BRAND NAMING EXERCISE

A friend asked me to come up with a name for his new marketing start-up. Luckily, I had just finished reading The Making of a Name by Fraser Sutherland and Steve Rivkin. Below you will find five brand name concepts complete with mood graphics, a break-down, and a brand persona.  

Connotation

• Combination of the abbreviation of Digital and Experiential

Denotation

• It's normal to use acronyms for advertising agency names, but this is using it in contrast to the norm

Sounds like

• FX and other things with X

Sound quality

• powerful, 2 plosives
• 3 syllables
• Easy to pronounce

Visual quality

• 3 letters, simple

Persona

Rebel

• Be bold, unapologetic and unwavering
• Fight the status quo
• Value freedom
• Inspire shock
• Confront subjugation

Connotation

• Wordplay on the word fascinate: to draw irresistibly the attention and interest of 
• Derived from what we want to cause in our target audience

Denotation

• Allure, fun, captivating, entertainment, sports

Sounds like

• A cool squad, like oceans 11

Sound quality

• 3 syllables
• Easy to pronounce
• Repeating vowel pattern

Visual quality

• 6 characters
• The 8 at the end is a visual target

Persona

Entertainer

• Be entertaining and charismatic
• Put on a show
• Value freedom
• Inspire joy
• Confront familiarity

Connotation

• Mountainous region of Greece
• Derived from the word arcade, progression of arches. Symbolizing the iterative process that digital marketing employs to hone in on a solution

Denotation

• Institutional, lofty, godly, classic

Sounds like

• Common Latin derivatives

Sound quality

• 4 syllables
• Easy to pronounce
• 2 plosives

Visual quality

• 7 characters

Persona

Adventurer

• Be daring and aloof
• Go adventuring or provide adventure
• Value surprise
• Inspire wonder
• Confront rigidity

Connotation

• A division or contrast between two things that are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
• Symbolizing the difference between digital and experiential

Denotation

• Scienctific or exotic

Sounds like

• Ducati
• Any word ending in “onomy”: meaning, the study of

Sound quality

• 4 syllables
• easy to pronounce
• 3 plosives

Visual quality

• 6 characters

Persona

Shapeshifter

• Be adaptable, resourceful, and expressive
• Cause new thinking
• Value common ground
• Inspire astonishment
• Confront narrow-mindedness

Connotation

• Relating to the body, especially as distinct from the mind. A nod to experiential

Denotation

• Technical, scientific

Sounds like

• Automatic, a nod to digital, “So automatic”

Sound quality

• 3 syllables
• Easy to pronounce
• 2 plosives

Visual quality

• 7 characters
• Easy to read

Persona

Scientist

• Be logical and dedicated
• Show how things work
• Value knowledge
• Inspire curiosity
• Confront ignorance