www.wherewords.com
where words come from
I'm glad you're here, because that probably means you have a naming problem; and after all, that's the only thing I'm good at. You see, I work to discover the genuine 'aboutness' of your product or service, then translate that promise into authentic brand expression for the competitive marketplace.
My brain thinks in pictures that come out as words, and every year I create over 25,000 unduplicated candidate names and taglines for 50 or 60 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 over 500 product or corporate identity projects spanning the past decade. Here are some examples:
Call of Duty is arguably the most popular first-person-shooter video game ever, so when it came time to extend the franchise beyond Modern Warfare Activision hired me to name it. Because COD5 returns to WWII with massively multiplayer cooperative game-play set in the Pacific and European theaters, I named it Call of Duty World at War (http://www.callofduty.com/CoDWW).
With the price of petroleum products skyrocketing in the US, a new generation of energy companies is emerging to reduce our reliance on foreign suppliers in general and on crude oil in particular. The engineers at Gripp Industries developed an advanced micro-refining process to produce biodiesel on-site using locally available feedstock, leaving virtually no environmental footprint. Such a revolutionary approach required more than just a green name in order to reframe the discussion in a noisy marketplace, so I named them Benefuel (www.benefuel.net). The active ingredients in yogurt include probiotic bacterial cultures intended to assist the body’s naturally occurring intestinal flora, but many adults can’t tolerate dairy products. Soy-based products dominate the non-dairy yogurt category, however studies show that RiceLife’s vegan and gluten-free rice-based products are healthier (and many believe, tastier). For legal reasons they had to change the company name, so I rebranded them Ricera (www.ricerafoods.com).
For 30 years Lam Research has been a leading supplier of wafer fabrication systems, and their subsidiary Bullen Semiconductor the world’s largest supplier of high-purity custom silicon – but often confused with Bullen Ultrasonics (also a Lam subsidiary). Because they grow silicon cores molecule-by-molecule to achieve specific effects, I re-named them Silfex (www.silfex.com).
If you’ve ever grabbed a tennis racket to rock out to your favorite song you know the appeal of Guitar Hero, so when Activision introduced the first full-band version complete with percussion and vocals they didn’t want to just call it GH4. Because this game sends bands on the road with concerts at epic venues, I named it Guitar Hero World Tour (www.worldtour.guitarhero.com/us).
The world’s leading innovator, manufacturer and marketer of professional tools and diagnostic equipment, Snap-On is synonymous with superior performance and rugged reliability. So when they introduced their smartest rolling tool storage chest ever, complete with laptop computer docking station, I named it EPIQ; check out the whole story at www.snapon.com/epiqpower.
Even as IP Unity (a carrier-grade telephony service provider) merged with Glenayre Technology (a turnkey supplier of enhanced communications solutions) the last thing anybody wanted to do was call it IPUnity/Glenayre, which of course is what happened. Since they’re on a mission to make mobile messaging more viable for us, I named them www.moviuscorp.com.
For 20 years Botanical Laboratories Inc (BLI) has been manufacturing and marketing high quality nutritional supplements, sold to consumers under the Symtec brand name. Recent research revealed that while consumers liked the products enough to recommend them, the name itself was creating a disconnect by sounding too “synthetic and techy.” Since the BLI aboutness was “safe and effective health and wellness,” I renamed them www.wellesse.com (a verbal confection with no gassy aftertaste).
All of the former NASA scientists at Practical Instruments agreed on two things: 1) they had the world’s best solar technology, and 2) they had the world’s worst name. Even the name of their lead product was better, but Heliotube was too limiting for a corporate identity and did not deliver on their Vision. Because they wanted to stand for “reliable solar energy” I got simple and named them Soliant, a lucid neologism whose prefix does the heavy-lifting, while the suffix sticks the landing. See www.soliant-energy.com.
Couple weeks before an 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 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrenza).
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).
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).
Earlier 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.com.
When First American Land Title's Credco division (now known as CoreLogic) launched a program designed to assist non traditional homebuyers in emerging markets, I listened carefully and named it ANTHEM (which stands for Assisting Non Traditional Homebuyers in Emerging Markets). Get the back-story here: http://www.corelogic.com/Products/Anthem-Report.aspx
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.com.
On 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.
To add your company's story to this list, call Steve Cecil at 650/595-2856 or email stevececil@comcast.net
