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Naming/marketing disaster after barely getting started

Well, this is embarassing - not sure where to start. Oh boy, I have been so naive in this process.

I recently launched a Docker based hosting platform for indie hackers. Now, Docker's logo is a whale with containers on top of it. I wanted my product name to be easy to remember for people that already know Docker, and also represent an animal.

I am not a native English speaker, and I naively named my product "Dogger". The resulting logo is a dog (a boxer) with containers on its head (it can be seen on https://dogger.io).

I liked this name for the following reasons:

  • It's short.
  • It's easy to remember if you also know about Docker (which my target audience does).
  • The possibility of an animal "mascot" with containers on its head as a logo.

Now, here comes the issue. After asking for feedback here on Indie Hackers, a user on the platform informed me that Dogger is in fact a British slang for a sexual activity (dogging) 🤣

I already went on and marketed the product on Reddit and in various blog posts, and now I have to potentially change the name?

I don't know what to do. The way I see it, I have two options.

  • I can pick a new name and change everything. I've been thinking of a few alternatives.
    • Boxer (allows me to keep the "dog" logo and graphics, but not have the similarity to Docker)
    • Boxie (same as above, but also means "box-like", which is nice, since Docker is a container technology)
    • Canine (again allows me to keep the logo, but loses similarity to Docker)
    • Ducker with a duck logo instead (this was actually an original idea, but I think Docker's legal teams might be annoyed by this - it's too close)
  • I can keep the existing name. I asked friends (both British and non-British), and there seems to have varying responses.
    • The non-British friends didn't seem to know it was a slang.
    • Half of my British friends think I should change the name - the other half thinks it doesn't matter.
    • Another argument for keeping the name, is that "Docking" is already a sexual slang as well, and no one associates Docker with it either way.

What do you think?

posted to Icon for group Product Development
Product Development
on April 22, 2020
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