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Name Storming: Trends, Audiences and Collaborative Creativity.

If you’ve ever named a child – or wondered why your parents picked your own name – you know just how important that choice can be. Naming a product or company is no different.

Over the years we’ve named everything from financial products to wellness programs. We’ve honed our approach with both creativity and strategy, beginning by analyzing naming trends and making sure we know the audience. We explore questions such as:

• How savvy is the audience? Will it relate to a name that is trendy or one that is traditional?
• Should the name be descriptive, suggestive, coined, tongue-in-cheek?
• How should the name complement or differentiate from existing company sub-brands?
• Should the name fall in line with what competitors are doing or be distinctive?

Of course, we also realize that sometimes a name doesn’t have to say everything. Intrigue and curiosity are often our most powerful tools.

With these questions answered, we then dive into our naming process. Gathering a mix of writers, designers, strategists and others, we explore words and categories that may work – letting our minds rove. Through several more rounds, we fine-tune suggested names. And in an age of hard-to-find URLs, we spend a lot of time exploring what’s actually possible to own.

Sometimes, the solutions come from those scheduled sessions. Other times it’s through scribbles on the napkins at restaurants. Or it’s an idea thought up during the morning shower or commute to work. As with anything we do that’s creative, we often find inspiration sparks at unexpected moments.

These days, naming is everything. In an age when trends are changing daily, it’s increasingly important to be intentionally relevant and impactful. Companies need names that can weather the storm of changing trends, resonate with their audience, and remain unique and creative. Our naming process includes the perfect balance of insight and imagination – and ultimately, the power that comes from allowing creativity to reach its full potential.