MY EXPERIENCE IN NAMING BRANDS, SUB-BRANDS, AND PRODUCTS 

What's in a name? A great deal as it happens. With extensive experience across diverse product categories, I employ a strategic approach to naming projects. Rather than relying more on subjectivity, I categorise names based on various aspects of the brand or product, accompanied by a well-thought-out rationale. This allows both the agency and the client to determine the optimal positioning in the market, ensuring that the chosen name is not merely a collection of random ideas. Here are some naming projects I worked on.

2023 / STORM BRANDS / RETAIL

For this project, I created a variety of names for a new luxury sub-brand at Pets at Home. After exploring several options—including a personal favorite, Lap of Luxury—we ultimately selected Noble. It perfectly embodies the regal nature of pets while evoking a sense of premium quality, making it a strong fit for the higher price point. The project was complemented by a sophisticated design to fully showcase the luxury of the product range.

2017 / OGILVY HONG KONG / B2B TECHNOLOGY

In 2017, Huawei were expanding their cloud services, so I had to come up with names for Huawei’s new interconnected digital ecosystem as better alternatives to 'Intelligent SaaS'. Of the many I dreamed up, the preferred option was an acronym: CORE — Connected, Organized, Rapid Ecosystem. The word 'core' communicates centrality, stability, and power, as well as a relation to other parts, so is an apt acronym to describe Huawei’s interconnected digital platform. Each letter within this term expressed the fundamental qualities of this service.

2008 / NESTLE / CONFECTIONARY

While at JWT back in 2008, I worked on on the naming for Rowntrees Randoms that led to it being called this for its 2009 launch. I came up with names by brainstorming different attributes like shapes and textures. After many sessions, the random nature of the sweets was decided on by the client as the key product differentiator.

2023 / STORM BRANDS / FMCG

I was involved with devising new flavour names for Toasteds — a Kellogg’s cracker brand. The task was to come up for different flavour names that would add personality and distinctiveness to the 6 different flavour varieties.

2022 / JDO GLOBAL / TOBACCO

While at design agency JDO Global in 2022, I worked on a naming project for a luxury sub-brand for Mevius — the new e-Series. The brief was to capture the essence of the theme 'Contemporary Excellence'. I identified five key aspects: elevated, premium, modernity, energy, and confidence, then developed numerous naming options for each category.