Helpful words:
About Naming

Is “Lifestyle” A Four Letter Word?

As the saying goes, there are two types of people in the world: those who think lifestyle is a four-letter word and those who don’t. I find myself squarely in the second camp but have never really asked myself why? Perhaps it’s because when I first heard the term lifestyle in the early 2000s, brands…

The hardest questions in branding

And how to tell if you have the right answers Most branding projects start with questions. Sure, it’s called Discovery or Intake or On-boarding, but it’s just asking questions. Some of these questions are about understanding how a company operates and what their offerings are. Then there are a bunch of questions about the brand — values,…

WTF is gravitas?

The nature of naming work is subjective. Names are liked or disliked for all kinds of reasons, some gut feel, some logical, some not so much. As such, we’ve engineered parts of our process to remove some subjectivity, because when we’re being more objective we can agree on success or failure.  One request has come…

E-volution: Vehicle naming in the all-electric age

As the hottest summer ever recorded comes to an end, it’s logical to focus our attention more intently on the climate crisis. For many people in wealthier nations that means redressing everything from recreational habits (air travel and gas consumption) to purchasing decisions on appliances, consumer goods, and vehicles. In response to the growing global…

Percentage-wise: Meditating on the 10% Happier Brand

Dan Harris would like a minute of your time. In fact, he would like any amount of time you would be willing to dedicate to the age-old contemplative practice of mindfulness meditation. If you’re using his 10% Happier app, even better. The ABC news anchor turned meditation evangelist has been on a crusade to convince…

AI sucks at naming. There, I said it.

Tools define eras. The cotton gin, nitrogen fertilizer, the internal combustion engine, the internet—all changed the lives of millions of people. New tools bring great capabilities and promise. They also introduce new risks and problems. Tools aren’t inherently good or bad–that comes down to who’s using them and how. Nuclear energy comes to mind. France…

A namer’s travels: The Louisiana wordsmiths

My current home base is Houston, which means New Orleans is a straight shot down I-10 and an easy long weekend. For anyone who loves language, etymologies, and wrestling with new words, a drive through Louisiana is a visual feast. It’s something like a history lesson and an international excursion combined, with more Arby’s. I’ve…

Front of house: The power of foreign language naming in hospitality

Many people are drawn to foreign language brand names at one point or another. Whether it’s an exotic sports car, a fine wine, or a chic restaurant, the attractive phonetics, excitement of cultural exploration, or simply the mystery of the unknown can capture our imagination. Today, some light fare: we’ll dive into several courses of…

Meet me in Hot Buttered Rum: How to approach conference room naming

In November of last year my sister-in-law Erica texted me: “I need to come up with themes to name the conference rooms in our new office campus. Such as “tv shows”, “sports teams”, “types of trees” etc etc. Do you have any ideas?? I need to come up with 20–25 different categories (we have a…

Bringing short-term relationship energy to long-term relationships, and vice versa

At A Hundred Monkeys we talk a lot about how brands are like people. The name is the first impression, they have personalities, voices, and we grow to love them (or maybe the opposite) through experience over time. Interacting with a brand can be a lot like dating — or really, like any human interaction. Client relationships…

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