We Are Naming

你好! This post is the first chapter in our new series, "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧…” with surprising things you need to know about developing names in our partner’s home countries and languages.    🇨🇳 We Are Naming partner Judy Wang, based in Shanghai, shares what you need to know the next time you’re developing a name for the Chinese market.   Any questions? Let us know below! 🌎 Angela Colucci Caitlin Barrett ©Sophie Gay ™® Felipe Borges Valerio Elles Poiesz Rob López Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Olympia Aivazi Ignasi Fontvila #WeAreNamingIn #BrandNaming #China #CulturalInsights #GlobalStories #NamingCuriosities

As you can see, we're delighted to start a new year with the unstoppable We Are Naming crew! In our first monthly meeting of 2025 we discussed: 🌴 how our (non)holidays were 🌐 linguistic checks (& disasters) ✔️ checking names in new ways 👋 our comms plan for the year to come 🥂 the location for We Are Naming Live 2025 🚀 our AI Companion We wish you a warm and welcome 2025! 👊 ©Sophie Gay ™® Elles Poiesz Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Angela Colucci Olympia Aivazi Ignasi Fontvila Judy Wang #naming #namecreation

Warm wishes to all of you, with love from the We Are Naming crew. ❤️ Caitlin Barrett Elles Poiesz ©Sophie Gay ™® Felipe Borges Valerio Pete Dewar Angela Colucci Judy Wang Ignasi Fontvila Rob López Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Olympia Aivazi #naming #namecreation #branding #brandcreation #marketingstrategy

🔥 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦? 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 🔥 Invite people from the countries and cultures your brand wants to reach into your process. At the start, they can help you 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑎 for a successful name—and keep you honest about what is and isn’t possible. ➡️ They can generate names that speak to their own cultural references and experiences. ➡️ They can help you evaluate potential name candidates for issues. ➡️ And they can help you weigh considerations when you’re down to your favorites: can an idea be expressed literally in a few markets, and perhaps tonally in others? Don't know expert namers everywhere? This is why 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 exists—𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐞-𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. Work with us on your next global naming project: www.wearenaming.com ❤️ from the We Are Naming Team -- all over the world: Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López Angela Colucci Judy Wang Olympia Aivazi Elles Poiesz Ignasi Fontvila Pete Dewar ©Sophie Gay ™® Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze

In our monthly meeting we evaluated our first-ever webinar, titled “𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞?” And we're happy to tell you that: 🌍 you joined us from all around the world 🔥 you gave us positive feedback ❤️ we loved doing it 😁 and we’ll do it again Have you missed it? Don’t worry, you can watch the replay here: https://lnkd.in/dF484Yb3 Any suggestions for our next webinar? Let us know in the comments below! The We Are Naming team: ©Sophie Gay ™® Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López Angela Colucci Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze Ignasi Fontvila Judy Wang Olympia Aivazi Pete Dewar Elles Poiesz #branding #naming #namecreation #brandcreation #marketingstrategie

Thank you to everyone for joining our first ever 𝐖𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒔 session last week! It was wonderful to share our insights on global naming with you all. As a follow-up, here is a checklist to consider when you’re prioritizing the markets and languages in which your name will need to appear: ❏ What are the writing/character systems used there? ❏ Are there any critical pronunciation issues—maybe ones you wouldn’t need to think about if your audience was only speakers of your own native language? ❏ Are there any important cultural sensitivities or watchouts? ❏ What are the most important places, both physical and digital, where the name will appear? Keeping these responses top of mind throughout the process will prevent obvious missteps—a word like Switchblade, with its massive cluster of consonants at the center, may be more challenging to many speakers than a coined name made of simpler words, like HappiHearts. 🚀 𝑁𝑒𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑏𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟? Explore We Are Naming’s capabilities and work with a globe-spanning team on your next naming project. www.wearenaming.com The We Are Naming team: Pete Dewar Elles Poiesz Sebastian Hotze Angela Colucci Judy Wang Olympia Aivazi Solveig Palis ©Sophie Gay ™® Caitlin Barrett Ignasi Fontvila Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López

🔥 The first We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠, titled "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐍𝐚𝐦𝐞" is a fact, and it was great! 𝐷𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑡? Don't worry, we've got you covered. You can watch the recording of the webinar here👇. 𝐖𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭: 1. what defines a global name 2. the hurdles that global brand names face, and 3. the steps involved in the successful crafting of a global name. & we answered some good questions from the audience. What should we talk about in our next We Are Naming 𝑇𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑠? Big thank you to The unstoppable We Are Naming team: Caitlin Barrett Felipe Borges Valerio Rob López Pete Dewar Solveig Palis Sebastian Hotze ©Sophie Gay ™® Elles Poiesz Ignasi Fontvila Angela Colucci Judy Wang Olympia Aivazi >>> https://lnkd.in/dF484Yb3

🚀 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