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Human Interest
- About: Case Studies
The Problem: Hard to take the name seriously What do you do exactly? When Captain401 first started, the vision behind the name and the brand was a guiding force that steered employers through the muddy waters of 401(k)s. However, this story wasn’t as easy for their audience to grab a hold of. Reactions from new…
Someone Will Pronounce Your Name Wrong. And that’s fine.
- About: Naming
Seriously. Mispronunciation of your name isn’t the worst thing that could happen to your company, it’s not even close. Like most people, you’re probably thinking about your brand or product as some singular, perfect project – and that makes sense, you’ve been working on it for years. No matter the amount of effort you’ve put…
Oops, it’s perfect
- About: Naming
Brands are just like humans. Because we, as humans, have not evolved mental structures for dealing with brands in any other way. Brands communicate to you constantly, the same way other animals communicate to you, chiefly other humans. So we use that same part of the brain and those same mental tools we use for…
Run Studio Run featured in Grain Edit
- About: Naming
Eli’s latest book Run Studio Run has been featured in Grain Edit, the modern graphic design inspiration blog. https://www.grainedit.com/2017/12/19/run-studio-run/
Run Studio Run
- About: Naming
Creative people are not business people, huh? Creative Director, Eli Altman says otherwise in his new book, Run Studio Run. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1246751326/run-studio-run-the-business-of-running-a-creative
The Burning Ears 2017
- About: Naming
If you arrived at this page you probably already know that we think about names a lot. We can’t help it. We’re passionate about naming. So it’s no wonder that when we come across “curious” or “odd” names in the wild we can’t help but take note. It was only a matter of time before…
The Guardians of Naming
- About: Naming
Creative Director, Eli Altman sheds some light on how to create a stand-out business name with The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2017/aug/22/longer-is-better-and-dont-invent-words-picking-the-right-name-for-your-business
Scaredy (under)pants
- About: Naming
Fruit of the Loom can come up with cool names, they’re just afraid to use them. There’s a Fruit of the Loom ad that’s showing up on ESPN in which they’re promoting their new breathable underwear. Since these new underwear are “perfect,” they “need a name just as perfect.” Then, the witty and creative Fruit…
Names so bad they’re good
- About: Positioning
What’s the difference between good names and bad names? A lot less than you think. Ever since I wrote the first edition of Don’t Call It That, a question I always get asked is “What is the worst name you’ve ever seen?” I deserve this. If I wanted to talk about great names all the…
Should You Really Spend $1.5 Million On A Domain?
- About: Naming
“Why did I spend 7+ years, hire 3 brokers, and send over 200 emails to buy the 82nd most expensive domain in history,” asks Noah Kagan at the start of his recent podcast. Titled “What I Learned Spending $1.5 Million on sumo.com,” the podcast goes into the details of Kagan’s huge purchase. The marketing personality…