So this is random, and not even part of the setting I'm writing yet - but I'm writing a near-future story set in 2035, and I'm trying to name the business that has replaced Starbucks as the America's leading coffee/tea chain. The primary product they serve is "Bubble Espresso" - they cornered the market on both Asian Bubble Tea and iced coffee by being the only chain that put the tapioca bubbles in coffee. Eventually they became a major competitor for Starbucks and more popular among young hipsters. People will hang out there a lot - and my journalist protagonist is going to get a drink there every morning -"Two-Shot Iced Sugar-Free Hazelnut Mocha, Extra Bubbles". The story is serious but I want this chain to be a light-hearted tip of the hat to yuppie/hipster culture never changing. Right now I'm calling the chain "Hello Bubbles!" but that sounds too much like "Hello Kitty".
LOL Not sure how to give you a cut of coffee sales in an alternate reality...the whole interdimensional transaction thing is a little difficult to work around...
You'd be surprised to know how some companies come up with their soon-to-be-iconic names. Your future Starbucks analogue, if it is as successful a company as you plan to make it, should have a name that rolls easily off the tongue. "Hello Bubbles" does not roll easily. "Bubbles" by itself is better.
(Ah, this is where I meant to reply, not a different thread on character names.) Naming businesses in a story is like choosing domain names -- brandable names, as you say. It's difficult. There are sites selling nonsense words for domains, like Brandbucket.com and Shopify.com. Sometimes looking through these can help.
I think I may call it PaoPao - Singaporean name for bubble tea and it's short. Apparently there is already a chain in Asia called Chatime that does this already, but the coffee there is a side product to the tea.
You should name it something catchy and quick, maybe a play on words.... how bout "Expresso"? It's like express and espresso....brilliant....
well, there you have it. Chalk my ignorance up to being trapped in a never-ending job in rural Kentucky. I need to get out more.
Sorry to burst your bubble (pun definitely intended) but there's already a coffee chain (or some sort of cafe/restaurant chain - I've never actually been in) called PaoPao, there used to be one where I live (though I suppose they may have gone bust...)
