N A M E D E V E L O P M E N T
The focus of our work lies in creating great names. It is both our passion and what we are best at doing. We define great names as meeting the following criteria:
1) UNIQUE - Does the name help to stand out in your category, or does it blend in with others?
2) SIMPLE - Is the name easy to say, spell, remember? Is it as short and concise as possible?
3) ENGAGING - Does the name resonate with your intended audience, and create an emotional charge?
4) MEANINGFUL - Does the name readily convey an idea or benefit that is relevant to your brand? Does it start to tell a story?
5) VISUAL - Does the name suggest colorful imagery, is it visually evocative?
6) ELASTIC - As your category or company grows, will the name expand accordingly, or is it too limiting/specific?
7) PERSONA - Does the name capture the essence and personality of your brand?
8) GLOBAL - Is the name culturally appropriate around the world and able to travel across different major languages?
9) HARMONY - Does the name sound good? Is it maybe even fun to say?
10) VIABILITY - Is the name legally protectable, trademarkable?
11) MEDIA-READY- Is the name available as a URL, Twitter handle, social media moniker, trading symbol?
Our process varies slightly for each unique client. We employ small teams of linguists and namers from all walks of earth who have a passion for creating names. Mindmaps help to generate creative targets that are pivotal to the brand, yet take our teams to less expected solutions. Our agile, iterative process of brainstorming produces an expansive and varied pool of names. All name candidates are filtered against the criteria above, and we employ a rigorous legal and URL screening prior to presenting recommendations to the client team.
We take a complicated and often frustrating task and make it easy and fun for our clients.
B R A N D S T R A T E G Y
It is our practice that in order to get to a great name, you must first start with a solid brand strategy and brand positioning. This is critical to help identify the strategic provenance for a name, and to help capitalize on the unique difference of the brand or product. We work with clients as needed to help articulate a brand strategy, brand positioning, and/or brand architecture.
We work with emerging or established brands seeking to understand what makes them special. We anchor this difference in a solid strategy, then start to build a brand around this foundation, helping our clients learn how to create engagement at every potential touchpoint. First and foremost, we create an exceptional brand name -- for the name itself is the most often used touchpoint of any brand.
With these two important assets in place, any brand will be well-positioned to be nurtured and implemented in the marketplace, and to be one of the worlds' next great brands.
B R A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
Using the brand strategy and brand name as the anchors, we can bring the brand to life with identity, messaging, packaging, and other brand elements.