Helpful words

We need to stop naming people at work

People at Google are Googlers. People at Twitter are Tweeps. People at Amazon are Amazonians. These names feel like they are coming from a place of camaraderie and pride. There’s an element of shared experience. After all, you’re spending 40 (who are we kidding 50+) hours a week with these people. That’s more time than…

How to find good names

Good names do not fly out of the aether. Most are found, which requires careful looking. Books are one of the best places to look, so if you’re looking to find great names the more you read the more you’ll be successful at finding hidden gems. I’m always reading one or more works of both…

The Burning Ears 2018

  • About: Naming

For the second year in a row, the team at A Hundred Monkeys put our heads together for the Burning Ears—our annual look at the best and worst in company and product names. Last year’s Burning Ears was a product of Creative Director, Eli Altman’s naming workbook “Don’t Call it That” and his call to…

Realer than Fiction

Companies and products that leapt off the screen. There’s one way to launch a brand that gives people unprecedented abilities to control public perception, make their brand feel real before it actually exists, fine tune their brand story, and have their audience’s undivided attention. It’s called fiction. Many brands have benefitted from having their name,…

Festivus for the rest of us

There are more musical festivals today than you can shake a drumstick at. Most of them have names that are a total bore compared to what’s happening on stage, but the names listed here make us want the festival merch even if we don’t have a ticket. . . . When it comes to live events,…

You’ve got the whole world in your brand

  • About: Naming

A name ≠ a brand. Selecting a name is hard. It’s hard to get two, or four, or seven people to agree on any one thing, especially if that thing is a name. It’s hard because the name needs to work creatively and strategically — but it also needs to work legally. Seeking trademark protection…

Mary Joe Brand

These are confusing times for cannabis branding. Where is it coming from? Where is it going? What does it look and sound like? We wanted to learn a bit more about what exactly is going on in this space so we reached out to the owners of Mary Joe, a CBD-infused cold brew coffee company…

Some of your associations with names are ridiculous

  • About: Naming

We all have personal associations with names, so which ones really matter? Words take us to weird places What comes to mind when you hear the word “heatwave”? You might think of slow radiating waves of energy rolling across an electric blue sky, those lasers that come out of the Flash’s eyes, a microwave, The…

Human Interest

The Problem: Hard to take the name seriously What do you do exactly? When Captain401 first started, the vision behind the name and the brand was a guiding force that steered employers through the muddy waters of 401(k)s. However, this story wasn’t as easy for their audience to grab a hold of. Reactions from new…

Someone Will Pronounce Your Name Wrong. And that’s fine.

  • About: Naming

Seriously. Mispronunciation of your name isn’t the worst thing that could happen to your company, it’s not even close. Like most people, you’re probably thinking about your brand or product as some singular, perfect project – and that makes sense, you’ve been working on it for years. No matter the amount of effort you’ve put…