We took home a gold medal for our naming work with Cisco at Transform Awards North America 2024 in New York City. Before the awards dinner, we hosted a presentation and some round tables on branding.

In this video we tell the story of how we created the Oleria name and brand — last year’s gold winner at Transform 2023.

Campaigns are short-lived. Logos are updated. A name (usually) lasts forever.

A name is often the very first way people hear about a company or product – a potential shareholder may read an article about the company, or a future star employee may see the name on LinkedIn, or a prospect may hear a friend talking about a new product, or a subscriber comes across a new feature name while using the product.

The explosion of AI has opened up a new universe for naming. Like in the early days of the internet, you can see some common naming trends emerging in the mad dash to win the AI race. Companies may lean on these trends to signal that they’re “part of the team” – or they may deviate from them entirely to create something novel.

The brand name is often the first point of contact between a company and its customers and can play a significant role in shaping the perception of the business. The tech industry is constantly evolving, and with it, so are the trends in brand naming.

This was a conversation I had with Laurel Sutton, brilliant linguist and namer, about moving from the realm of academia into branding and naming. There’s a special place in my heart for Laurel as the first person I ever spoke with when I was first exploring the naming industry.

What’s more evocative, “Ocean” or “Whale Road”? “Sun” or “Heaven’s Jewel”? This is a common linguistic and poetic device frequently seen in Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English poetry, called kennings. And it can make for very powerful naming directions… perhaps too powerful.

It just seems like the names in Tolkien’s world just sound right, in many cases. Why is that? Here I go into Tolkien’s linguistic background, the world of languages he created, how he named characters, places, and objects, and how we can use his strategies to create unforgettable names.

Brand names are a lot like baby names. I looked through this article “10 Expert Tips To Choosing a Baby Name” to see if I could apply it to the work I do in naming. (Spoiler: the advice is pretty solid!)

Whether it’s to grab attention, communicate a benefit, or explain a function, naming as a practice can and ought to support what you or your product stands for.

Apple is one of if not the most beloved brand in the world. But I think they could improve the way they name things. Here’s why, and how I’d do it.