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About Positioning

What’s Your About Page About?

The About page doesn’t get enough credit. In this creative industry of ours, most agencies, no matter the size, have a portion of their website devoted to communicating just who the hell they are and what they care about. But there’s a difference between what your About page says and what your About page does….

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…

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…

Names so bad they’re good

What’s the difference between good names and bad names? A lot less than you think. Ever since I wrote the first edition of Don’t Call It That, a question I always get asked is “What is the worst name you’ve ever seen?” I deserve this. If I wanted to talk about great names all the…

Deconstruct: 365 by Whole Foods

Deconstruct is a propaganda venture from A Hundred Monkeys in which we perform close readings of new names belonging to companies with large legal teams. Last week, Whole Foods announced the launch of a new chain of grocery stores. Described as “a smaller-store concept where value meets quality,” the new chain is intended as a…

Branding E-Cigs

Brand Death It’s been a long, dismal downhill for tobacco branding. First came the ban on TV and radio ads in 1970. Since then, tobacco companies have been banned from sponsoring sports and cultural events, advertising on billboards in 46 states, and printing their logos on tshirts. Over time, regulatory incursions have made their way…

What’s a ButFor?

Have you heard of Spoonrocket? It’s like Uber but for food. Have you heard of YPlan? It’s like Uber but for events. Have you heard of Wolfpack? It’s like Tinder but for friendless straight dudes. Have you heard of Coffee? It’s like Tinder but for job networking and self-loathing. Yes, these are all real things….

emoji-brand

Emoji Brands: Taking Names at Face Value

Doubters beware: emoji are here to stay. Their Western invasion (or welcomed arrival, depending on your point of view) began in earnest in 2010, when Unicode, the computer industry text standard, released Unicode Standard 6.0. At Google and Apple’s behest, that character set included 722 new symbols that would come to redefine the way we…

Football brands deserve more fitting sponsors

Let’s start with something really obvious: football (“soccer” for the Americans and Australians) is the most popular sport in the world. Unlike the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB, most professional football leagues allow for sponsorship on their uniforms. Considering all the interest, these sponsorships go for big bucks. Manchester United’s current deal with Chevy is…

Empty Vessel Company Names: The Fortune 500’s Secret Weapon

Cigna, Avnet, and Alcoa are all Fortune 500 companies. Each has what we call an “empty vessel” name—a moniker with little meaning for a given audience. Empty vessels are extraordinarily popular with large companies in most industries. Names are an opportunity to tell the world who you are. Why, then, would anyone choose an empty…

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