We Are Naming

🚀 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧—𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭. To name a brand that needs to work in every corner of the world, you know you need the right process, strategies, and team. Whether you’re thinking about your next global 🌍 name or wondering how to make a name you’re already using work better around the world, we’d love for you to join us on 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝑵𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 7 for our first-ever session of We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠, “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞?” 🔥 We’ll cover the definition of a global name, the challenges global brand names must overcome, and what goes into a successful global name creation process. We hope to see you there! ⏩️ RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eiNaY-kU Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Elles Poiesz Angela Colucci Ignasi Fontvila Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang ©Sophie Gay ™® Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López

𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞? ▶️ These are the four qualities you should look for in the roadmap ahead: ❗️ 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙—your plan takes into account where the name needs to travel and the people it wants to win over. What are the priority international markets? What languages and cultures are represented there? 🤲 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒—your extended team includes representatives of the countries and cultures the brand wants to reach. 🔥 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒—you’ll want to gather input on your naming strategy, as well as name candidates, from a variety of experienced namers who bring their own style, culture, and expertise to the project. ➡️ 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑐—you have a plan for how and where to register the name as a trademark, and you’re working with who can help you manage differences in cultural understanding, pronunciation, and meaning. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑥𝑡 𝑔𝑙𝑜𝑏𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒, 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑? Join us on November 7, 2024, for our first ever session of We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠. The topic? “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞?” We’ll cover our definition of a global name, challenges global brand names have to overcome, and what goes into a successful global name creation process. We hope to see you there! ⏩️ RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eiNaY-kU Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Elles Poiesz Angela Colucci Ignasi Fontvila Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang ©Sophie Gay ™® Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López

𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 🚀 They anticipate where they'll need to speak to people. ➡️ They know how to navigate the pronunciation challenges they might face. 👀 They’re aware of the associations people will have.  ™️ They’ve been chosen because they can be protected as trademarks in the most important markets for the brand’s growth. You are unlikely to land a 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 in the world. But when you’ve thought ahead, and worked with 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 who’ve been there before to build out a smart strategy, really compelling naming candidates can become global winners: 🔥 When it means something offensive, can we work with that meaning?  😆 Can we have a sense of humor about it, clarify the context so that people know we don’t mean it *that way,* or otherwise communicate our intention in a way that’s respectful—or charmingly irreverent?  ❌ Or do we need to set it aside and consider something else? 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔, are we choosing the name with full knowledge that we’d have to launch there with a campaign that teaches people how to pronounce our name? Have we thought about how that might impact on-package copy, sales training, and signage? 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇, do we need to go back to the drawing board to find a single name that we can own consistently in every market? Are we open to a modified—or completely new—name in markets where we can’t register our primary name? How will we make sure people understand the offering to be global through other brand tools, like our visual identity, messaging, or experience? 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝? Join us on 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒, for our first ever session of We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠. The topic? “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞?” We’ll cover our definition of a global name, challenges global brand names have to overcome, and what goes into a successful global name creation process. We hope to see you there! ⏩️ RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eiNaY-kU Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Elles Poiesz Angela Colucci Ignasi Fontvila Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang ©Sophie Gay ™® Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝? There are obvious answers:  🛑 It means something offensive.  ❗️It’s hard to pronounce.  ❌ There’s already a prominent brand in that market with the same (or similar) name. But that’s not the real answer.  > Plenty of brands make offensive names work.  > They navigate tricky pronunciation.  > They can even make deals to work alongside brands with similar names* The thing that most often stands in the way of a brand name’s global success is its lack of a plan to be global in the first place:  🌎 To work where it needs to work 👉 To say what it needs to say 🛜 To the people it needs to connect with. 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔—where does your brand need to win?—and then work with a global team to plan for the markets and languages it will need to navigate. That sets the foundation for smooth international travel—and means you don’t create a patchwork of emergency communication strategies over its lifetime. Thinking about your next global name, or wondering about how to make a name you’re already using work better around the world? Join us on November 7, 2024, for our first ever session of We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠. The topic? “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞?” We’ll cover our definition of a global name, challenges global brand names have to overcome, and what goes into a successful global name creation process. We hope to see you there! ➡️ 𝐑𝐒𝐕𝐏 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:  https://lnkd.in/eiNaY-kU * 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠; 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑏𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠, 𝑦𝑒𝑠, 𝑖𝑡 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑠 We'd love to see you there! ©Sophie Gay ™® Elles Poiesz Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Ignasi Fontvila Angela Colucci Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang

𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏—𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚’𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕. Consider Coca-Cola 🧐. McDonald’s. Disney. Samsung. Toyota. These brand names are so prominent around the world that it’s easy to think they’ve always been well known, well understood, and well loved. But just like you’d need to make a plan to successfully travel the world, so do the brand names that need to work beyond their borders. 𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲’𝘀 𝗴𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀? That’s one of the core questions we’ve been debating for years within the We Are Naming network. Our collective expertise represents hundreds (maybe thousands) of naming projects resulting in names that need to speak to people who speak different languages 🌍 We vary in our perspectives about how to define a global brand name, or what its core qualities might be, but we do agree on this one thing: no brand name is global right out of the gate. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing more of our perspective on what it takes for a brand to work its magic around the world. We also invite you to join us on 🗓️ November 7, 2024, for our first ever session of 𝑾𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔. The topic? 👉 “𝙒𝒉𝙖𝒕 𝑴𝙖𝒌𝙚𝒔 𝒂 𝑮𝙧𝒆𝙖𝒕 𝑮𝙡𝒐𝙗𝒂𝙡 𝙉𝒂𝙢𝒆?” We’ll cover our definition of a global name, challenges global brand names have to overcome, and what goes into a successful global name creation process. Please RSVP here: https://lnkd.in/eiNaY-kU We hope to see you there! #naming #renaming #branding

🚀 It was that time of the month again, the one meeting we all look forward to: the We Are Naming Monthly. It was the last meeting before the holidays and we talked about our clients – their needs and desires, their challenges and ours, how to best add value, and what we can do to maintain strong relationships. ☀ And of course, how could we not, we planned and got into the holiday mood! 🕶 Happy Holidays from the We Are Naming team: ©Sophie Gay ™® Elles Poiesz Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rodrigo Díez Pete Dewar Ignasi Fontvila Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang #naming #namecreation #marketingstrategy #branding #brandcreation

In November, we’ll be hosting the first edition of 𝑾𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔, featuring insights from our global network of naming experts. Which topics would you be most interested in hearing about? #globalnaming #naming #branding Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio ©Sophie Gay ™® Elles Poiesz Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Ignasi Fontvila Angela Colucci Olympia Aivazi Judy Wang Rodrigo Díez

I love answering naming questions. I launched a Substack last November just to answer the naming questions that came up most often in my Naming For Everyone classes. I just wrapped a 6-month arc that answered the biggest questions people newer to naming want (or, in my opinion, NEED) to know. So this week, I sorted them all to look more like my actual content calendar, and help people find what they're looking for. They're un-linked here, but they're all linked in the Substack link below. 🤷♂️ How can I become a namer? Where do namers work? The majors of namers The career paths that namers take How I became a namer? Get your reps in What are your naming goals? How can you get your first naming opportunity? When can you truly call yourself a "namer"? What do namers call themselves? 🕵♂️ What are some basic things I should know about naming strategies and the naming process? What makes a name a good name? Give your name a job Oh, the jobs names can do When names optimize for just one thing... Five rookie naming mistakes—and how to avoid them What goes into a naming strategy? Six ways to use your naming strategy Why we workshop What happens when you don't use a naming strategy? 👩🚒 How can I learn more about what makes a name “risky” when it comes to trademark, language issues, and other potential issues? Why you should care about a name's risk profile WTF is a TM Conflict search party Are "global names" even a thing???? Desperately seeking linguistic disasters The localization question Global naming no-nos Upcoming topic arcs will tackle: Creativity + naming generation The naming needs of centralized/global brand and marketing teams Naming operations planning and implementation Naming in systems The business of naming. Want to learn about something else? Holler at me! [I also highly recommend starting a Substack if you're interested. It's been a blast so far.] https://lnkd.in/e4nVDEHz

🇩🇪 Our yearly We Are Naming LIVE meeting in Hamburg, Germany was all soccer, sightseeing, sausage and sunshine! 🥂 Well not all... We also had many exciting naming topics to discuss: our upcoming first naming event later this year (!), how we can best navigate our clients through the wild waters of the naming process, our unlimited dreams and ideas, and how artists, musicians and poets can inspire us as name developers. ✨ 💜 Thank you Olympia Aivazi, Ignasi Fontvila, ©Sophie Gay ™®, and Elles Poiesz for three unforgettable days with Solveig Palis and Sebastian Hotze in Hamburg and thank you, Caitlin Barrett, Felipe Borges Valerio, Judy Wang, Angela Colucci and Pete Dewar… for joining virtually. 💛 See you all next year in …?

Want to get more comfortable with the uncomfortable stuff that comes with naming brands? I'm talking: ™️ Trademarks conflicts 🗺️ Linguistic disasters 🥴 Weird search results 🕳️ Limitations you haven't even dreamed of yet... Then How to Filter Out Naming Risks on June 25 and June 26 is the class for you! We cover why this stuff really matters (hint: it could cost your clients anything from money to their entire business...), where to look for it, and, perhaps most importantly, all of the experts and resources that you can make a natural part of your process. Sign up now: https://lnkd.in/ey49R7yi June 25, 2024 at 8:00am - 9:30am June 26, 2024 at 8:00am - 9:30am It's the final live Naming For Everyone class before the early fall! (Because I have so many cool projects to share with you this summer...)