Company
names

Company names that don’t just sit there.

The first job of marketing is to distinguish yourself from the competition. That means doing something different. Don’t pick a name that makes you one of the trees in the forest and then spend the rest of your marketing budget trying to stand out.

company naming:
A Hundred Monkeys
naming and branding firm

company name:
Alfalfa
tax and financial planning

nonprofit name:
Andeo
student travel and learning company

company naming:
Arena
point of purchase software

company name:
BrightBlack
IT consulting services

company naming:
Broad Daylight
expert Q+A on the web

company name:
Calabash
division of Houghton Mifflin

professional service name:
Canal Street
executive talent management

company naming:
Chuckwalla
digital asset management

professional service name:
Class Act
employee training company

company name:
Clutch
web architecture, design
and application development

retail business name:
Cookin'
chain of stereo stores

professional service name:
Cruel World
career placement service

corporate naming:
Diderot
online wine reservations

company naming:
Doodad
insert programs for newspapers
and shared mailers

company name:
Earth Turns
vitamin company

professional services name:
Forward Observer
public sector market research

nonprofit name:
Front Porch
nonprofit services for seniors

corporate branding:
Hubbub
public relations agency

company naming:
Human+Nature
documentary films

company name:
Gambit
technology consulting company

company name:
Inkling
Apple iPad mobile learning platform

retail business name:
Iroko
day spa in Alabama

company naming:
Ironweed
independent film club

nonprofit name:
Ithaka
worldwide archiving initiatives for
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

company naming:
Jamcracker
unified platform for IT management

retail business name:
Jamoka
online banking services

company name:
Jigsaw
records management

company naming:
Jupiter Wells
home furnishings

not-for-profit name:
Kiddo!
campaign to raise money for public schools

company name:
L. Ferrari
office systems dealer

company naming:
Left Field
advertising agency

professional services name:
Left on Elm
training consultants

company name:
Little Engine
small business directory

professional services name:
Loopy Lime
website design and
internet services

company name:
Maggie's Farm
holding company for a family
of printing operations

company naming:
Midnight Kitchen
cookie company

retail business name:
"O" Gelato
gelateria in Carlsbad, California

company naming:
Odyssey
market research firm

company name:
Proving Ground
sales training company

professional services name:
Qilin
back office services for real estate agents

company name:
Radio Verité
radio production company

company naming:
Raindance
web and phone conferencing

company naming:
Rebar
global software reseller

company naming:
Red Tractor
corporate landscaping service

company naming:
Riverbed
wide area network
acceleration appliances

company name:
Rocket Farms
grower and shipper, Salinas, CA

company naming:
Roundhouse
tech gurus for home and business

company naming:
Ruckus
wireless home networking products

company name:
Seven
wireless network integration

company naming:
Stoke
new telco carrier platform for mobile customers

company name:
Strong Suit
sales force recruiting firm

retail business name:
The Lot
RI state lottery

company naming:
Volumetrics
medical imaging devices

company name:
Whatchamacallit
naming company

company naming:
Willy Nilly
naming company

professional services name:
Winkler
advertising agency

company naming:
WR Hambrecht + Co
investment bank

Stop banging your head against the wall.

(Why you should hire A Hundred Monkeys
to name your company)

Maybe you have a start-up, or you’re reconfiguring a company, or maybe
there’s a merger in the works, or you’re buying a company with a lousy name. All good reasons to show up at our door.

So you’ve got to get this done.

Let’s say you know
just enough about branding to be dangerous.

You know that the name is really important and might even contain the germ of all of your marketing if it’s done right.

But you’ve also been around long enough to know that a naming exercise can easily turn into a group kamikaze mission if not managed properly. Too many opinions at the table means you’re probably going to come up with some boring lowest common denominator that everyone’s okay with and nobody loves.

Not to mention the fact that you and the people who work for you probably have a million other important things to do.

So you have a choice.

Bang your heads against the wall until something comes out that will hopefully do the job.

Or hire some people
who actually know
what they’re doing
and have figured out
a method to the
madness.

Yes, naming is pretty subjective. That’s why you need some structure and methodology to increase your odds.

And while you’re
at it, pick a branding company that actually believes in branding.

If they can’t do it for themselves, how much confidence does it give you that
they can do it for somebody else?

Naming your company or organization is
one of those existential, defining moments. A name is not something that you float out there, see what happens and then change it if you don’t like it. A name is not tweakable.

As with any creative process, there are a million ways to screw it up. So a big part of our job is to keep you out of trouble. We drive the process. Frame the problem. Point out the pitfalls. And make sure the best names stay on the table.

We go a long way on common sense, asking tough questions, and digging until we get to the heart of the matter– something we manage to do without employing account executives or consultant-speak.

Branding isn’t just about finding a good company name, it’s at the heart of everything you do to connect with people. Knowing that most companies are very good at squeezing the life out of it,

we tend to work
with clients who
see themselves as human beings first
and marketing
people second.

If that sounds like you, we should talk.

The tougher it gets out there, the more important it is to put your marketing money where it will do the most good. Which is why we say: Don’t pick a name that makes you one of the trees in the forest and then spend the rest of your marketing budget trying to stand out.

Company names