We partner with leading brands to create game-changing names and naming systems.

In addition to naming a number of new entries, including Sonic, Spin, Trax and Silverado High Country (with more on the horizon), The Naming Group partnered with Chevrolet at the corporate level to hone a vision  for the namescape that creates a more cohesive statement about how each vehicle contributes to what it means to be a Chevrolet. In short, it’s about energy.  A look at the names of recent models around the world, Traverse, Cruze, Volt, Sonic, Spark, Spin: the names all capture energy, motion, vibrancy – both in what they literally mean, and in how they sound and feel. This kind of namescape consistency is what deepens understanding of the brand’s forward-looking vision. And as Chevy moves onward, this spirit will only strengthen what the brand represents, paving the road to new names that will continue telling this re-energized story. Key outcomes of our multi-year partnership have been: Enhanced Globality: Guidelines for more comprehensive linguistic screening to better support global vehicle launches. Efficient Naming Processes: Directives to encourage starting projects earlier and with more upfront strategic work. Stakeholder Engagement: Process modifications to include c-level leadership earlier and more regularly in the naming process.

Sonic was the first of many names created in our naming partnership with GM. With a major overhaul of the ill-reputed Aveo model, Chevy was ready to take the market by storm with a faster, more efficient, and still remarkably affordable small vehicle.  Doing so required connecting to a new audience that – like small cars themselves – were underrepresented in the Chevy story: young, gen-Y drivers. SONIC is speedy, energetic, literally loud, and delivers that youthful exuberance that Chevy launched with an action-packed campaign. It fits alongside the namescape vision set in motion by names like Cruze and Volt, with the bold, brash energy that the vehicle commands. It was a bold move to put such a bombastic name on such a small vehicle, but that’s the power of the name Sonic – and this little powerhouse could certainly handle it.

  Deep in the heart of America there are cowboys and there are “blue jean millionaires.” This truck’s for the latter. Chevrolet called on us to develop a name for this luxury version of the Silverado – a name that would bring their heritage brand to a new tier of quality – for an audience that seeks unmatched ruggedness and refinement, with a Western flair. With other names in the industry like Ram’s Laramie Longhorn and Ford’s King Ranch that both captured “special edition” with a distinctly Texan identity, we recommended positioning Chevy’s version differently with a name that rings premium, rugged, and Western but resonates powerfully with Texans and non-Texans alike. High Country tows that line perfectly, with a word like “High” automatically connoting best-in-class trim line, elevating the vehicle above potentially lower-quality “country western” perceptions, but retaining the romantic character of the West.    

With more and more drivers wanting a city vehicle that could go to the country, Chevrolet decided to up its compact crossover SUV game. To lead that charge, we developed Trax  – a name that speaks to the trekking, wilderness explorer with the truncation of “-cks” to a modern, edgy  “x” quite literally mirroring the compact nature of the car. This phonetically sharp and impactful name meshes seamlessly within Chevy’s lineup of vibrant, action- oriented model names – alongside the likes of Volt, Cruze, Spark, and Sonic.

One of the most enticing parts of the Chevrolet brand in foreign markets is the deep American spirit. For this reason, part of the global namescape strategy was to use English words even in foreign markets. This also sets Chevrolet apart from other automakers who often opt for the more amorphous, Romance language-rooted coined words as names. We developed Spin for Chevy’s  midsize MPV – a name that quickly imparts speed, energy, spinning wheels, and, of course, taking a spin: boldly answering the need for a car that thrives amid life’s hectic juggling act. Spin does so in a way that’s as impactful to Spanish and Portuguese (and a number of other international language) speakers as it is in English. And like other new names in their portfolio – Sonic, Cruze, Spark, Trax – Spin’s compact phonetics and bold, motive energy advance the Chevy namescape beautifully.

  When they hired us, Reebok had just established a beautifully clear brand positioning: “Be More Human” which stands to inspire people everywhere to be their absolute best – physically, mentally, and socially. Beautiful ad campaigns and digital assets already communicated this superbly, but product names did not.Furthermore, naming at Reebok had historically been a challenging internal task divided across different business units and lacking a clear process.   As an industry innovator with 15 new names for models and franchises each half year season, it became essential that product names strongly reflected brand positioning and the unique personality of each of their five business units to benefit both consumer understanding, internal efficiency and to help build long-lasting franchises. We partnered with Reebok on comprehensive namescape strategy development across five business units. After evaluating naming at Reebok, we created improved guidelines and helped to determine flow, roles and ownership of the naming process. The comprehensive naming handbook we developed guided old and new employees on every aspect of the naming journey from creative to strategic to legal. We created decision-trees and criteria to help determine when new names should be created or old ones maintained as well as how to navigate the naming landmines of technology add-on’s and extensions. Establishing brand-reinforcing naming themes for each business unit, we created a large volume of future product names for upcoming seasons.

The only running shoe you’ll need, the name OneRacer speaks to the singularly perfect design of this successful model.

Literally translating to “a place for your sole”, the name Solestead creates a steady, comfortable base upon which to build one of Reebok’s sleekest, luxuriously lightweight walking shoes.

For a shoe designed for everyday walking, casual comfort and city wear, we thought Tranzen – speaking to peaceful travel – was a perfect fit.

  Combining Latin -terra meaning earth, with the Greek prefix Eso- meaning “within”, the name Esoterra alludes to the earth connection and serenity one experiences in wearing this shoe on their everyday walks.    

We partnered with Kohler not only to develop names for many of their most innovative new releases, but also to evolve their very approach to naming brandwide. The objective: move to a more relevant and differentiated naming convention and help Kohler’s brand names better support their BOLD positioning and product design aesthetic. Accomplished: The many names we’ve developed for Kohler include ELEVANCE for their innovative rising-wall bath, REFINIA and ALTEO for lines of premium bathroom fixtures – and additional names will be launched soon. Consistent with Kohler’s refined strategy for naming brandwide, each name imparts a deeper meaning than the beauty on the surface: replacing a category-ubiquitous trend of empty vessel place- and heritage-inspired names with more meaningful and evocative expression

When Kohler set out to create a beautiful, design-conscious alternative to the typical institutional looking (downright ugly!) easy-access walk-in bath tubs on the market, they needed a name as bold and beautiful as the product. We created the name Elevance communicating the tub’s elegant design and its unique rising wall technology.

A faucet of subtle elegance with soft lines inspired by nature is carried by a name that says “refinement” with graceful open-ended phonetics to carry on a Romance language-rooted namescape.

Simple, sleek and confident in its design, the Alteo signature faucet is anchored by a short, phonetically impactful name with European flair.

Applied to a kitchen faucet with a traditional design yet a graceful pour, the name Cruette nods to a cruet, a pouring vessel, with a sweetly diminutive French suffix to add an ownable, coined twist.

In true Kohler design, Aparu is as artful as it is functional. With a unique “sheet flow” of water that emerges from the spout, we coined a name that speaks the magic of suddenly appearing.

A toilet marked by high efficiency, this model called for a  name with rhythmic, powerful phonetics, another anchor point on Kohler’s namescape as it expands beyond more traditional, American-sounding names.

“Misto” meaning Italian for mixed, we developed the name Mistos to speak to this clean, bold faucet’s ability to toggle between a gentle spray and powerful stream effect.

Supporting other Romance-rooted names in the Kohler namescape, Bellera speaks to a faucet that is beautiful in it’s understand elegance.

  The phrase “truly revolutionary” gets thrown around so much that it’s hard to  believe it when a product is billed as such. Given that this overhead projector completely eliminates the need for a pricey interactive whiteboard, opening the door for schools with limited budgets to connect with innovative learning experiences, it’s one of the few products that actually lives up to the claim. The name BrightLink evocatively captures the projector’s core benefit: connecting students with interactive content via a (literally) bright link. It’s ideally suited for the dynamic teachers who use BrightLink to revolutionize the classroom experience. From a namescape perspective, BrightLink echoes EPSON’s corporate education initiative, named Brighter Futures. The mutually reinforcing concept of “brightness” brilliantly unifies the brand position with a word that’s perfectly fit for an imaging company.    

EPSON was launching a pair of printers and they wanted the names to have some personality (Epsonality! as they affectionately called it). One printer was for the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) market and the other was directed at the creative home printing market. For the SOHO, we developed Artisan – a name with flair and personality but also a serious tone for small businesses. Along with its sibling, the Artisan, these names marked an important and extremely rewarding departure in EPSON’s alphanumeric naming history.

EPSON was launching a pair of printers and they wanted the names to have some personality (Epsonality! as they affectionately called it). One printer was for the SOHO (Small Office Home Office) market and the other was directed at the creative home printing market. We developed WorkForce – a name with flair and personality but also a serious tone for small businesses. For the home-printer, we created Artisan – communicating attention to detail, quality and beauty for those printing creatively at home. Along with its sibling, the Workforce, these names marked an important and extremely rewarding departure in EPSON’s alphanumeric naming history.

Sony developed a high-end line of home entertainment furniture that works with more than just Sony products. With stylish design to match smart functionality, the multiple products needed a distinct, yet cohesive, platform to align and elevate the portfolio in a way that would stand out in a crowded industry.We worked with Sony to hone positioning and crystallize a naming strategy and a visual brand identity: capturing both form and function, accentuating the upscale feel and smart design of the product line. PROFORMA does just that, emphasizing professional-grade furniture that brings elegant design into your home. PROFORMA sets a new platform in motion with a naming architecture that leverages the extensible PRO- theme to other products in the line: ProLink, ProMount, and more soon to follow.

To cut through the syrupy sweet sugar water crowding the juice aisle, Nestle’s Juicy Juice developed a new spin on their 100% juice product: made with pure water added, and therefore less sugar, but retaining a much-valued full serving of fruit. The name needed to emphasize fun, refreshing juice, while supporting Juicy Juice’s all-natural and fruit-filled heritage. Before naming, we honed alignment around key message objectives, ultimately concluding that the full serving of fruit is still the #1 customer motivator; and “fruitful refreshment” was therefore the target takeaway. Fruitifuls was a natural choice, as it clearly accentuates a juice that’s full of fruit. And the play on “beautiful” isn’t only catchy, but it also embodies the playfully refreshing lightness of an all-natural drink with 35% less sugar.

  Nestle’s Juicy Juice brand has long been known for its commitment to delivering wholesome, nutritious, and fruit-filled juice to kids across America. Their new initiative seeks to reinforce that commitment by helping struggling families have access to that all important part of a healthy diet. Through our partnership with Nestle, we developed the Fruit for All name that defines this important initiative. It captures the fun, playful, “free for all” energy that healthy kids embody, while at the same time making the bold statement that good fruit should be available to ALL children, and that Juicy Juice is committed to making that happen. And the “fruit” emphasis reinforces the brand’s “Fruit Promise” platform – honing a namescape that strategically supports the brand story.    

  Founded on the belief that “Women are the fabric that holds the world together”, we named GAP’s CSR platform that empowers women globally by sharing their stories of improving their own lives.  One Stitch Closer, supporting the idea that when one woman moves ahead, we all do, is extensible enough to house current initiatives such as their recent visionary video series, as well as future campaigns as they develop.    

Puma needed a name and brand platform for their new, revolutionary lightweight shoe technology targeting their urban contemporary “sportlifestyle” demographic.   Speaking to the lightweight quality of the shoe (weighing in at a mere 173 grams!), the beauty of the name L.I.F.T. is that it can stand alone as a name and yet it also carries meaning as an acronym for the shoe’s unique production method: Lite Injected Foam Technology.

  It’s an age-old quandary: a brand name with decades of equity and a ferociously loyal following that doesn’t speak to the full breadth of the company’s value. With a massive product spread that spanned all seasons and categories well beyond holiday decor, the name Christmas Tree Shops wasn’t forming the best first impression. The New Englanders that had shopped at their founding stores for years knew what the store had to offer, but the company found the name was a barrier to bringing in new customers. We worked closely with consumer research teams and visited stores to help us develop a name that spoke to the bargain-hunting mindset characteristic of their core shopping target. The name And That! embodies the emotion of a customer seeing one great product after another. We created this name to apply as a transitional modifier to the original name Christmas Tree Shops, showing customers outside of their New England base that there is so much more in store. A modifier like this not only communicates in the short term but also leaves the door open to dropping the original, brand-limiting name entirely.    

The way most companies go about hiring all too often lacks a clear vision – and process – for finding the best candidates with a systematized approach to hiring. We were approached by entrepreneurs with a product that changes that: an online hiring software system that helps companies hire smarter. They needed a name that captured a focus of continuously improving the way companies grow.   In a world of competitors that use very descriptive naming conventions, stressing words like “hire”, “workforce”, and “resume”, we sought to find competitive whitespace that would help support an image of the brand’s fresh approach to hiring. Greenhouse was born and does just that: suggestively capturing the software’s role as an incubator for talent with a friendly, accessible, and pro-growth message.

We were approached by Mindshare Technologies, a leader in customer experience optimization with a request for a new corporate name. No small feat when you have already carved out a significant chunk of equity in the industry. However, they had outgrown their name and other service providers in nearby fields were sharing the mark.   While most competitors chose uber descriptive or completely “empty vessel” names, no one had owned a bold, suggestive, emotive name. In our discussions with the Mindshare team it became clear that truly being present with customers needs is where the magic happens – that providing the optimal experience starts with being right there – in the moment. In addition to creating the name InMoment, we also developed corporate name change guidelines to communicate with and engage employees and customers alike during the rebrand process.

Dow Jones was looking to name a new financial career resource website as part of The Wall Street Journal online. The objective was to create a name for a site that would not only act as a job posting board but that would provide inside information on trends in the financial industry and “help guide you through the finance job market and propel your career.” We developed the name FINS.com which acts as a strong double entendre in that “fins” is short for “financial” and speaks to the idea of steering and propulsion.

  New Belgium was releasing a long-awaited “session IPA”, that, unlike most IPA’s with heavyweight-level ABV percentages, was one that you could sip on all day. We visited the Fort Collins, CO headquarters of the 100% employee owned company where we experienced first hand the importance of bike-riding as part of the company culture. After a careful look at the competitive landscape of session IPA names and through review of al internally generated names, an early contender, Slow Ride, speaking to the brand’s love of bicycles and the leisurely pace at which one would sip this brew, emerged as a clear winner.    

FirstElement Fuel partnered with the State of California, Honda and Toyota to create the country’s largest network of hydrogen fuel cell charging stations beginning with California. Because this would be the first consumer touchpoint – and because some consumers have fear about the safety of hydrogen – it was important to create a name that was approachable, solid and also reminded consumers of the greater positive impact that choosing hydrogen would have on the environment. On track to be the nation’s largest network of charging stations, this name has the power to change the way Americans feel about hydrogen. With competitors focusing on including “H2” in the name, we veered from the cold, descriptive pathway to create True Zero, a bold, optimistic and fresh name which focuses less on hydrogen and more on the impact users will have on the environment when using it.

We were thrilled to be approached by an upstart with what wasn’t just a new product brand, but a revolutionary new snack: hulless popcorn. It’s naturally smaller, less harsh on the digestive system, and therefore much more snackable than the popcorn of old. We set out to create a name that would define the product – and a new breed of snack – in an evocative way. We established that the most compelling emphasis was on the snack’s lightness, in stature and nutrition. Pipcorn stood out as a name that says what it is: a diminutive yet peppy spin on popcorn – in a surprising and compelling (and fun!) way.

  Riding on the success of their initial product, Pipcorn, we kept the light, fun, extensible Pip– prefix and applied it to Pipsnacks, the corporate name we created for them, too.  

Much has been published about the detrimental impact of modern technology and being constantly connected. While this is true, it’s also allowed for connection in other more pawsitive ways, like Lee Miller’s invention of a device that allows cat parents to communicate, play with and feed their cats while they’re away from home. The task at hand was to challenge the notion that you couldn’t form a deeper emotional connection with your cat remotely. While so many competitors chose colder, more technological names containing generic terms like “pet” and “link”, we created Kittyo, a name that mirrors the playful spirit of the entertained cat. The name aurally refers to “kitty video” and broader associations of similar sounding, equally energetic  phrases such as “tally ho!” and “cheerio!”.

The ACS was launching a new web-based career development platform, providing professionals in science-related fields with a resource for personal career growth, custom suited to meet their particular needs. We studied the science training landscape and performed targeted interviews to develop Sci-Mind, a name that captures key benefits in a distinct and accessible way. This name speaks to the idea of building intelligence based in the latest knowledge needed to excel in the scientific workplace.

The Santorinos Watch Group, born of a rich history as an OEM in the watch industry, needed a name for their debut brand of watches. The name and brand they asked us to create had to reflect the brand vision: tradition with an edge. We struck that balance in creating the name Modus. Its Latin definition of “a measure or standard of measurement” adds gravitas and classical elegance while the prefix “mod-” establishes a focus on modernity. The common phrase “modus operandi” adds familiarity which, along with its inherent phonetic simplicity, enhances brand recall.

Kool Smiles is a leading brand of dental providers in the US, specializing in accessible dental care for kids. We were charged with creating a name for their new concept: taking the same friendly, high-quality care and making it relevant to older, young-adult audiences. A sleek and laid back environment seeks to engage and reassure patients with a novel dentist office experience, and the name needed to do the same. Accomplished: Resolution is a fresh and visually evocative take on the dentist experience. The name evokes a crisp, clear image – like the photos that will adorn the high-gloss interiors of the new facilities – and like the shining teeth customers can expect from their quality dental care. It also says resolve: an “I can” attitude to motivate young adults to come in, take care of their smiles, and feel assured by the experience.

  Erica Dhawan lives by three rules when consulting: 1. Reduce Complexity. 2. Break Silos. 3. Work Smarter. She partners with large global brands to cut through bureaucracy and elevate the ideas and energy of the individual employee by joining them together in ways that they hadn’t been connected before. The result is large-scale corporate innovation. Simply put, Erica believes in and brings to life the potential of connection in every organization she touches, hence the name Cotential.    

  When Solar Works and Solar Wrights, two of the largest alternative energy companies in the Northeast, merged, they needed a new name – and one that didn’t limit them to solar power. We developed the name Alteris Renewables – an elegant, uplifting and phonetically precise way to say “alternative.”