Sometimes, properly conducted focus group research can provide a useful data point when evaluating brand name candidates. On the other hand, ill-conceived research may torpedo your best ideas and lead you to a name that’s bland at best. So how do you know when a focus group is a good idea? And how do you structure it to make sure the results are useful rather than misleading? In this 6-minute video, Catchword partner and linguistics expert Laurel Sutton covers some of the basic do’s and don’ts of focus group research, and discusses:

Whether you’re thinking about using focus group research for the first time—or just want to make sure you’re using it as effectively as you can—this video is a useful overview.

Tags: brand name research, branding research, focus groups, How To, naming advice, naming guide, naming help, naming research
Posted in Brand Naming, How To, Videos | No Comments

As naming specialists know all too well, creating a brand name that passes creative and strategic muster is only part of the naming process. The ultimate test is whether that name can pass legal muster, and is trademarkable. In Catchword’s latest free video, Catchword principal Mark Skoultchi walks you through the basic principles—and common pitfalls—of preliminary trademark screening. You’ll learn why it’s not enough to make sure the exact name under consideration isn’t trademarked by someone else . . . how to conduct preliminary trademark screening in a way that allows your brand to expand in the future . . . and what sorts of names stand the best chance of being protectable. While it’s no substitute for professional legal counsel, this 6-minute video can give you a leg up and help you to understand and even participate (initially) in your trademark screening process—before turning it over to the professionals.

Tags: branding trademark, How To, naming advice, naming guide, naming help, naming trademark, Trademark, trademark law
Posted in How To, Trademark, Videos | No Comments

When do you need an exact .com—and when can you get away without one? How do you go about finding a domain name? Or negotiating a purchase from another party? In this 6-minute video, Catchword principal and linguistics director Laurel Sutton answers these questions and others you probably haven’t thought of yet. She also shares some fascinating tidbits about the history of domain names, as well as Murphy’s Law of Naming. (No, we’re not going to tell you, you’ll just have to watch the video.) If you’re going to need a domain name anytime soon, watch this video first.

Tags: domain name, domain name creation, How To, naming advice, naming guide, naming help, URLs
Posted in Domain names, How To, Videos | No Comments

Not every company needs (or can afford) a naming company, and not all naming companies are created equal. In this 5-minute video, Catchword principal Mark Skoultchi discusses who should hire a naming company, and what to look for when evaluating one. He also talks about the steps in a typical naming process, the kinds of deliverables you should expect—and how to maximize your chances of success. If you’re considering hiring a naming company, see this first.

Tags: How To, naming advice, naming agency, naming company, naming firm, naming guide, naming help
Posted in Branding, Company Naming, How To, Videos | No Comments

From the completely fanciful to the highly descriptive, from numbers and acronyms to foreign languages and coined words: there are all kinds of brand names out there in the marketplace. And there’s a time and place for every one. In this 5-minute video, Catchword co-founder and executive creative director Maria Cypher explains the different types of naming strategies that companies employ when developing brand names. And she talks about when certain types of brand name strategies might make more sense than others. Whether you’re creating a brand yourself or just curious about how naming works, it’s interesting stuff.

Tags: brand names, How To, naming, naming advice, naming guide, naming help, types of brand names
Posted in Brand Naming, How To, Videos | No Comments

Think you can vet a brand name destined for a foreign country simply by running it by someone you know who speaks the language fluently? Think again. It takes a lot more than that to assess whether a name will fly with non-English speaking audiences, and to spot potentially disastrous associations. In this 5-minute video from Catchword’s how-to video series, Catchword co-founder and linguistics expert Laurel Sutton shares the keys to serious evaluation of international brand names. If you need to pick a brand name with global appeal, see this video first.

Tags: choosing a name, How To, international brand names, international naming, naming advice, naming guide, naming help, picking a name
Posted in Brand Naming, How To, Videos | 1 Comment

We’ve seen it time and again: evaluating name candidates for a new brand can be an emotional minefield. Idiosyncratic associations (“It reminds me of my Aunt Joan”), the comfort of the familiar over the distinctive, the opinions of colleagues or even family members—all can sabotage objective evaluation and blind companies to their best brand name options. So how do you assess brand names in a way that makes sense? In the second video in Catchword’s how-to video series, Mark Skoultchi, Managing Director of Catchword New York, shares a a variety of objective criteria you can use to identify those name candidates most likely to help your brand stand out and succeed in the marketplace.

Tags: brand name evaluation, brand names, evaluating brand names, How To, naming advice, naming guide, naming help
Posted in Brand Naming, How To, Videos | No Comments

Ever wonder how the naming pros do it? This week Catchword is spotlighting the first in its 8-part video series that takes you behind the curtain, and shares some of the secrets to creating great product and company names. Today’s 5-minute video features Catchword co-founder and executive creative director Maria Cypher, who explains a variety of the techniques brand naming specialists use as part of their creative process. (None of them involving cocktail napkins or Scrabble tiles.) Whether you’re a brand manager who routinely hires naming specialists or a start-up entrepreneur who’s gotta do the job on your own, we think you’ll find it enlightening.

Tags: creating company names, creating product names, How To, how to create a name, naming advice, naming guide, naming help
Posted in Company Naming, How To, Product Naming, Videos | No Comments

Tags: auto names, auto naming, car names, car naming, Honda Fit, Honda Fit name, Honda names, Honda naming, The First Word
Posted in Brand Naming, Product Naming, Videos | No Comments

More videos coming soon!

Tags: software naming, technology naming, Twitter application names, Twitter application naming, Twitter names, Twitter naming, Web 2.0 names, Web 2.0 naming
Posted in Product Naming, The First Word, Videos, naming architecture | No Comments