I had the privilege this past week of leading a non-profit team through a naming exercise workshop. The organization had a well-thought-out business plan and needed to find a name for a physical location they will open next year. So, the Executive Director asked me to guide the brainstorming workshop along with another marketing professional.
We assembled several marketing professionals who are board members to participate. Each person had to read the business plan and come prepared with words + metaphors.
What words come to mind as you read the plan? Bring six.
What metaphors for the concept is evoked after reading the plan? Bring 2.
Whiteboard and Room to Breathe
As everyone shared their ideas, I wrote the words and metaphors on a whiteboard. (words in black, metaphors in red). From the array of sparks and ideas, the conversation just flowed and bounced around without being too structured. We gave this naming exercise room to breathe, and we built upon each other’s comments, thoughts, and ideas.
We kept coming back to a few salient words and metaphors that helped us crystallize our thinking. The goal of the two-hour work session was to share, respond, and think out loud. We achieved that goal.
Next steps
The next steps for me are to organize the conversation, thoughts, and ideas into names and taglines that build on what we discussed. I love to play with words, so for me, it is oddly relaxing and doesn’t feel like work. Naming brands and concepts are one of my superpowers. I created about 20 concepts for the next step and we will reduce that down to our top three ideas. Then, we will share it with 2,000 people representative of the target audience online to help us pick the clearest idea.
In the last few years, I got to name these cool brands: TRADEPARENCY for a transparent trade deal software for the wine industry, HERCULEAN for an incredibly strong but lightweight structural foam and ZEST for an innovative wine closure used for sparkling wine like Prosecco and Champagne.
I tend to be process-oriented and methodical. But often, you need to allow ideas to breathe by shining a light on them. It is in a fertile environment where inspiration grows. The unstructured conversations are like fertilizing and water to a garden, providing the nutrients needed to produce green shoots.
Don’t be afraid to give ideas room to breathe and a little space to be creative.
Need help naming a new brand, product, service or technology?
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com The conversation is free, and we can explore working together.
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
