This is a continuing series of postings that will spotlight other naming firms. We think our clients should have a choice, and clearly Eat My Words is not the only naming firm in business.
Next up is Circle®Brands, a self-described "dedicated band of brand architects passionate about creating distinct company names, product and service names, taglines and slogans. We subscribe to and incorporate the highly scientific, yet universally ignored, study of “human nature” and “common sense” to create names and phrases that exude instant brand resonance, memorability and top-of-mind awareness with your audience. "
Circle®Brands was unknown to us, and perhaps the world, until we stumbled across this press release entitled: MAVERICK NAMING COMPANY CREATES BRANDING INDUSTRY FIRST.
How could we not be intrigued? Here is the industry first. They have "boldly reverse-engineered the customary approach to branding by creating and trademarking comprehensive brand identity packages in advance of any client initiative."
That's right, they name your company before you have a company. A naming Field of Dreams, if you will.
A sampling of these proto-names includes:
- We Do The Math® - (brand package designed to catapult a progressive accounting/CPA firm into a national household name)
- Get SMiTTEN!® - (campaign for the Love of Michigan, playing off the geographically unique mitten-shaped state)
- LaBeatOh!® - (multi-faceted brand identity package that blends music and merchandising into a worldwide franchising concept revolving around a unique and exciting Latin-themed dining and entertainment venue)
- LVNV™ - (acronym for "Las Vegas Envy," Circle®Brands has created for the promotion of tourism and commerce for the city of Las Vegas, NV)
- Aguavana - (original name we created and submitted for consideration for the new 4-star luxury hotel concept from Joie de Vivre Hospitality)
- BloomService® - (ultimate brand identity package for the floral, gifting and garden lifestyle industry is geared to rival the industry frontrunner 1-800-FLOWERS)
- Pizzapotamus® - (the Revolutionary New Marketing Tool For The Next Fast Food Generation!)
Dr. Chewlittle's - (a clever and kid-friendly brand identity package ideal for marketing a doctor-recommended or created organic baby food and product line)
Perhaps you have noticed that certain names have the "®" designation, meaning the mark has been registered at the USPTO. We looked up We Do The Math® and discovered that it is in fact a registered trademark as "Accounting Services" and was first used in commerce on 09-22-2002. The owner is an affiliate of Circle®Brands, named Lip Service® Communications. Nowhere on the Lip Service website can we find any reference to accounting services (the WeDoTheMath.com website is a placeholder), so we don't know how the claim for "used in service" is upheld. Our guess is that the other registered marks may have similar issues.
Seeing that WeDoTheMath.com was purchased on March 29, 2002 and is still owned by our spotlight company, it appears that reverse-engineering doesn't add up to much.
We think this reverse-engineering concept is odd, soulless, hollow and lifeless. Instead, check out some great names created for the real world by our favorite naming company.
Oh, and we Do the Math.
IS CIRCLE®BRAND THE NAMING FIRM FOR YOU?
To evaluate if a naming firm is a good fit for you, ask yourself these 5 questions:
- Does the company have a creative name?
- How memorable are the names in their portfolio?
- Do they have experience in your category?
- What do their clients say about them?
- Do they look like they’d be fun to work with?
For more on other naming firms stay tuned for spotlights in our blog or check out Our Competitors on the Eat My Words website, which provides a fresh alternative to old-school naming.
I saw http://eatmywords.typepad.com/eat_my_words_the_dish/2008/03/spotlight-on-ci.html and wanted to mention a useful site: http://www.FreePatentsOnline.com
It provides free patent searching, free PDF downloading, allows annoting documents and sharing them, and free alerts for new documents.
If you have a spot, a link to let your users know abou the site would be great.
Posted by: james | April 17, 2008 at 10:38 PM