Fruit of the Loom can come up with cool names, they’re just afraid to use them. There’s a Fruit of the Loom ad that’s showing up on ESPN in which they’re promoting their new breathable underwear. Since these new underwear are “perfect,” they “need a name just as perfect.” Then, the witty and creative Fruit
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
“Why did I spend 7+ years, hire 3 brokers, and send over 200 emails to buy the 82nd most expensive domain in history,” asks Noah Kagan at the start of his recent podcast. Titled “What I Learned Spending $1.5 Million on sumo.com,” the podcast goes into the details of Kagan’s huge purchase. The marketing personality
Let’s say you picked up your friend’s tab at the bar last night because he was short on cash. Like a lot of Snake Peo Millennials, you both use Venmo, so you decide to send him a text asking him nicely to pay up. Then you hit send, but just before your message travels through the
Changing names is tricky. At the very least, a name change is going to leave you changing signage and ordering some new business cards; often it implies an entirely new direction for your company. We’ll be honest: name changes are a big part of our business. It’s relatively rare that someone gets it right the
Print matters. We’re excited to have our Naming Survival Guide featured on For Print Only, a celebration of physical media in an internet awash with gifs. Thanks to Kyle Tezak for working with us to make it happen.
“…and the name needs to be available as a .com.” We hear this one a lot. Otherwise intelligent people have dropped vowels, smashed words together, and butchered perfectly good words to register a website. After all, name.coms are the gold standard for your business’ web presence, right? Not really. In 2016, name.com URLs are small
For most people, the word “Patagonia” conjures up images of adventurers summiting a snowy peak (which may or may not be in southern Argentina.) North Face is a jacket or a sleeping bag, not the harsher side of a mountain. A big part of outdoor outfitters, and a key to their success, is their
Branding sports teams is tricky business. The team already has a brand, whether they like it or not. Player styles, rivalries, fanbases and team performance combine to create athletic brands before ads and stadium deals enter the picture. We’ll look at the major league teams from the Bay Area (we’re a Berkeley company, after all)
When you’ve been in the naming business for as long as Taylor Swift has been alive, you learn a few things. Over the years, we’ve tirelessly revised our naming process, honing in on what works and what doesn’t. If you can imagine a creative process, we’ve likely tried it. The results are names that
