brandnewname.com

What is BrandNewName used for?

BrandNewName is a platform for running naming and branding contests. You post a creative brief, and designers, writers and namers from around the world submit ideas; you rate the entries, give feedback, and pick a winner. The site offers three contest types: business naming, logo design, and tagline creation.

What you can use it for

• Naming a new business or project. Instead of brainstorming alone, you collect many candidate names and shortlist the ones that fit your brief.
• Logo design. Run a separate contest when you need a visual mark to go with the name.
• Tagline writing. Use it when the name exists but the positioning line does not.
• Browsing ready-made names. If you would rather skip the contest, the site has a premium names section with categories such as short names, catchy names, and clever names.

Who it suits

Founders and small teams who want a wide range of outside ideas quickly, and who are willing to write a clear brief and spend time giving feedback. It also suits creatives looking for paid contest work. If you already have a strong internal naming process, or you need a name that clears trademark and domain checks before anything else, a contest is a supplement rather than a replacement.

How to choose between the two paths

A practical next step

Write a one-page brief before you start: what the business does, who it serves, the tone you want, words to avoid, and how you will judge a winner. Then decide whether you are commissioning ideas or shopping a list. For general naming advice, BrandNewName publishes business name ideas and branding inspiration; if you want to compare contest platforms, NamingForce and NameStormers are established alternatives, though their models differ.

How does the business naming contest process work from start to finish?

You start by launching a contest with a creative brief, then rate and give feedback on entries as they come in, and finally pick a winner. On BrandNewName, that flow is the same whether you are running a business naming, logo design, or tagline contest. The brief is the part you control most directly, so treat it as the real starting point rather than a formality.

The steps in order

1. Choose a contest type. Naming, logo, or tagline. If you only need a name, a naming contest keeps the scope tight and the feedback manageable.
2. Write the creative brief. This is where you describe what the business does, who it serves, the tone you want, words or styles to avoid, and any practical constraints. The clearer the brief, the less time you spend filtering off-target ideas.
3. Launch and wait for entries. Creatives from around the world submit ideas. Expect volume rather than a trickle, which is the main advantage over brainstorming alone.
4. Rate and give feedback. You score entries and comment on the ones with potential. This is not passive: specific feedback ("shorter, less literal, keep the warmth") steers creatives toward better submissions in later rounds.
5. Pick a winner. You select the name or design you want, and the winning creative is paid. BrandNewName states it pays a higher percentage to winning creatives than others in the industry, which it presents as the reason strong talent participates.

What this looks like in practice

Imagine you are naming a specialty coffee roastery with a playful, local feel. A weak brief says "need a catchy name." A useful brief says the name should work on a storefront sign, avoid the word "bean," feel warm rather than corporate, and be easy to say aloud. The second version gives creatives something to compete against, and your feedback rounds become about refinement instead of starting over.

Where the trade-offs sit

BrandNewName also offers a DIY path: browsing premium names for sale if you would rather skip the contest and pick something ready-made. That suits founders who need a name quickly or who find judging many entries more work than they want.

Choosing between them

Run a contest when the name matters to your identity and you want range. Browse premium names when speed matters more than a bespoke fit. Either way, decide before you start who has final say, because a committee judging hundreds of entries slows the process more than the contest itself does.

A useful next step: draft your brief in plain language first, then cut anything that is not a real constraint. Constraints, not adjectives, are what produce usable names.

How much does it cost to launch a naming, logo, or tagline contest?

Pricing is not published on the pages reviewed here, so treat any specific figure as something to confirm directly. BrandNewName lists a dedicated Pricing page and separates contests into three types — business naming, logo design, and tagline — which suggests the cost depends on which contest you choose. The site also has a separate "Premium Names for Sale" section, a different product from a contest: buying a ready-made name rather than commissioning new ideas.

What typically drives contest cost

Most contest platforms price on the same few levers, and you should ask which apply:

• Contest type and scope — a naming contest is usually the cheapest, logo design the most involved, taglines often simplest.
• Prize amount — the headline number is usually the award paid to the winning creative, not the platform's fee. BrandNewName states it pays a higher percentage of the payout to winning creatives than others in the industry, so the prize is meant to attract serious talent.
• Package tier — basic vs. premium bundles usually add features like more entries, a private contest, or a guaranteed award.
• Add-ons — extra services such as trademark checks, additional revisions, or logo files can sit outside the base price.

A practical decision rule

Decide your total budget, then split it: set the prize high enough to attract the quality of creative you need, and treat the platform fee as the smaller line item. If you only need inspiration rather than exclusive rights, browsing premium names may be cheaper and faster than running a contest.

Next step

Open BrandNewName's Pricing page and compare the three contest types side by side, noting the prize and what each tier includes. For a naming-only project, compare that against a specialist such as Squadhelp or NamingForce; for logo work, 99designs runs a similar contest model. If you would rather buy an existing name outright, BrandBucket sells ready-made brand names.

What is the difference between running a contest and buying a premium domain name?

Running a contest gets you a custom name built around your brief; buying a premium domain gets you a specific name that already exists and is for sale. On BrandNewName, the contest path is a naming, logo, or tagline contest where creatives submit ideas and you pick a winner. The premium path is browsing a catalog of available names and choosing one outright.

How the two paths differ

Which to choose

Choose a contest when your name needs to carry a specific story, audience, or tone, and you are willing to review a batch of ideas to get there. This suits founders who have not settled on a direction and want the field narrowed by outside creatives.

Choose a premium name when speed matters, or when you have already seen a name you like and simply want to secure it. It is also the practical route if you are rebranding and need something short, catchy, or clever without a review process.

A concrete scenario: a solo founder launching a consulting practice might run a naming contest to get a shortlist reflecting an unfamiliar industry, then check whether the winning name is available as a domain. A small team under a launch deadline might skip the contest and buy a premium name that fits well enough.

Practical next step

Write a one-paragraph brief before deciding: what the business does, who it serves, and the tone you want. If that brief produces strong candidate names on your own, browse the premium list. If it does not, a contest is the better use of your time.

How can freelancers and creatives join the community and earn money?

Freelancers and creatives can join the community through the site's Creative Community signup and earn money by competing in naming, logo design, or tagline contests. The process is contest-based rather than a job board: clients launch a contest with a creative brief, creatives submit entries, and the client rates and gives feedback before picking a winner. The winning creative is paid, and the site states it provides a higher percentage of payout to winning creatives than others in the industry — a claim worth verifying against the current contest terms before you invest serious time.

How the earning model works

• Enter open contests in three categories: business naming, logo design, and tagline contests.
• Submit to a brief. Each contest starts with a client's creative brief, so your work is judged against their stated goals rather than your own portfolio preferences.
• Expect feedback rounds. Clients rate entries and leave feedback; strong contenders often revise based on that input.
• Win to get paid. Payment follows a winning selection, not submission volume.

What this means in practice

A graphic designer who wants steady income should treat contest work as speculative: you may produce several entries before a single win. Naming and tagline contests are faster to enter and suit writers, strategists, and marketers who can generate many options quickly. Logo contests suit designers with a strong visual range, but they take longer per entry and compete against more polished portfolios.

If you want a lower-risk starting point, try a few naming or tagline contests first to learn how clients phrase briefs and what feedback looks like, then move into logo work once you can gauge which contests you can realistically win.

Decision criteria before you commit

• Payout terms: Confirm how the winning percentage and any fees work on the current contest rules.
• Time per entry: Compare hours spent against the prize and your realistic win rate.
• Portfolio value: Even non-winning entries can be repurposed if the client's brief doesn't claim exclusive rights — check the terms.
• Volume vs. quality: Entering many contests raises your odds; entering fewer with deeper research may raise your win rate.

For broader freelance marketplaces with similar contest or gig structures, you can compare 99designs or Fiverr to see how their creative-earning models differ.

What should I include in a creative brief to get the best name ideas?

A strong naming brief gives contestants the constraints they need to be creative: audience, positioning, tone, and the lines you will not cross. The clearer the brief, the less time you spend filtering hundreds of off-target entries.

Core sections to include

• What you do, in plain language. One or two sentences a stranger could repeat back. Include the category and the problem you solve.
• Who it's for. Describe your primary customer concretely — age range, context, what they care about — and note any secondary audience.
• Positioning. Are you premium, budget, playful, technical, sustainable? Say what you want to be known for and what you are deliberately not.
• Tone and personality. Give three to five adjectives, plus a few brands (in any industry) whose voice feels right and a few that feel wrong.
• Name styles you want. Invented words, real words, compounds, metaphors, founder names, descriptive names. Rank them if you have a preference.
• Practical constraints. Length, syllable count, how it should sound when spoken aloud, ease of spelling, and whether it must work internationally.
• Availability requirements. Whether you need a matching domain, social handles, or trademark clearance potential. Be honest about how flexible you are.
• Names to avoid. Competitor names, clichés, words with unwanted meanings, and anything already in use in your space.
• How you'll judge. State your criteria and roughly how you'll weigh them, so entrants aim at the same target.

Where examples help

Include a short list of names you like and, more importantly, why. "Short, invented, easy to say" is more useful than a list of ten admired brands with no explanation. If you have taglines or a mission statement, paste them in — contestants can often mine them for a distinctive angle.

On a contest platform such as BrandNewName, the brief is also your filter: entrants see it before submitting, so specificity early reduces noise later. If you also want a mark to accompany the winner, note whether logo work is part of the same project, since that affects how literal or flexible the name should be.

A quick self-check before you publish

• Could a stranger explain your business after reading the brief once?
• Have you said what you don't want, not just what you do?
• Are the constraints real requirements or preferences? Label them.
• Would you recognise a winning name if you saw it, based on your stated criteria?

If you can answer yes to all four, launch. If not, tighten the brief first — it is cheaper than sorting through entries that never had a chance.