If you’re launching an app that enables mobile payment, and is designed to conquer the world, you need a strong name to go with it. In-depth research came up with the name ‘Payconiq’. A name that sounds good and does the job… but isn’t so easy to spell. Fortunately, there was a creative way to solve the problem.
Payconiq is the name of a mobile payment tool produced by the ING innovation centre think-tank in 2014. Payconiq enables users to make payments online, with a mobile device or directly to other people. More than 37,000 merchants in Belgium have already signed up to the Payconiq system and a Europe-wide rollout is in the making.
A Name that Does the Job
Philip Du Bois is the general manager of DNS Belgium, the non-profit organisation that manages all .BE, .VLAANDEREN and .BRUSSELS domain names
Every good idea starts with a strong name. And to find that name, ING called in the name specialist, Globrands. Thorough analysis and various brainstorming sessions they produced the name ‘Payconiq’.
“Payconiq is a contraction of ‘pay’ and ‘iconic’. ‘Pay’ is obvious, while ‘iconic’ refers to the icons in the app for users and retailers. The ability to make payments online, with a mobile device or to other people, can also be described as ‘iconic’.”
Pekonik? Peejkonniq? Pajconnic?
Payconiq may be a well thought-out, catchy name. But not everyone could spell it correctly. Fortunately, some bright spark came up with a great solution for a clever radio campaign. The campaign encouraged people to visit the Payconiq website. Without spelling the name.
So Payconiq registered no fewer than 124 domain names – all of the different ways imaginable that people might spell the word Payconiq. And, of course, all 124 linked through to the only real payconiq.be.
Always Register a Number of Variants of your Domain Name
Does that mean that as a business person you should establish as many addresses as possible for your website? Of course not. However, we do recommend that you always register a few variants of your domain name – especially if it’s a little unusual. That way, someone who makes a typing error or who isn’t quite sure how to spell your name will still get through to your website.
Found the right name to match your idea? Take a look to see whether your domain name is still available – and also register a few variants, just to be safe.
This is one of a series of guest posts by Philip Du Bois of DNS Belgium, which runs the .BE domain registry. Did you know that there are no restrictions on who may register a .BE domain name? Anyone from anywhere can register .BE domain names. You do not need an address in Belgium or even in the European Union.