know) was the wise thing to do.

When the sales guy came back, I told him I changed my mind.

He had me. I was ready to sign. Then he gave me time to think about it, and I made the wise choice to stick with the car we had. Instead of working with me as a person and treating me like an adult, he did what car dealers have done for decades.

I don’t blame him, necessarily. He doesn’t know how to adapt.

Are there any tired, old routines in your business? Take a good, hard look at your processes. Is there anything you do that you’re not quite sure why, just that it’s what always has been done? Are there any standard practices that are decades old and add no value to the customer?

It might be time to ditch those routines in favor of one that show your customers that your working with them or makes them feel like they can trust you. I would be willing to bet that your customers will notice.

Moneywatch just came out with a story about the top five renovations homeowners can make for relatively low cost. It’s nothing terribly unexpected, but it’s a helpful list of things consumers can do to maximize their remodeling dollar.

As a building or remodeling contractor, or as a manufacturer or provider of products or services for the remodeling industry, this story is great news. It helps to motivate consumers to action, or at least gets them thinking about it.

But you can’t expect this story to cause people to line up at your door. You have to build a bridge between the news and your brand. How do you do that? Here are some ideas:

1. Link to the story on your blog (you do have a blog, right?). A blog is an excellent way to keep your Web site content fresh, and linking to media stories help your customers find you in search engines. You might also include a list of design ideas or tips.
2. Share the article with your friends and followers on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
3. On your blog, Facebook page, or even your standard Web site, list products or services you offer that answer what’s said in the story. In this case, you could even have a promotion with special prices on flooring, countertops, or whatever. The point is to provide a solution for consumers.
4. E-mail the story to the home building/remodeling/design reporter at your local newspaper, along with an offer to be interviewed as an expert.
5. Put signage in your showroom or store (if that’s your business) and on certain products that may have been mentioned in the article.

These are just a few ideas. I’ll post more as I think of them.