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| Our General Approach |
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| Our consultancy is independent and is owned by
its principals. We are not a subsidiary of any advertising agency
or design group. We have no agenda other than creating the best
possible names for our clients.
We believe that any new name should embrace several disciplines.
A new name must have a strong positioning orientation to help
differentiate the brand. It also should have a strong customer
sensibility, and it should have a realistic basis in linguistics.
We use a variety of techniques and inspirations in creating
new names. Here are several of them: |
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| The Process |
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| 1. |
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Review of materials. We
ask to examine in detail the company's marketing, sales and
promotional materials, consumer/customer research, plus any
available competitor materials. We augment this with our own
information retrieval process on the product or business category. |
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| 2. |
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Input session with client. Agreement
on an overall naming strategy is vital. We need consensus
on what the new name should communicate, and what it should
not, as well as additional input on business plans and objectives.
For this purpose, we schedule a conference call or in-person
meeting with members of the client team. |
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Additional input/Clarifications. Client material typically
produces questions and areas we want to clarify. We digest
the input material quickly and follow-up as necessary with
telephone and e-mail queries. |
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Language research. Researchers
then explore the etymology of building-block terms related
to the industry and the assignment. We then construct Word
Trees (roots, synonyms, analogues, idioms, collocations, translations,
etc.) for those terms. |
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| 5. |
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Name generation. As noted
above, we use a variety of techniques and inspirations to
generate thousands of name candidates. |
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Sifting and sorting. We gauge
our name generation efforts for appropriateness against the
objectives and criteria. |
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Refinement. Our linguists
and wordsmiths work on the structure, shaping and polishing
of the new names. |
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Mid-Course Review. We schedule a client review of a sampling
of names that have been generated. This step, we have found,
is critical in keeping the project on course and in identifying
any areas that need clarification or redirection. |
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Screening of semifinalists. A
smaller group of candidate names emerge, and they are screened
for trademark availability.
- We screen for identical trademarks
in the International Trademark Classes appropriate
to the assignment.
- If the name is to be used as a company name,
we also screen for availability as a corporation name
in the state where the business will be headquartered.
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these findings are included in our final report.
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Analysis of screening. As
we unearth names that are identical, we provide information
on the owner and status of those names. (We do this because
the screening may reveal names owned by tiny or inactive
firms, and clients may wish to consider the purchase of
an existing name.)
- We approach this screening analysis as
linguists, not lawyers. The information we report
on preliminary name screening is not a guarantee of actual
availability. No single source or database lists every
relevant mark. (A screening for the name "Accessory" would
not necessarily reveal the existence of the name "XSRE.")
- Our preliminary screening is not a totally accurate
predictor of a client's ability to register and own a
name. Any final opinion on name availability should be
made by the client's own legal counsel.
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Multilingual suitability. We
automatically screen the candidate names in Spanish, and can
include as many other languages as the client requires.
- Linguists
or native professional communicators report on general
acceptability, existing meanings, negative connotations
and ease of pronunciation.
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| 12. |
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Deliverables. We prepare a
comprehensive document, which includes brief rationales for
each candidate name, and submit it for your review. This often
includes an in-person presentation. We present a minimum of
eight names. |
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| Project Team |
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To generate new names, we tap into a team of
6-8 seasoned professionals skilled in marketing, language
and communications. A typical project team includes:
- Two language researchers, who deal with the etymology
of building-block words related to your business;
- Two or
more linguists, who focus on the structure and appropriateness
of new names;
- And several wordsmiths, who assist in the
shaping and polishing of new names.
A few words about our team: We only use veteran professionals
with a minimum of 20 years of practical, hands-on experience.
There are no rookies or newly-minted PhDs on our team, which
is a common practice at the big naming factories.
A few examples of the talent we bring to a naming project:
- One of our language researchers is a noted lexicographer
who has worked on major dictionary projects in three
countries.
- One
of our linguists, London-based, is fluent in five
languages.
- One
of our wordsmiths is a former creative chief at a
major NYC ad agency, with a portfolio of awards.
Each project is managed by Steve
Rivkin, the founder of
Rivkin & Associates Inc.
In the naming arena, Mr. Rivkin's firm has completed assignments
for more than 100 companies in consumer products, technology,
healthcare and financial services. He has spoken on the
subject of naming at seminars and conferences, both here
and abroad, and has been called “American’s
leading nameologist” by Asian Brand News.
Mr. Rivkin's firm produces a biennial survey on how American
companies develop names, and he is widely quoted in magazine
and newspaper articles on the subject. A writer by training,
Mr. Rivkin has a diverse background in naming, marketing,
advertising and journalism. His latest book, The
Making of a Name (2004), is described by Oxford University Press
as “the definitive book on names and naming.” |
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| Costs & Timing |
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| We work on a single-fee-quotation basis with
no additional costs. Included in that one fee is everything
from the creative team to the preparation of our work product
to travel costs.
The project fee therefore includes overall project management,
input and briefing sessions, language research, comprehensive
name generation, our candidate evaluation and culling, preparation
of the completed work product, foreign language screening,
and air/ground travel costs for input sessions and a presentation
of the work product at the client’s offices (if requested).
Project fees for straightforward naming assignments are
in the $25,000 range and increase depending on the complexity
and specific needs of the assignment.
We understand that
speed is of the essence in most naming assignments. The
completed work product is normally delivered within three
weeks from our receipt of a signed letter of agreement
and the availability of input sessions and briefing information. |
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