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About Naming

Trademark Screening 101: How we get it done at A Hundred Monkeys

It’s not all fun and games over here at A Hundred Monkeys. We, too, are governed by the laws of the United States. Specifically, trademark law happens to be very much a part of our business. We’ve gotten to know the intersection of trademark law and naming over the years. We’ve designed our process in…

Systematized: A look at mountain bike naming systems

Naming architecture and systems are top of mind as I’m wrapping up a large, multifaceted naming architecture project and spinning up on another this spring. As I’ve been completing this work, I’ve discovered how little information is readily available on how to evaluate and approach naming architectures and systems. For clarity on how we think…

The Brand is the Company is the Product

There are many reasons for companies to seek help with naming. One issue that confounds a number of growing businesses who have yet to make a splash is how to name their brand, company, and products. Granted, at an early inflection point they may only have one product, which actually plays to their advantage. In…

The competition trap for creative agencies

The creative field is a crowded one. There are behemoths that handle everything in house and specialists that focus on tiny nooks and crannies. On this spectrum, A Hundred Monkeys occupies one of the smaller nooks. We focus on naming and occasionally write in slightly longer format. Over the years, we’ve won and lost projects…

What we talk about when we talk about naming systems and naming architecture

When we talk about naming systems and naming architecture with clients and potential clients there is a decent amount of consensus on what those activities entail, though we’ve heard enough variability to the point where we wanted to share our definition of each exercise. It’s not like there’s an ISO 9000 standard for what makes…

Table Stakes: A primer on our universal naming objectives

Whenever we start a new naming project, we always share a set of universal naming objectives with clients. While we also develop objectives specific to each project, these universal naming objectives are the minimum criteria a name should meet in order to be in the mix for consideration. We have a slide dedicated to the…

Red letter day: why acronyms don’t spell success in naming

I’ve never met an acronym I liked. They are normally a hodge-podge of letters trying to say too much but end up saying too little. So let’s take a quick look at the world of acronyms and see if we can rearrange those letters into something more useful. Most acronyms are the result of good…

What’s the difference between branding and marketing?

And why do I suck at marketing? Hi, my name is Eli Altman. I’m a branding expert with 20 years of experience working with some of the world’s biggest brands like Samsung, Apple, Lego, and Google. I also happen to be shit at marketing — like, really bad at it. Promotion, particularly self promotion, makes…

30 years of A Hundred Monkeys in 30 minutes

I interview my dad, A Hundred Monkeys founder Danny Altman, on the early days of the company and the evolution of naming. We try not to dwell on the the past too much around here but every once in a while it’s nice to take a look around and ask, “how did we get here?”…

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The long and short of it

A Hundred Monkeys can get you a name in about a month. Sometimes shorter. Sometimes longer. Project length depends on the client’s calendar, not ours. Recently I’ve been on a few projects that have extended beyond our normal timeline and want to reflect—since I have a little extra time at home—on the pros and cons…

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