The housing crash has hit hard in California, and nowhere worse than areas undergoing aggressive growth in the form of relatively large-scale housing divisions. Brand name creation for these developments has long skewed towards the fanciful (and some say, misleading). But when the houses are sold faster than they can be built no one seems to mind that their new home sits alongside a dozen other identical houses on “Solitude St.” and thus doesn’t really deliver on the name. The names for housing developments have always baffled me and I’ve often wondered at names for housing projects that evoke ocean views in California’s Central Valley (like Villages at Vista del Mar). Why make a promise that is obviously so untrue?

When the economy takes a dive, the strategic naming for these new housing developments rings hollow. Without the optimism of a thriving economy to bolster the promises. “Luna at Terra Serena” for a development near San Jose seems forced in its evocation of Italian estates and “Crossings at Eden Shores” is emptied of its assurance of earthy delights. When you scream a brand promise so loudly, you often run the risk of stirring suspicion in customer’s eyes. Why should Abe need to call his car dealership “Honest Abe’s Used Cars” if he truly were so honest, the customer might wonder.

It’s not an uncommon observation that subdivisions and housing developments often seemed to be named for what was destroyed in the building of the homes; A sort of backhanded homage if you will. Although they’re not professional namers, there is a great parody of naming suggestions for housing developments on the SlowMover blog including “Leveled Hills, Waning Woods and Vanishing View.”

So while we maintain that great names are incredibly powerful, it’s unlikely that Vacaville’s “Villas at Portofino” development will ever live up to its namesake in Italy - one of the Mediterranean’s most beautiful ports. After all Vacaville itself does mean “cow town.” We advise finding a happy medium for the product naming of these kind of housing developments. Names that are down to earth (like Garden Walk, Merced Townhouses or Madrone Village), but not face-down in the mud (sorry Vacaville).

Clients often ask us, “Now that I have a new company name, what’s next?” There’s still much to do, from announcing your name internally and externally to handling legal and administrative details. Catchword has developed a document called "Launching Your New Company Name" to help guide you through key elements of the process.

Here are a few excerpts from the section on Technology. You can download the whole thing in PDF form here.

Once you've changed your company name, don't forget to:

If you find you need professional help, give us a call. We have strong relationships with firms that specialize in highly effective name launches.

All previous posts in this series:

Legal and Administrative

Marketing and Identity

Internal Communications

External Communications

I know six pregnant women right now – so baby names are a popular topic. They are fielding suggestions from all sorts of different sources (my cousin’s three year old son came up with a brilliant name for his in-utero sister: Avalina Shoppinglist.) The baby-naming conversation always makes me think of my parents’ struggle to decide on a name for my sister.

Twenty-two years ago, when my mom was about eight months pregnant with my sister, my parents threw a party. They had a huge chalkboard in the hallway that had originally hung in an elementary school classroom, and asked the guests to write down some suggestions for my unborn little sister. Had it been left up to the party-goers, she might have been named Chi-Cha, Cayenne, Polyester-Cloroxa, Banana-Rama or Quasar-Pulsar. My sister was born and my parents couldn’t settle on on the right name for two weeks until finally “Baby Girl” was named Tessa. “I could have used a naming expert,” my mom said recently.

Had my parents know about the three golden rules of baby naming (defined by Catchword’s resident baby naming expert, Burt Alper) they might have pursued a slightly different path in naming my sister. In short, Burt suggests keeping the naming candidates to oneself during pregnancy (feedback is generally all negative before birth and all positive afterwards) and narrowing it down to 2-3 names before the birth (but not deciding beforehand). He also warns against naming your baby what you wish you had been named.

The challenges people face in naming their children are not unrelated to those found in coming up with company names and product branding. The name you might pull out of the blue as the most distinctive and beautiful has certainly been thought of. A name that’s too popular won’t let your company, product or child stand apart from the crowd. On the other hand, having a highly unusual name that no one understands (Polyester-Cloroxa?) or that is difficult to pronounce or spell can be equally problematic. So it’s a big decision either way – but the aforementioned naming rules should help, and you can always give your favorite naming experts a call.

Clients often ask us, “Now that I have a new company name, what’s next?” There’s still much to do, from announcing your name internally and externally to handling legal and administrative details. Catchword has developed a document called "Launching Your New Company Name" to help guide you through key elements of the process.

Here are a few excerpts from the section on External Communications. You can download the whole thing in PDF form here.

Once you've changed your company name, don't forget to:

If you find you need professional help, give us a call. We have strong relationships with firms that specialize in highly effective name launches.

Next Friday: Technology

Previous Post: Internal Communications

Stampede (great product name!) is a home-grown vitamin-enhanced beer out of Dallas, Texas. So it's no surprise that Jessica Simpson is their newest spokesperson - and an investor, too. She now owns 15% of the company that was founded by Larry Schwartz. Did I mention that Catchword worked on the product name? Simpson says, "I work out and take care of myself. But I also like a cold beer once in a while. That’s why I made the smart choice with a smart beer. Stampede Light, it’s beer plus."

I'm not sure who the target audience for Stampede Light might be - people who forget to take their vitamins with breakfast? - but having a celebrity spokesperson never hurts. It's great to see the Stampede brand getting some well-deserved attention!

Many naming specialists cringe when they hear the words “consumer research.” This negative reaction isn’t because the idea of research is inherently bad. Instead, it’s because naming firms have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the execution of naming research. And, because many researchers don’t understand the nuances of naming research, the results can often cause more harm to the naming process than good.

It’s incredibly difficult to test names out of context (i.e., without graphic treatment, marketing communication, PR efforts, etc.). It’s especially difficult to get at the underlying emotional and evocative aspects of a name when it's still just words on a screen. These emotional depths are what give a name its foundation as you begin to build a brand around it. So, it’s incredibly important to structure your research to elicit responses to these factors. Simply asking “Which name do you like the best?” will almost always backfire.

When reviewing names out of context and being asked to pick their favorite, consumers almost always pick the most descriptive and familiar (aka, “boring”). Badly executed and rushed naming research can derail a naming process and end up leaving you with the Lowest Common Denominator – i.e., the name that customers felt most comfortable with, and not the one that has the potential to excite and intrigue them. Poorly executed research may have left us with CompuWorld instead of Apple, BookWarehouse.com instead of Amazon.com, or CoffeeHouse instead of Starbucks. Let your customers tell you what’s relevant to them, but don’t let them tell you what name to use for your brand.

Consumer-facing brands are the most appropriate for naming research (and even then, it’s not necessary in all cases). The more of a niche audience you have, the more complicated it becomes to find appropriate respondents. Furthermore, the more ethereal (less concrete) your product or service, the harder it becomes to test names for your concept.

Naming research can be incredibly useful when it is done well by experts. First, ask your naming specialist for advice on whether you actually need to conduct naming research for your project. If you decide that you do require naming research, then allocate an appropriate amount of time and budget, and hire a reputable naming researcher. Rushing a naming research project or using a cheap research provider is a recipe for disaster. Do it right.

This is the tenth and final part in our CatchThis series. Check out our previous Naming Tips here.

This is the way the founders of Café Gratitude (a SF Bay area restaurant which offers raw, vegan, organic fare) might hope your interaction with the server goes:

Server: How are you feeling today?

You: I am Sensational and Beautiful!

What could happen:

Server: We’re all out of Sensational, could I offer you Dazzling instead? Perhaps some Heroic on the side?

You: Well, how about I am Eternally Blessed.

Here in the world of brand naming we are constantly looking for names that evoke a certain feeling and that are fun to say. Café Gratitude has taken this ideal to the extreme form – where ordering lunch becomes an exercise in self-affirmations. What’s more, mantras for personal manifestation are offered by the wait staff. An excerpt from their menu includes:

I am insightful (spring rolls $10)

I am elated (enchilada special $15)

I am bright-eyed (pecan porridge $8.50)

It can be a struggle to keep a straight face when ordering. The idea is that ordering something like, ”I am lusciously awake” will manifest itself as a more awake state of mind simply through your verbalization and consumption of food product. Yet this sort of strategic brand naming is not unheard of – or even uncommon. We buy a lot of things based on the appeal of their associations, and for the promise of how they might change us. I know I’m hoping to be little more like J.Lo when I buy her fashion and who’s to say there’s not the promise of greater sex appeal when you pick up a copy of Allure?

There is a lot of messaging going on in Café Gratitude, but what the restaurant doesn’t exude is its skillful product and food branding. The pivotal gimmick, although shrouded in New Age-speak, comes down to the marketing and a well-executed naming architecture - “I am insightful” indeed.

Linguistic and cultural appropriateness are important factors when launching a global brand. We all know about the Chevy Nova. Naming a car with a word which means “doesn’t go” in Spanish is probably not the best idea (although we’ll dispel this naming myth later.) But the point is valid: If you are launching a global brand, you will want to conduct some level of linguistic and cultural screening on your new name candidates.

Good naming firms have the ability to test names in any language globally, for linguistic AND cultural appropriateness. And really stellar naming specialists will be able to test names with native speakers who actually reside in the respective countries. This becomes particularly important when testing for current slang, recent cultural snafus, and coexisting brand names.

Which languages matter most? Make a list and rank the importance of various languages/countries where your brand will be marketed. You might ask yourself: “If my name is unpronounceable or has a negative meaning in Punjabi, but works great in all of my other target languages, would I still launch it?”

The most typical languages to test for linguistic and cultural appropriates include: UK English, French, Italian, German, Spanish; Japanese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. If you’re going by the sheer number of speakers, you could also include Arabic, Korean, Tagalog, and Hindi in the mix.

This is part nine in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

For more on the on the Nova urban legend, keep reading.

Now, let us dispel the Chevy Nova myth for good. Legend says Chevy made a huge blunder by using a car name that could be translated as “doesn’t go” in Spanish speaking countries. The car flopped and Chevy had to change the name. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, that’s because it isn’t true. Chevy successfully sold the Nova in several Latin American countries for years, and was never forced to change the name because of a decrease in sales. Don’t believe us? Then check it out on Snopes.

“No Va” (Spanish meaning “doesn’t go”) is very different in the minds of Spanish speakers than the word “nova” (Latin for “new”). Speakers are adept at distinguishing between a foreign word and a similar word in their own language. What’s more, two separate words are easily recognized as different than a compound. For example, a furniture store called Notable Furniture would never be mistaken as “No Table.”

I am happily addicted to caffeine – until I skip my normal morning dose. There follows an inevitable sluggishness and an afternoon headache. As this is immediately cured by a cup of coffee I haven’t seen much reason in the last few years to quit. Scientific findings oscillate between praise for coffee’s health benefits and the risks or detrimental effects on the body. I usually stick to reading the good findings, but this recent article in the NY Times provides a nice synopsis.

Product branding is starting to pick up on the “good for you” aspects of coffee that attempt to shift the beverage from an indulgent vice into the medicinal cure-all. Some relatively new products highlight coffee that incorporates supplements or that is specially roasted for unique health benefits. The product branding of Caffe Botanica communicates the health of the harvest and is infused with calcium while GanoDerma draws on the Latin name of the Reishi mushrooms that are included in its special recipe (and perhaps unintentionally, that it is good for the skin). Caffe Sanora gets the roots of its name in “sano” which means healthy in Spanish. This Boulder, Colorado roasting company, claims its roasting process keeps anti-oxidants in beans that will help keep you young while getting what you need to get through the day.

For now I’m happy to take my coffee with milk and no mushrooms, but you never know which new branding gimmick is going to catch on next.

Everyone loves an epiphany. Unfortunately, expecting an epiphany from a naming process is usually a bad idea. It’s common to want to fall in love with a single name candidate that communicates all of your desired messages, that is legally available, and that has an available dot-com. But expecting this to happen on your first viewing of any name can lead to heartache and disappointment. Murphy’s Law of Naming says that if you fall in love with a name before the lawyers have given their nod of approval, that name will be unavailable to you.

The solution is simple: Keep several promising names under consideration. Once your lawyers give you the green light, and the dot-com issues have been settled, then you can pick your final name candidate. Choosing before you know all the facts can be dangerous.

The problem with falling in love with one name, or even with ranking a few names in order of preference, is a psychological one as much as it is logistical. If, for some reason, you’ve ranked your names and your lawyers rule out the top “favorite,” you may be left with a name that you consider to be “second best.” Naming specialists see the fall-out from this misguided strategy all the time. In order to distinguish between a first, second, and third ranking, clients often find (or create) unjustified or unfair concerns with names. Then, if the second name gets the nod, it just doesn’t seem as good anymore.

The rule of thumb is to always keep a group of names under consideration and on a level playing field, until after the lawyers have given their nod of approval. Once you have the all-mighty legal blessing, then, and only then, can you pick your favorite final name candidate!

This is part eight in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is in the market for a new name after being affectionately and famously known as SLAC for 46 years. The Energy Department, which funds SLAC, wants a name that can be trademarked (and which will better reflect its new emphasis on particle astrophysics and photon science) — but Stanford University won’t allow the use of its name in the trademark.

Some critics of the change compare it to a “major mid-life crisis,” and even wonder if SLAC will soon be referred to as the “center formerly known as SLAC.” Researchers are worried that a new name will be less attractive to prospective scientific talent and confuse the general public that has grown accustomed to the name for the huge facility. Others say there hasn’t been any accelerator activity there for years, and it’s about time for a name change.

What to do? SLAC’s staff members have been asked to contribute suggestions for the new name, which must be approved by Stanford’s president and the Department of Energy. One of the most obvious solutions is to replace the word “Stanford” with another word that starts with an “S” (such as nearby “Sand” Hill Road), thereby retaining the acronym SLAC. Or, simply eliminate the expanded form of the acronym altogether, as in the case of SRI International (the former Stanford Research Institute).

Getting a professional naming firm in on the action probably wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But you can also submit your name change suggestions to the SLAC community here.

When a professional namer stumbles across a gem of a new name like Diaroogle — a search engine “for the discerning, on-the-go defecator who is brave enough to use a public bathroom” — there is simply no alternative to obsessively creating alternative name candidates.

So, working on the assumption that the name must graphically convey bodily function AND rip off Google, we humbly submit these for your Friday afternoon enjoyment: Google-loo, Loogle, NumberToogle, Poogle, Canoogle, Poopoogle. Going to check domain availability now, so I can launch my competitive site.

Not long ago, it would have been far-fetched to consider a Safeway brand synonymous with “certified organic.” But the last few years have seen a mainstreaming of organic products across the board, and in-store brands are finally getting a little panache – right down to brand name creation.

Two of Safeway’s store brands, O Organics and Eating Right, found immediate success from their debut. These product brands speak to people who are looking for healthier foods that are still good deal. (And who isn’t these days?) O Organics sales reached $150 million when it launched in 2005 and increased to $400 million in 2008 while Eating Right is expected to bring in $200 million this year. In a highly unusual move, these brands soon will be showing up in competitive supermarkets, as well, in the hopes that Safeway can further expand revenues.

In-store brands are generally cheaper than outside food brands, because of lower marketing overhead. But in this case, a little added branding focus has gone a long way. O Organics, for example, is an excellent product brand name. The O, like the numeral for zero, is a transparent communication of purity, telegraphing natural, unprocessed food. Eating Right is also effective in its straightforwardness. We all know that we’re supposed to be “eating right” and the name for this line of products communicates an easy way to follow this common advice.

It will be interesting to see if other grocery stores follow in Safeway’s footsteps — increasing their naming and branding efforts, more effectively competing against national brands, and then broadening their sales scope to include other grocery chains.

Catchword recently named a new bottled water from Canada (Eska). Like most of our names, this brand has an interesting tie to the key differentiator of the product: namely that the water is filtered by an esker into super-pure drinking water. But enough about the name...

What's really cool is that the company was just featured in the New York Times and has recently launched a new, really informative web site that challenges many of the common assumptions in the water business.

The water is only available in Canada right now, but I know I'll be checking it out once it hits the States.

Don’t be afraid to be BOLD. Distinguish yourself from your competitors; don’t imitate them. You think everyone felt comfortable with the name Virgin? Of course not. But it stood out and had a great story to tell. A name’s edginess can play to its advantage by signaling a brand that’s different and game changing.

Embrace the dark side! No, seriously. Most juicy words have a lot of connotations – positive, negative, neutral – depending on the context. Just because a good name has a dark side, that isn’t a reason to kill it. Just be sure that there’s enough “good” left in the name. (Even Darth Vader had good qualities deep down inside!) As long as your name’s negative associations don’t completely overshadow its positive ones, the edginess will likely help you stand out and be remembered. And remember: most consumers aren’t spending their time at the store thinking of all the negative associations that come to mind with any given product name. Context can help steer their perceptions in the right direction.

This is part seven in a ten-part CatchThis series. Check back every Monday morning for subsequent naming tips. Check out previous Naming Tips here.

Yet another embarrassing article on baby naming fiascos. (If you don't want to read the article, here's the gist: dad (Mr. Jones) names new baby "Dow" while mom is sleeping after giving birth. Previous child, Indiana, thinks it will all work out fine.)

I'll at least give these folks credit for spunk. Still a mound of demerits for abusive behavior. And do you really want to be married to a guy who, on a dare, does something so stupid and so permanent while you're still recovering from labor? File for the name change, then file for divorce.

These people are seriously making me rethink my second rule of baby naming ("don't tell people what names you are considering before the child is named"). In this case, PLEASE, tell someone so they can talk you out of it. Then, get a clue. Or hire a naming consultant -- maybe in that order.

Clients often ask us, “Now that I have a new company name, what’s next?” There’s still much to do, from announcing your name internally and externally to handling legal and administrative details. Catchword has developed a document called "Launching Your New Company Name" to help guide you through key elements of the process.

Here are a few excerpts from the section on Internal Communications. You can download the whole thing in PDF form here.

Once you've changed your company name, don't forget to:

If you find you need professional help, give us a call. We have strong relationships with firms that specialize in highly effective name launches.

Next Friday: External Communications

Previous Post: Marketing & Identity

Tea for what ails you. Tea to help you fall in love (no promises here, at least not in that potential-lawsuit false advertising way). Tea for relaxing in the evening and getting wired in the morning. Tea that makes you (seem) spiritual. Product branding has converged with poetry in the exploding tea market, and I’ve been noticing names that fall far beyond what the creators of “Constant Comment” ever dreamed. Specialty teas are making sure to separate themselves from the fray with names that stray far from simple descriptive naming. Care for some “Iron Goddess of Mercy” or Temple of Heaven”?

The Bay Area’s own Numi Tea can offer you an evocative cup of “Moonlight Spice” (White Orange Spice) and maybe later you’ll meet the “Monkey King” (who tastes like Jasmine Green Tea). “Indian Night” is meant to transport you from your kitchen – under the power of a single teabag. These names speak to us in terms of interesting and exotic associations, but also of the quality of the product.

Celestial Seasonings is the classic cardboard box found in cupboards across America, a company name that is familiar and comforting. In an attempt to update its image new trademarked teas have been introduced with product names like “Morning Thunder”, “Fast Lane Black Tea” and “Chocolate Caramel Enchantment Chai”. These tea names get at an American sweet tooth and driving need for caffeine, but they are also catchy and evocative.

Unique company names are the first step in conveying that the product is much more than some plants you pour boiling water on. I’m a fan of Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, a company name that momentarily includes me in a romantic take on gypsy life. (They make “Love Tea” blended with tiny rose buds.) Mighty Leaf, another producer of fine teas, presents the juxtaposition of a diminutive tea “leaf” with the image of mighty muscles. This appealing and unexpected combination draws you in with the expectation that the tea will also be out of the ordinary and packs a punch that its competitors don’t.

This is great! I laughed. I cried. All of us in the creative field feel this poor designer's pain. We've all been there once or twice.