Synopses & Reviews
Every year, 6 million companies and more than 100,000 products are launched. They all need an awesome name, but many (such as Xobni, Svbtle, and Doostang) look like the results of a drunken Scrabble game. In this entertaining and engaging book, ace naming consultant Alexandra Watkins explains how anyone—even noncreative types—can create memorable and buzz-worthy brand names. No degree in linguistics required. The heart of the book is Watkins's proven SMILE and SCRATCH Test—two acronyms for what makes or breaks a name. She also provides up-to-date advice, like how to make sure that Siri spells your name correctly and how to nab an available domain name. And you'll see dozens of examples—the good, the bad, and the “so bad she gave them an award.” Alexandra Watkins is not afraid to name names. Review
Naming a business or product has always been challenging--and sometimes costly-- for entrepreneurs and inventors, but it's one of the most important decisions they have to make. Alexandra Watkins presents a foolproof model that anyone can use to create and evaluate brand names like a pro.“Zappos.com originally started out as ShoeSite.com, but that limited our potential future growth. A company’s name can be vital to its success. Reading the tips in this book can help anyone avoid the pitfalls.”
—Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.
“Insightful, irreverent, and eminently practical, Watkins’s Hello, My Name Is Awesome should be required reading for anyone naming a brand.”
—S. Christian Wheeler, Professor of Marketing, Stanford Graduate School of Business
“This awesome piece of writing is worth bottling, shaking, and stirring into your brand-name strategy either online or offline. I love the way Alexandra weaves her voice and humor into a very clear message to distill what you are about into a business name. It can be applied to your brand name and domain name. Her process is coherent and creative. A brilliant book, I couldn’t put down.”
—Jeff Bullas, blogger, strategist, and speaker, Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer 2013, and Huffington Post Top 100 Business Twitter Account
“I was skeptical about a how-to book on naming products and brands. Alexandra Watkins convinced me otherwise. Her book is a fun read with lots of practical advice.”
—Patricia Roller, angel investor and former Co-CEO, Frog Design
“Your company or product probably needs all the help it can get. Watkins helped me name my firm, and I’m constantly told what a great name it is. Don’t pick a name until you’ve read Watkins’s book—you'll want to have a name that you love forever!”
—Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, author of Open Leadership, and coauthor of Groundswell
“The type of hands-on practical wisdom rarely found (but desperately needed) in the academic community.”
—Michael Webber, Dean of the School of Management, University of San Francisco
“This is the perfect book for kick-starting entrepreneurs, brand managers, and practicing creatives.”
—Pat Hanlon, founder and CEO, Thinktopia, and author of Primal Branding
“This book is packed full of practical, real-world advice you would never get from a regular textbook.”
—Dale J. Stephens, founder of UnCollege and author of Hacking Your Education
“In the current crazy business climate, where standing out and being remembered are critical to success, your name had better be awesome. This is the best book on the subject.”
—Nell Merlino, founder and President, Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence, and creator of Take Our Daughters to Work Day
“We’ve got a terrible name. No one can spell it. No one can pronounce it. Don’t make the same mistake we made. Read this book and let Alexandra Watkins guide you away from the ‘we thought we were being clever with our name, but now we just look silly’ syndrome.”
—Matt Ruby, founder and CEO, Vooza
Review
• $30,000 publicity and promotion budget• Author tour in San Francisco Bay Area, including events at bookstores, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, the Commonwealth Club
• National publicity campaign targeting business media, many who have previously interviewed the author, including Success, Inc., Entrepreneur, AdWeek, Advertising Age, CEO Magazine, Forbes, Fortune, Intuit Small Business, and workplace writers at the top 100 daily newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal• Online publicity campaign targeting Forbes.com, Fastcompany.com and bloggers focused on branding, marketing, start up, and small business
• Promotion in conjunction with author's numerous speaking engagements, including at MBA Programs at Stanford, USF, UCBerkekey, and organizations like Association for Corporate Growth and Proctor & Gamble Alumni Association• E-newsletter promotion to 30,000 contacts
• Promotion on author's websites
www.eatmywords.com and www.alexandrawatkins.com• Social media promotion through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+"Top 10 Marketing Book of 2014"—
Inc. Magazine"Brand names can make a critical first impression, and naming expert Watkins, founder of the naming firm Eat My Words, attempts with this book to prove that even the "most noncreative person" can conceive of something that will resonate with customers. She examines all aspects of a brand name's commercial value, from how easily it can be pronounced and recognized, to whether or not voice recognition software will be able to spell it correctly. She uses the acronyms SMILE (Suggestive, Meaningful, Imagery, Legs, Emotional) and SCRATCH (Spelling challenged, Copycat, Restrictive, Annoying, Tame, Curse of Knowledge, Hard to pronounce) to describe, respectively, "sticky" and "deadly" qualities. Watkins also offers examples of companies or products that hit the mark, like Pedigree and Snuggle, and those that missed it, like Eukanuba and Xobni. She provides advice for securing a good domain name and ideas to avoid. Her most potentially valuable recommendation is for would-be brand-name owners to create a "creative brief," a checklist of all the elements that need to present. It defines the core characteristics of an organization from target audience to competition to "brand personality." Watkins also examines brainstorming, "building consensus," and changing a name. Jam-packed with sound advice, this slim volume can be the difference between becoming a Target and becoming a Speesees.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Let's hear it for an author who clearly and succinctly explains how to do a critical business task rather than merely presenting historical examples for the hapless reader to puzzle out. Here, former Ogilvy advertising copywriter Watkins, founder of industry-leading naming company Eat My Words, expands considerably on the company and brand-naming tips posted on her website. In addition to explaining and illustrating her 12-point vetting process for potential names (e.g., cautioning that unpronounceable names will be mangled by Siri and other voice-recognition software), Watkins gives surpassingly solid advice about how to brainstorm potential names, root out probable bad choices, build consensus, and protect chosen brand names and URLS. Her reputation within the industry is apparent from her client list of prominent companies—Adobe, Microsoft, Disney, Marriott, and many more—and nonprofits. In one of the best chapters, the author walks readers through the multilayered processes she followed in generating a memorable name for Spoon Me yogurt. VERDICT: Useful for readers who are naming anything more important than a household pet.” —Elizabeth Wood, Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH
“This awesome piece of writing is worth bottling, shaking, and stirring into your brand-name strategy either online or offline. I love the way Alexandra weaves her voice and humor into a very clear message to distill what you are about into a business name. It can be applied to your brand name and domain name. Her process is coherent and creative. A brilliant book, I couldn't put down.”
—Jeff Bullas, blogger, strategist, and speaker, Forbes Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer 2013, and Huffington Post Top 100 Business Twitter Account“I was skeptical about a how-to book on naming products and brands. Alexandra Watkins convinced me otherwise. Her book is a fun read with lots of practical advice.”
—Patricia Roller, angel investor and former Co-CEO, Frog Design“Your company or product probably needs all the help it can get. Watkins helped me name my firm, and I'm constantly told what a great name it is. Don't pick a name until you've read Watkins's book—you'll want to have a name that you love forever!”
—Charlene Li, founder of Altimeter Group, author of Open Leadership, and coauthor of Groundswell“The type of hands-on practical wisdom rarely found (but desperately needed) in the academic community.”
—Michael Webber, Dean of the School of Management, University of San Francisco“This is the perfect book for kick-starting entrepreneurs, brand managers, and practicing creatives.”
—Pat Hanlon, founder and CEO, Thinktopia, and author of Primal Branding“This book is packed full of practical, real-world advice you would never get from a regular textbook.”
—Dale J. Stephens, founder of UnCollege and author of Hacking Your Education“In the current crazy business climate, where standing out and being remembered are critical to success, your name had better be awesome. This is the best book on the subject.”
—Nell Merlino, founder and President, Count Me In for Women's Economic Independence, and creator of Take Our Daughters to Work Day“We've got a terrible name. No one can spell it. No one can pronounce it. Don't make the same mistake we made. Read this book and let Alexandra Watkins guide you away from the ‘we thought we were being clever with our name, but now we just look silly' syndrome.”
—Matt Ruby, founder and CEO, Vooza“I got lucky when I bent all the rules and named my company. If you need help naming yours, Alexandra has some great advice.”
—Chip Conley, founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality“Zappos.com originally started out as ShoeSite.com, but that limited our potential future growth. A company's name can be vital to its success. Reading the tips in this book can help anyone avoid the pitfalls.”—Tony Hsieh, New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness and CEO, Zappos.com, Inc.“Insightful, irreverent, and eminently practical, Watkins's Hello, My Name Is Awesome should be required reading for anyone naming a brand.”—S. Christian Wheeler, Professor of Marketing, Stanford Graduate School of Business About the Author
Alexandra Watkins is the founder of Eat My Words, a nationally recognized naming firm featured multiple times in the Wall Street Journal and Inc. Her clients include Disney, Microsoft, Wrigley, Turner networks, and Fujitsu.
Table of Contents
PrefaceIntroduction
Chapter 1:
SMILE: The 5 qualities of a super sticky nameChapter 2:
SCRATCH: The 7 deadly sinsChapter 3: Domains: strategies, secrets and silliness
Chapter 4: Creative brief: your brand name road map
Chapter 5: Brainstorm: How to be an idea machine
Chapter 6: Name Review: 12 rules for building consensus
Chapter 7: Name changes: pros and cons
Resources:
The How awesome is my name self-assessment tool
Trademarking
logos & identity design
Service providers
Acknowledgments
index
about eat my words
About the Author
Ask Alexandra
About Eat My Words