WhereWords
Where Words Come From

Wherewords is the story of where words and names come from (etymology)

but it's also the story of where words and names are going (neology)

 

Steve Cecil is a shortform copywriter and verbal branding professional

specializing in 9-letter novels (names) and 6-syllable sagas (taglines)

 

stevececil@comcast.net

(650) 595-2856 

PO Box 1484

San Carlos CA  94070

 

I'm glad you're here, because that probably means you have a naming problem; and after all, that's one of the few things

I can help you with.  I work to discover the genuine 'aboutness' of your product or service, then translate that promise

into authentic brand expression for the marketplace. 

 

My brain thinks in pictures that come out as words, and last year I created over 27,000 candidate names and taglines for 

76 agencies and their clients -- proving that in this business you have to be wrong a lot to be right at all! 

 

From gum to rum, from shoes to shampoos, from soft drinks to software, I've been the lead creative copywriter on nearly

500 product or corporate identity projects over the past decade.  Fun is where you find it, and I find it in words.  They

don't just obey me, they want to please me. 

 

For example, couple weeks before a recent analyst's meeting AMD found the name they'd planned to use announcing a

new open chip architecture was unavailable to them.  In order to convey the raw speed advantage of the technology as

well as the onslaught of partner's products expected to immediately incorporate it, I named the microprocessor integration

initiative Torrenza (a completely made-up word that did not even exist prior to June 1st and now returns over 150,000

results at http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=torrenza).

 

Here's another success story:  The day Kim Sample spun her practice out of Ketchum to realign under the Diversified

Agency Services (DAS) division of Omnicom, this consummate PR pro had everything she ever wanted -- except the

perfect name.  Because her team combines traditional storytelling with innovative community-building, I named them

Emanate to connote that authentic origination and delivery of messages and ideas (check out www.emanatepr.com).  Then:

 

Previously I renamed Terrace Bank who'd outgrown their regional toponym, which was hindering new business efforts to

grow beyond their Temple Terrace FL headquarters.  Because they help clients navigate a proper financial course against

the infinite horizon of possibilities, I renamed them Pilot Bank (which you can see at www.pilotbank.com). 

 

Pioneer Digital Technologies was one of the dozens of start-ups spun out of consumer electronics giant Pioneer Corp,

to build a business around promising technology not mainstream to the core company strategy.  PDT (as they were

instantly known) develops interactive applications for TV, so I renamed them Aptiv (visit www.aptivdigital.com). 

 

Last year I created the name Versation for popular ESL software publisher English Baby! to help them create new

dialogue between students, alumni and the academic community at colleges and universities around the world.  Read

all about it at www.versation.comWhen First American Credco launched a program designed to assist non traditional

homeowners in emerging markets, I listened carefully and named it ANTHEM (which stands for Assisting Non Traditional

Homeowners in Emerging Markets).

 

Before that I renamed Novato Community Bank, now known as Circle Bank.  They wanted to signal their commitment

to champion small business, and clearly this name puts entrepreneurs in the winners circle.  Get the whole story at

www.circlebank.comOn the other end of the spectrum from financial services is Landtech Solutions.  This soil excavation

consulting firm wanted a name that sounded smart but didn't take itself too seriously, so I renamed them DirtLogic. 

You can read about it at www.dirtlogic.com.

 

A typical assignment delivers at least 300 names, costs about $3750 and takes around a week or 10 days, as follows:

 

Your creative brief becomes my treasure map, describing what were looking for while delineating the boundaries and

explicating the dominant variables of the assignment.  This crucially important confirming document should also account

for the heritage of the company and the direction of the industry, analyze previous and existing names and taglines for the

competitor-set (including conceptual competitors), and prioritize the criteria for evaluating new name candidates (including

knock-out factors and other linguistic restrictions).

 

Next a cyber survey of the marketplace to see which Brand Archetypes are over-represented (and which are under-

represented), which Position Dimensions are occupied (and which are vacant), who owns what images and metaphors,

who's using what kind of language and who is branding around what shapes and colors.   I allow 4 or 5 hours to fully

digest the opportunity (including our phone and email conversations) before starting to formulate creative strategies for

pursuit.  Then I go off and do something else, while the assignment ferments and percolates in my head.

 

When my mind is literally brimming with ideas I sit down for the first of two creative sessions, filling the margins of your

documents with a copious array of name candidates.  I start by building around theme words which execute on your

creative brief, I look to other languages for roots and morphemes to borrow and I ideate profusely.  I'll make connections

with the brand promise through literature and music, with similes and metaphors, through science and nature, with analogy

and logic, via constructive linguistics and rhyme, through philosophy and religion, with humor and sarcasm, through intuition

and synesthesia, along with all the other voodoo that I do.  I'm shooting for 150 names in this session, and I'm usually good

for about a name per minute once I get traction in the open field.

 

The next day I begin by typing my notes, exploiting the subtle difference between how the ideas look in my longhand and

how they appear on the monitor to evoke new responses which hit the target from a variety of new and different angles. 

I'll review the input to make sure I haven't overlooked anything, and I'll heavy-up on some favorite directions I think can

tolerate the extra attention.  (I'm like a big dog that gets into your back yard and digs for 10 or 15 minutes in each of 30

or 40 different holes; if there's a bone, I'll find it.) 

 

Finally, I present the ideas in the order conceived, to facilitate your brainstorming along with me.

 

Now you and your team spend 48-to-72 hours living with the list, tick marking your favorites, ignoring the duds, first

review it front-to-back, then back-to-front (so fatigue sets in at a different place); read at the list in the dentist chair,

on the train, first thing in the morning before coffee, after a workout or a cocktail, right before bed; then email me your

shortlist for legal prescreen against the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database.  I'll research the

status of the top 25 favorites and create a document to support a list review session and final consultation to craft rationale

for the top 5 finalists (but often times even my leftover verbal confections get repurposed in mission and vision statements,

value propositions, category descriptors, tradeshow themes, public relations initiatives, advertising campaigns, websites

and newsletters).

 

I can usually get to your assignment within a few days of your initiating phone call, and you can generally have that first list

a week later (actual mileage my vary).  To facilitate name and tagline deliverables, I offer an on-site Verbal Branding

Workshop, designed to answer the age-old question: Where do good names come from?  Like a Forest Ranger, I lead

a fun-filled foray into the wild world of words, as we plumb the depths of the dictionary in our quest for free-range

language (and the true source of verbal leverage!) 

 

Trading my campaign hat for a pith helmet, we'll explore everything from corporate identities and nomenclature architectures

to sales slogans and marketing mottoes.  You'll learn the difference between Master Brands and Driver Brands, Extended

Brands and Ingredient Brands, Co-Brands and No-Brands.  I use over 100 props in all, but it's the can of SPAM that

holds everyone's attention as we highlight the basics of Trademark protection and Intellectual Property law.  Our Semantic

Safari concludes with a rousing reprise of the 5 phases in every company's lifecycle when verbal branding becomes a priority. 

 

Where do good names come from? 

 

From good namers, of course!  Now you know, and now you know one.  So call 650-595-2856 or email

stevececil@wherewords.com for the best appellations this side of, well, the Appalachians.

 

*****************************************************************************************

client experience:

90 Degree Software

Accesse HR

ActiveMaps

Activision

Acuson

Adaptive Planning

Adobe

Advance Auto Parts

Advanced Micro Devices

Aesthera

Allstate Insurance

America Online

Aptiv Digital

Arnold Engineering Development Corp

Bank of America

BestBuy

Botanical Laboratories

Breyers

Brilliant Shopper

Brocade

Cadbury Schweppes

Candie's

Canduit Technologies

Canon

Chicago Consulting Actuaries

Chubb

Circle Bank

Cisco

Clorox

Cobra Golf

CommVault, an AT&T spin-off

Combe

Crane Merchandising

CTN

D-Link

De La Rue, plc

Digital Origin

DirtLogic

Dixie

DuPont

Elekta

Emanate

Energizer

English Baby

Ericsson

Fila

First American Corporation

GammaKnife

Genentech

Georgia Pacific

GMAC

Guitar Hero

Harmony Foods

HP

Hunter Fans

Hunter Properties

iDeal

IMPAC

Intel

Intuit

Johnson & Murphy

Just For Men

Kabballah Energy Drink

Keravision

Kodak

Kraft

L.A. Fitness

Landtech Solutions

LaSalle Bank

Levi's Dockers

Lucent

Madison Square Garden

Magellan GPS

Manifold Products

Mastercard

Merrill Corp.

Monier LifeTile

Motorola

MTV

MTVU

Mysys

National Bank & Trust

NetBlue

Newport Corp.

Nike

Novato Community Bank

Ocean Park Advisors

Omnesia

Oracle

PacStar

Palm

PenCal Financial

PeopleSoft

Pepsi

Picture IQ

Pilot Bank

Pioneer Digital Technologies

Procter& Gamble

Practical Instruments

Puritan Bennett

Qinetix

Quaker Oats

QuantaRay

QuickBooks

Radius

Redmond National Bank

RedOctane

Ricera Foods

Richemont

Ross

Safeway

SaraLee

Seurat

Showtime

Sierra Schools Credit Union

Snapple

Soliant Energy

SpectraPhysics

Speedo

SpikeTV

Starwood Hotels

StorageTek

Student Universe

SUN Microsystems

Symtec

Teichert Construction

Terrace Bank

THQ Software

Tibco

Torrenza

TNN

Tyson Foods

Ubisoft

U.S. Steel (USX)

Varian

Veeco

Versation

Washington Mutual

WCSN

Wellesse

Werther's Original

Wrigley's

Xerox

 

 

Agencies:

 

Addison Whitney

Bob Gold PR

Bonfire Communications

Brand Resources Group

BrandFusion

BrandPlay

Catapult Direct

Catchword Branding

Citigate Cunningham

CLK Design

Compass Group

Cornerstone Branding

DiMassimo Advertising

Emanate PR

Frankfurt Balkind Partners

Gauger + Associates

GK Design

Idiom Branding

Ketchum

Landor Worldwide

Laga Design

Lanig Associates

Larsen Design

LaunchSquad

Liquid Agency

Manning Selvage & Lee

Marshall Strategies

Metaphor Naming

Monigle Associates

NewGround Resources

Nice Advertising

Polese Clancy

PRx

Rieches Baird

Rivkin Associates

Salt Branding

Shout Creative

Siegel + Gale

Silverstein Associates

Smith Design

Stratagem

The Naming Company

U.S. Concepts

Whitaker Partners

Word4Word

 

********************************************************************************************

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve Cecil

Post Office Box 1484

San Carlos, CA  94070

Phone: 650.595.2856

E-Mail: stevececil@comcast.net

 

 

SUMMARY

  • Strong presenter, facilitator, moderator; thinks well on feet, unflappable.
  • Superior copywriting skills; exceptionally creative, always on strategy.
  • Ability to translate company and product "aboutness" into brand expression.
  • Broad business background; works and plays well with other team members.
  • Rapidly grasps problems, concepts and ideas; curious about everything
  • Sense of humor, achieves superior results with cross-functional teams

     

    EXPERIENCE

     

    WhereWords, an MFI Company                                                                  4/01 -- present

    Principal Consultant

    • Verbal branding professional and shortform copywriter specializing in names (9-letter novels)
    •      and taglines (6-syllable sagas).
    • Initiate client relationships and maintain professional liaison with c-level execs.
    • Gain agreement on scope of work, prioritize criteria for evaluating creative deliverables.
    • Facilitate exploration of alternative brand directions, and develop ideation which tracks to input.
    • Guide executive team through process of participation and discovery, analysis and evaluation,
    •      decision and acceptance.
    • Success with agencies such as Citigate Cunningham, Landor Associates, Bonfire Communications,
    •      Larsen Design, Frankfurt Balkind, Catchword Branding, The Naming Company, U.S. Concepts,
    •      Word4Word, NewGround Resources, BrandFusion, Shout Creative, Compass Group, Gauger +
    •      Associates, Liquid Agency, Cornerstone Branding, Bob Gold PR, Manning Selvage & Lee, Smith
    •      Design, LaunchSquad, BrandPlay, CLK Design, Emanate PR, Dimassimo Advertising, Idiom,
    •      Ketchum, Nice Advertising, Polese Clancy, Rieches Baird, Salt Branding, GK Design, Laga,
    •      Marshall Strategies, Monigle Associates, Siegel + Gale, and Stratagem Healthcare Communications.
    •  
    • For clients such as Advanced Micro Devices, 90 Degree Software, Allstate Insurance, AOL, Genentech,
    •      L.A. Fitness, GMAC, Safeway, Ricera Foods, Symtec, Breyers, SaraLee, Intel, D-Link, Pioneer
    •      Digital (now known as Aptiv), DirtLogic, Varian, SUN Microsystems, U.S. Steel (USX), Arnold
    •      Engineering, BestBuy, Advance Auto Parts, Botanical Labs, Brilliant Shopper, Canduit Technologies,
    •      Crane Merchandising, Dupont, Energizer, GammaKnife, Intuit, IMPAC, Versation, First American
    •      Credit, Sprectra Physics, Kabballah Energy Drink, Newport Corp, Madison Square Garden, Candie's,
    •      Manifold Products, Merrill Corp, Monier LifeTile, NetBlue, ActiveMaps, PenCal Financial, Ocean
    •      Park Advisors, Omnesia, PacStar, QuantaRay, Speedo, Starwood Hotels, Teichert Construction,
    •      THQ Software, Tibco, Veeco, WCSN, Wellesse, StorageTek, Georgia Pacific, TNN (now Spike),
    •      MTVU (formerly CTN), Showtime, Circle Bank, Terrace Bank, Pilot Bank, Redmond National Bank,
    •      Sierra Schools Credit Union, National Bank & Trust, LaSalle Bank, Activision, Combe, Bank of
    •      America, iDeal, Cadbury Schweppes, Canon, Elekta, Aesthera, Accesse HR, Harmony Foods,
    •      Hunter Properties, Motorola, Johnson & Murphy, Guitar Hero, Just For Men, Hunter Fans, Ross,
    •      Practical Instruments, Richemont, Soliant Energy, RedOctane, Tyson Foods, Mysys, Puritan Bennett,
    •      Quaker Oats, Snapple, Student Universe, Wrigley's Magellan GPS, Quickbooks and MasterCard.
  •  

    Citigate Cunningham, part of Incepta Group, plc                                        4/00 -- 3/01

    Vice President, Neologist

    • Responsible for all aspects of naming practice within Brand Momentum Group.
    • Acted as day-to-day client contact; up-selling scope of work and cross-selling.
    • Built and led corporate and product brand equity assessments.
    • Developed research, ran brainstorms, crafted campaign strategies and presented recommendations to clients.
    • Wrote copy executing on communications platforms.
    • Analyzed leadership dimensions and momentum profiles.
    • Created new corporate and product identities as well as taglines.
    • Developed strategic positioning concepts and verbal branding solutions for Cisco, Kodak, Brocade,
    •      PeopleSoft and Seurat.com.

     

    MFI, Manufacturers of Fine Ideas                                                              8/99 -- 3/00

    Independent Contractor, Freelance Copywriter

  • Provided creative services to naming, branding, advertising, public relations and

        publishing companies; participated in brainstorms, developed rationale.

  • Agencies: Frankfurt Balkind Partners, Landor Associates, Catchword Branding, Metaphor

        Naming, the Naming Company, and Brand Resources Group.

  • Clients:  Levi's Dockers, Pepsi, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Dixie, MTV, Washington Mutual,

  • Oracle, HP, Intel, Palm, Ericsson, Xerox, Lucent, Chubb, Clorox.

     

    Addison Whitney, an IPG Company                                                            7/97 -- 7/99

    Senior Brand Identity Consultant

  • Managed corporate image assessments, brand equity evaluations, strategic positioning 

        articulation, creative name development, international linguistics evaluation, interactive field

        validation and graphic design services.

  • Initiated client relationships, provided day-to-day account leadership including budget allocation

        and control.

  • Provided project coordination and creative services for such clients as Nike, Adobe, Keravision,

        Acuson, Radius and Cobra Golf.

                     

    MFI, Manufacturers of Fine Ideas                                                              8/87 -- 6/97

    Independent Contractor

  • Provided business development, agency management and creative services to advertising,

        public relations and publishing companies.

  • Developed marketing and communication solutions for Silverstein Partners, Whitaker

        Associates, Catapult Branding, PRx, Gordon Publications (now Elsevier), Troll Publishing (now

        Scholastic), Par Emprises (golf directory).

            

    3M Corp., Media Networks Division                                                          6/82 -- 7/87 

    Regional Sales Manager 

  • Provided advertising space sales, field sales training and account management for regional

        editions of national magazines including TIME, Sports Illustrated, BusinessWeek, Newsweek,

        U.S. News & World Report and Inc. Magazine.

     

    Curtis Publishing Company                                                                           8/79 -- 5/82

    Editor/Publisher

  • Produced 60-page monthly magazine, Indiana Business
  • Managed staff of 4, negotiated vendor contracts
  • Human interest and feature reporting for The Saturday Evening Post; non-fiction book editor,

        John: The Man Who Would Be President.

     

    EDUCATION / ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • BA English, University of the Pacific
  • Author and illustrator of 5 published books
  • Contributing columnist to AdAge, ADWEEK and PRWeek magazines
  • Frequent correspondent to the San Francisco Chronicle and ANG newspapers
  • Home Page | About Us | Brand Quiz | Word Quiz | Samples | Testimonials
    Copyright © 2007 Manufacturers of Fine Ideas. All Rights Reserved.

     

     

    Where Words and Names Come From | 9-letter novels (names) and 6-syllable sagas
    SEO ( Search Engine Optimization ) & Search Engine Marketing by www.websquash.com