What’s in a (rideshare company) name?

With the looming prospect that Uber and Lyft will leave the Minneapolis market, riders and drivers alike will soon need alternative transportation. Thankfully, several individuals and companies have announced plans to fill the void both rideshare giants will leave, but these replacement services will need help getting their operations up and running.

The very first step that these companies must take is to think of a name and the right branding. After all, this will define their very identities, and advertise to potential customers the nature of the services they will be providing.

This branding is perhaps more important in Minnesota than in any other state. That isn’t because the Twin Cities is home to so many advertising and marketing agencies, but because Minnesotans appreciate things that are creative, funny and, for many reasons, just weird and different. Think of the people and brands who’ve all come from this land of 10,000 lakes — SPAM, Snoopy, the Vikings, Prince, the Lakers (however that related to basketball), Betty Crocker, the Green Giant. These are all very clever and unique.

So, to help these rideshare endeavors along the road to success, here are ten names and logos that will appeal to Minnesotans’ high standards and peculiar sensibilities.

1. MOOber
This is an easy one to start with — just copy the original and add one of the things Minnesotans love most of all, the dairy cow. It’s also aligned with the same attitude the original started with: push the boundaries of the law and violate the spirit of the law until there are consequences. With this example, that could be trademark infringement.

2. Lypht Ride Share
But Uber isn’t alone in being vulnerable to creative copycats. The pronunciation of Lyft can also be lifted for an alternative, especially when accompanied by branding that alludes to our many lift bridges — from St. Paul to Stillwater to Duluth. And this might even be able to withstand the inevitable legal challenges (but probably not).

3. LEGENDAIRY Taxi Service
Returning to Uber’s absurdly arrogant branding and Minnesotans’ adulation of cows, LEGENDAIRY is an obvious spiritual successor. The message that this brand conveys is that both the passenger and the experience are superior to all other rivals, like the lake of the same name. And the pun obviously helps.

4. Swinesota
But it isn’t just the cow that has a special place in the heart (or stomach) of many Minnesotans; it’s also the pig. Perhaps most important, this brand conveys that the cars will not be pigsties, but clean and well-kept spaces — a quality very high on any rider’s list.

5. EGG’stra Mile
Speaking of pigs, nothing else pairs better with bacon than eggs. And everyone would want to hire a rideshare service that goes above and beyond expectations or, rather, eggspectations.

6. CORN’r Pick Up Drop Off

But Minnesota is more broadly a state with a rich agricultural heritage. As part of that heritage, a person could wager that corn is found in nearly every corner of the state. This play on a homophone would clearly signify to riders that they will be transported to the exact coordinates of their choosing. And it continues the confusing trend in tech branding to simply drop, add or change a letter in a word, like Fiverr or Lyft itself.

7. WILD Minnesota
In addition to agriculture, Minnesotans appreciate our wild places — our lakes, forests, rivers, river valleys and prairies. These are places we visit and where we recharge. Perhaps no quality is more important in a hired car than this same sense of sanctuary and safety. While the bear might scare people, the point is that the car will not.

8. Loon’r Ride Along
Continuing with this theme of nature, a rideshare company would be certain to find success by pairing with the loon. This is our state bird, and it was almost on our state flag. It is on our state quarter, and a very lucky few residents of St. Paul have it on their library cards. It is as beloved as any pig or cow, and it is surprising that more local companies haven’t associated themselves with it in some way.

9. Catch & Release Quick Rides
Minnesotans also love fish and to fish — so much so that people do so on cold, barren, frozen lakes. Aligning this activity with a taxi company just makes sense. A rider is picked up and quickly deposited at their destination, just like they’re a magnificent sturgeon.

10. ALL PLOWED STREETS CAR RIDES

Fishing and ice fishing bring us to Minnesota’s inevitable winter. And as the people who put away their window scrapers early this March so painfully learned, winter weather is always a threat. It will never leave anyone here safe, even in the heat and humidity of July, as the downward cycle has already begun and the days are getting shorter. That’s a depressing characterization, but it’s the reason that riders want to be assured that the car they hire will get them to their destination.

This is only a partial list of the possibilities, and there are certainly many names a start-up ride share service would want to avoid. But these are all helpful ideas for good Minnesota brands, and hopefully some of these endeavors will take this advice and use it to find success for riders and drivers alike. The meter is ticking.

J. Dan E. Maruska is a resident of St. Paul.