C'mon over to our new website and blog... we'll be waiting for you. All of the same posts are there so you won't miss any of the fun.
July 01, 2011
The Kitchen Sink blog has moved - www.eatmywords.com/blog
Please visit us at our new location:
http://eatmywords.com/blog/
May 01, 2009
Did you see me "slumming it" in the SF Chronicle's Travel Section?
Gerald Miller and Alexandra Watkins use the iconic Taj Mahal
as a backdrop for a postcard-pretty photo from their vacation.
I'm just now getting around to posting this... it's somewhat work-related as I was taking a vacation from work.
Two Sunday's ago, the San Francisco Chronicle featured this photo of me and my boyfriend, Gerald, in front of the Taj Mahal (yes, the same one from Slumdog Millionaire), along with some highlights of our India vacation. I sent the photo to the paper in hopes that they would print it to show people that India was still very safe for travelers... Here's the link to the whole feature. Want to see more? Here are two pages of spectacular photos of my trip to India.
What's really cool is that the "On The Couch" writer, Louise Rafkin, saw the feature and interviewed us last week for her column on interesting couples. That one should be really fun.
February 12, 2009
Announcing the worst name of 2008
Thanks to all of you who voted in the 2008 Head Scratcher "worst name of the year" contest. This cheeky annual award, created by naming firm Eat My Words (that would be us), is inspired by our no-brainer philosophy, "A name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head." Contenders are judged on their "ick factor" and ability to pass the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test, which has been featured in Wall Street Journal, a fact that we like to mention as often as possible.
Drumroll please...
The name that chalked up the most votes was a new "financial literacy" site for children out of Oklahoma named Shryk. A name that made us shriek.
The tacky pink trophy was ready to be engraved and then...
We were tipped off that Shryk renamed themselves with an even worse name: iThryv.
Tip #1: Your company name needs to spelled exactly as is sounds. As anyone from iThryv, Takkle, Xobni, or countless other dot coms will reluctantly admit, when you have to verbally spell out your name (and silly-sounding email address) for people, it's embarrassing and annoying. And if it's annoying for you, how do you think your customers feel when they type the name they hear in their browser and discover what iThrive is?
For more tips on when to scratch your name of the list, check out our Kitchen Sink Blog and the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test, which has been featured in Wall Street Journal, a fact that we like to mention as often as possible.
November 18, 2008
Alexandra wows Pow.wow
Alexandra Watkins chosen as November's Featured Pow.wow Member
Pow.wow is the brainchild of Dava Guthmiller. In 2004, Dava invited 14 women to her office to exchange ideas and discuss the challenges of running a small business. Pow.wow is now over 400 strong and growing.
Their goal is to support the success of its members by:
- Creating a supportive and positive learning environment
- Empowering through education and exchange of ideas
- Increasing the visibility of its members
- Giving back to the Bay Area community of women
Alexandra is pleased to be featured and proud to be involved with such an important organization.
Below is Alexandra's Pow Wow profile & interview..
Alexandra Watkins
Alexandra
is the founder of Eat My Words, creating brand names that generate buzz
and revenue. She is also a Make Mine a Million $ Business Awardee.
Congratulations Alexandra!
Why did you start your own biz?
I saw a huge opportunity in the marketplace to create brand names that
were likeable and conceptual as opposed to the mangled, unapproachable
words that old-school naming and branding firms invent using Latin and
linguistics.
What did you do before you started your own business?
I was an advertising copywriter for 15+ years, where I mastered the art
of creating clever headlines grab attention. Our names have the same
effect. They are instantly likeable, make powerful emotional
connections, and are absolutely unforgettable.
What was a challenge or obstacle to start your own business?
A few naysayers didn’t think I could sustain myself by only creating
names and taglines. They said I needed to keep copywriting in the mix.
I loved proving them wrong. Some people would say not having a college
education would be a challenge, but I disagree. Unlike other namers who
have degrees in linguistics and understand Latin, I have not been
tainted by “The Curse of Knowledge.”
What is one thing that is responsible for the success of your business?
Creativity. Although I cite passion as being a key factor of my
success, without my creativity, I wouldn’t have a portfolio of wildly
creative names and taglines that is unmatched by any other naming firm.
My creativity has also allowed me to build my business through
innovative marketing approaches.
In your opinion, what makes women good business owners, and what holds them back?
The best women business owners are fearless. They are not afraid to
charge what they are worth, speak their mind, or compete in a man’s
world. The major downfalls of many women business owners are they have
low self-esteem, don’t know how to negotiate, aren’t financially saavy,
and are afraid they will hurt someone’s feelings if they ask for more
money.
What are a few tips you’d give a woman starting her own business today?
1. Do not launch your business until you have professional business
cards printed and a polished website up, which have been designed by a
true identity designer who understands the importance of having a
cohesive brand. You only have one chance to make a first impression.
2. Make sure the name of your business sounds like a brand name as opposed to your own name. When you sell your company 20 years from now, it will be much harder to sell if your name is attached to it and you won’t be there any more.
3. Don’t give up on a great brand name if the domain name is out of reach. No one expects a company to have the exact dot com any more. Just as we ran out of 800#s for toll-free calls, everyone knows the free-and-clear dot coms are a thing of the past.
What are your goals for the business?
Our long term vision is to become the most widely influential naming
firm in the industry and get businesses to stop naming their companies
things like Learnia, Xohm, and QualComm.
Our short-term goal is to get on the radar of more consumer package goods clients who have on-going naming needs.
Is there anything else you’d like us to know?
Our many naming successes include Spoon Me frozen yogurt, Neato home
cleaning robots, Monkey Dunks dips for kids, Cake Financial, Bloom
energy drink, Frigid ice cream, an iPod clock radio named Moondance, a
luxury-on-installment website named Venue, Stuff a Sock In It
laundromat, Mixin’ Vixens bartenders, and Wavelength, a forum for the
world’s most progressive companies and social entrepreneurs.
We are the only naming firm who monetizes names. For instance, Spoon Me is making a fortune selling Spoon Me t-shirts, sportswear, pajamas and booty shorts.
Our adoring clients include Del Monte, Frito Lay, Altec Lansing, Guthy Renker, SIGG water bottles and Intercontinental Hotels Group.
Our SMILE & SCRATCH name evaluation test has been featured in the Wall Street Journal.
Our wildly colorful loft office has been featured on TV, design books, and magazines.
I didn’t go to college and am an inspiration to women everywhere that you CAN be successful without a college education.
November 06, 2008
Alexandra Fashions Naming Advice
We love Project Runway, so when Alexandra was asked to share her naming style to the fashion trade, she stitched together a stunning ready-to-wear tailored collection....
How To Create Brand Names That Stick
Posted by Guest Author on Nov 5, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Today’s guest entry is written by Alexandra Watkins, CIO of Eat My Words . After writing advertising copy for 20+ years, including five years at Ogilvy and Mather -where she flogged everything from Microsoft to Mighty Dog- Alexandra got hooked on naming when Gap hired her to create cheeky names for their first line of body care products. Since then she’s generated thousands of names for snacks, software, sunscreen, social networking sites, sportswear, shoes, sugar scrubs, serums, and seafood -and that’s just the S’s!
Click here for full post.
October 16, 2008
Entreprenuer's StartUps magazine asks "Does your business moniker have people smiling or scratching their heads?"
Alexandra is quoted in the Fall 2008 issue of Entrepreneur's StartUps magazine, which was inspired by our proven name evaluation method, the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test. Here is the article in its entirety:
All in the Name
Does your business moniker have people smiling or scratching their heads?
After creating catchy names for everything from energy drinks to sportswear, Alexandra Watkins knows what goes into a good business name. In 2005, the former advertising copywriter founded Eat My Words, a boutique naming firm in San Francisco with 2008 sales projected in the six figures. The firm's Smile & Scratch Test, available at eatmywords.com, evaluates names "based on our philosophy that a name should make you smile instead of scratch your head," says Watkins. Here are some tips to ensure your name gets people grinning:
- Make an emotional connection. Eat My Words creates company names that entertain and engage the consumer, including Spoon Me for a frozen yogurt chain and Neato for a home cleaning robot. "If you have a name like Spoon Me, and you're making that [emotional] connection, you're instantly building an affinity for your brand, because people like it," says Watkins, 44.
- Stand out. With Pinkberry's success came a wave of name imitators. But jumping on the bandwagon is the wrong way to go. "People try to be copycats," says Watkins, "but the only way you're ever going to get noticed and stand out is if you do something unexpected and different."
- Don't ask others for ideas. Try to test your name against an objective set of criteria rather than asking for opinions. "People make the mistake of asking their friends and family what they think," says Watkins. "That's the worst possible thing you can do; it really waters down your name."
- Keep it clear. Names like Flickr and Xobni might be unique, but they can be confusing and hard to pronounce for consumers. Names in different languages or that hide the meaning from the consumer should also be avoided.
September 18, 2008
Alexandra Watkins Wins Make Mine a Million Contest!
We previously announced that our own Alexandra Watkins was a finalist for The Make Mine a
Program from Count Me In for Women's Economic
Independence.
We can NOW announce that as of a few minutes ago, she was picked as a winner! While none of us here at Eat My Words ever had any doubt, we were nonetheless on the proverbial pins and needles until the announcement. Alexandra worked very hard to come this far this fast, and this win validates it all.
We will fill you in with more details on what all this means next week when Alexandra gets back from a well deserved weekend in New Mexico.
Congratulations Alexandra!
September 17, 2008
Spoon Me a healthy, green yogurt shop
Spoon Me franchise owner Carolee Millet, left, and Spoon Me founder and CEO Ryan Combe inside the new Sandy location. The interior is eco-friendly and the yogurt had no artificial ingredients.
By Lesley Mitchell
The Salt Lake Tribune
09/16/2008
SANDY, UTAH - You won't find the typical vanilla, chocolate or strawberry flavors at the Spoon Me frozen yogurt shop.
In their places are more mysterious flavors - acai (berry from Brazil), green tea or "natural."
The Utah-based chain, with locations in Sandy, downtown Salt Lake City, Provo and St. George, is among a number of companies popping up nationwide that aim to provide a hip alternative to the frozen yogurt-shop concept that soared in the '80s, only to fizzle somewhat in recent years.
"There's definitely a growing trend toward a healthier dessert product," said Spoon Me co-founder Ryan Combe.
Aside from Spoon Me, there are other stores with trendy frozen yogurt concepts opening up, including Red Mango, which has three Utah locations. Spoon Me, founded by Utah natives Combe and David Jaynes, is trying to set itself apart from competitors in a number of ways.
"I wanted to create something more marketable" than the other offerings, Combe said. "And I wanted something more responsible" in terms of the environment and community.
The chain uses as many environmentally friendly products as possible in its stores, from spoons made out of corn starch to highly biodegradable cups to hold the yogurt. Virtually everything that goes into the stores, from the paint and light fixtures to the toilets in the restrooms, are designed to be easy on the
environment.
Although Combe, 26, said he hasn't spent a lot of time working in the restaurant industry, he does have the pedigree: He said his uncle was involved in the Arctic Circle hamburger chain and his cousins run the Warrens and Dylan's fast-food chains in Utah.
But he's also trying something vastly different, especially for conservative Utah. Marketing phrases such as "Go on, Spoon Me. You know you want it," and "If you love me, spoon me," say it all.
Combe said he was living in California "surfing a lot" when he and Jaynes, 32, then a vice president for Lehman Brothers in California, decided to become entrepreneurs.
The pair, with a third partner, Utah orthopedic surgeon Wayne Mortensen, opened the first Spoon Me in downtown Salt Lake City in October. The Sandy location, the first franchise and one owned by Combe's aunt, Carolee Millet, opened in June.
The Provo location, which is corporate owned, opened its doors in July, with a store owned by another franchisee opening in St. George at the end of August. Spoon Me's yogurt product is different enough to put off some fans of the traditional sugar-laden varieties of the past. Its three varieties are a bit tart and for the uninitiated may seem a bit more like sorbet than frozen yogurt.
But there is apparently plenty of demand for the concept. Existing stores are doing well, Combe said, and franchisees are planning several additional locations.
The next location, this one also company owned, is scheduled to open at the end of the month on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe. Additional locations, all franchises, are planned for Ogden, Orem and American Fork, as well as Austin, Texas, and Las Vegas.
Spoon Me stocks the three flavors of frozen yogurt and numerous toppings of fruit or nuts for health-conscious customers, and Fruit Pebbles, Nilla Wafers and Oreo toppings for those who want more sinful alternatives.
Prices range from $2.50 for the smallest size of "Natural" yogurt without a topping to $6.75 for the largest Green Tea or Acai-flavored cup with three toppings.
On a recent weekday afternoon, south valley resident Angie Davidson brought her mother, in town from Seattle, in for her first taste of Spoon Me.
Davidson said she has been in the shop a few times since it's opened.
"I told her she just had to come taste this," Angie Davidson said.
Her mother, Bobbie Zavala, gave it a thumbs up. "It's a totally different taste. It's very, very good."
July 30, 2008
Interview with Alexandra in Toy Magazine
Alexandra was recently featured in an interview in EdPlay magazine, which is the go-to resource for specialty toy, game, gift, and museum stores. We think toy store names should be fun, whimsical and cheeky, yet they are often the worst offenders and biggest Head Scratchers. Case in point: abraKIDabra, F.A.O. Schwartz, Toys "R" Us, and MrToys.com, pictured here, which is a classic example of a very dated retail store name. See what advice Alexandra spouted off in this informative article...
What’s the Name of That Store?
by Tina Manzer
The names of your store, website, special services and exclusive product are very important pieces of equipment in your marketing toolbox. Nowhere is that more evident than in the specialty toy industry, where names have to convey so much in so few words. To characterize your successful toy business or product accurately (and memorably), you must relate – in just a few words – that it’s fun, safe, whimsical, educational, colorful, skill-building, open-ended, trustworthy, high quality, favorite … you get the idea.
To get some advice on what makes a good name, we talked to Alexandra Watkins, founder of the naming company Eat My Words in San Francisco. She gave us her insight on the naming process, what makes a good name, and ways to test the name you come up with.
edplay: What are the components of a good company name in general? How about names for small independently owned toy stores?
Alexandra: The same basic principles of naming apply to everything. You want to be distinct from your competitors, be memorable, and make an emotional connection with your customers. An emotional connection that a toy store might want to make is to entertain, engage and make people smile. Speaking of smiling, we filter all of our names through the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test, which is based on our philosophy that a name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head. Anyone can use this to evaluate her store name.
SMILE – qualities of a powerful name
Simple – one easy-to-understand concept
Meaningful – your customers instantly “get it”
Imagery – visually evocative, creates a mental picture
Legs – carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay
Emotional – empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens
SCRATCH it off the list if it has any of these deal-breakers:
Spelling-challenged – you have to tell people how to spell it
Copycat – similar to competitor’s names
Random – disconnected from the brand
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced
Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, non-emotional
Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it
Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious, relies on punctuation
edplay: How should their toy stores’ names fit in with their branding, marketing, advertising and promotional efforts?
Alexandra: A great store name can drive all of these marketing functions. For instance, we named a chain of frozen yogurt stores Spoon Me. Before the store even opened, the sign outside said “Spooning Soon” instead of “Coming Soon.” On the front door, the sign says, “No shirt. No shoes. No spoon.” And since they are in Utah, their “Hours” sign says, “No spooning on Sunday.” Spoon Me has promotions like spooning contests and letting customers come up with new slogans for their bathroom wall, based on famous movie quotes (for instance, “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to spoon me.”). Spoon Me doesn’t need to do advertising because the name gets so much attention.
edplay: Could a business name make or break the business? Do you have any examples of a business that couldn't get off the ground because of its name? Or one that was so good that the name on its own sold the product?
Alexandra: A great name can make a business and even make money for a store. Spoon Me is a classic example of how a store can monetize their name through merchandising. They have a steady revenue stream from merchandise with the Spoon Me name on it, including t-shirts, pajamas, baby clothes, bumper stickers and buttons. If Spoon Me had gone with their original name, Zenyo, it might not have “broken” the business, but the company would not be cashing in on the name through merchandise sales. I know that two frozen yogurt stores I saw this weekend, Yogurt Cup and SoGreen, don’t have a powerful enough name to sell even a t-shirt, let alone drive a marketing or promotional campaign. People do stop in Spoon Me stores just to buy the merchandise. That’s a powerful name.
edplay: Could changing the existing name of a store give it a shot in the arm by creating more interest, generating sales, being more conducive to marketing? What if the name was inherited when the business was bought?
Alexandra: Unless your toy store name has a long legacy behind it, you can certainly change it. Business owners often have an inflated perspective of the equity in their name. A name change is a great excuse to do promotions and generate media attention. It’s like having an extreme makeover, and can definitely give any business additional marketing opportunities. There is a gourmet popcorn store called Popcorn 479. It’s totally flat. We would love to re-name it Pop Psychology. We would really play up the therapy theme and have gift tins like “Bi-Polar,” which would be half caramel/half cheese popcorn. And “Munchausen Syndrome” would be a fun name for a gift tin for anyone with a serious case of the munchies. I can’t think of anything you could do with a non-emotional and bland name like Popcorn 479. I guarantee that a name change for them would be an overnight success.
edplay: Do you have any advice for small independent businesses that are looking to come up with a name, change their name or make their identities stronger?
Alexandra: Take our SMILE & SCRATCH Test to see how your name does. If it doesn’t pass, try to come up with a name that lends itself to wordplay and has a rich vocabulary around it so you can extend the brand through marketing, merchandising and promotions.
edplay: What are some good ways to “test” a name?
Alexandra: Saying it out loud is a great test. Also make sure that if you have a website, your name doesn’t spell anything bad, like Cardiff Art Supply could be www.cardiffartsupply.com. Yikes!
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To see some of some fun kid-friendly names like Dizzywood and Monkey Dunks, check out our portfolio.