Stuart Foster is a marketing consultant in the Boston area. He specializes in brand management, social media, and blog outreach. He authors a blog at Thelostjacket.com and is a Social Media Strategist at Mullen.

Naming, language and interpretation are important in other fields. However, they are central to the practice, implementation and learning of Marketing & PR. Why? Simple: the process of understanding and deconstructing of complex concepts into simple stories form the back-bone of our industry. Say what?

Language and visual communication comprise all of our work. Having a firm grasp of both is essential for creating a fantastic campaign, program or philosophy for a company.

Why is this more important now then it ever has been? Lines of communication are blurring, messages are spreading faster and the language/naming of concepts and practices are rapidly changing.

The coolest (and most confusing) aspect of this is this: a definition from yesterday might not mean the same thing today. So you have to constantly be on the cusp of new technology, ideas and practices in order to effectively move your company/client forward.

An example of this is the term “Public Relations”. The word and industry have been around forever (or at least it feels like it). However, its meaning and definition have changed drastically with the introduction of social media.

What is social? What is media? The lines have been erased not blurred. You know have to be involved in “People Relations” in order to be successful in communicating your message.

Public relations always meant media relations in recent years. But with the introduction of the internet, blogging, and the decline of the modern newspaper/media company are media relations as important? Yes and no. The number of outlets has shrunk and the reporters reduced (so it is easier to get a story into the paper) but you now have to also worry about your presence online.

What are your customers, critics and supporters saying? It’s clearly measurable now. You just have to take the time to listen, react and formulate your strategy effectively. The tools are out there (and they are often free) you just have to be able to use them.

Thus naming, has become an increasingly difficult task. How can you navigate these waters of change effectively? You can’t, but you can try and adhere to a few rules to prevent your product from having a miniscule shelf life.

1. Don’t link your product name to a piece of technology. You wouldn’t want to produce music at a place called 8Track4ever. Why? You’ve tied it to a piece of technology that could become obsolete in a few years (or a few days as the Mini-disk found out).

2. Articulate your name’s meaning in a variety of different ways. This means audibly and visibly. If you are promoting a premise use a demonstration to illustrate it. Have a product? Demo it. By doing this you will allow people to gain a better understanding of what you do or what your product does. It also keeps confusion to a minimum.

3. Be creative with your name, but not too creative. People need to understand what you are selling and be able to identify with the product. Which product are you more likely to use? Google or Goooooooooogle?

4. Listen and react to criticism about your name. Don’t react if the results aren’t there to support a change though. Criticism online needs to be given less credence dependent on the source, volume and general sentiment. Some people are going to say that your product sucks. Everyone hates something on the internet. It’s just the way it works. Don’t act rashly.

5. Make sure your name adheres to company culture. You have to have confidence in your product name and what it represents. If it is in anyway going to lead to a large division within the company or goes against everything you stand for…don’t name it that.

Some of these are obvious. In fact all of them are. However, sometimes you need to have a list to reference in order to move forward. What are your suggestions for keys to naming a product effectively?