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Alexandra Watkins

Hello, My Name Is Awesome: How to Create Brand Names That Stick Paperback – September 15, 2014

by Alexandra Watkins (Author)

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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.

Print length

112 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Publication date

September 15, 2014
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.31 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

9781626561861
ISBN-13

978-1626561861
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"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.”
—Library Journal (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.

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1626561869
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1st edition (September 15, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 112 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781626561861
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1626561861
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 5.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.31 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #929,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #186 in Patent, Trademark & Copyright Law (Books)
- #9,537 in Marketing & Sales (Books)

Customer Reviews:
413 ratings

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Alexandra Watkins

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Founder of naming firm Eat My Words, Alexandra Watkins is a recognized expert on brand names with buzz. She is frequently quoted in the press and been featured in leading business publications including The Wall Street Journal, Inc., and Entrepreneur. Alexandra is a popular speaker at MBA programs and has been a guest presenter multiple times at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, San Francisco State, USF School of Management and their alumni association. She has also entertained audiences at the Proctor & Gamble alumni association, Uncollege, In-House Agency Forum, SF City Club, and many co-working spaces.

Alexandra first got hooked on naming when Gap hired her to create cheeky names for their first line of body care products. Soon after, she broke into the business by talking her way into branding powerhouse Landor via a Match.com date. With her fresh, unconventional naming style, Alexandra soon became a go-to resource for countless branding and naming firms around the country. And Landor sent her enough business to open her own firm. 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!) She’s also named lots of things that make people fat and drunk including a nationally recognized bacon cheeseburger (which ironically, must remain nameless).

Prior to Eat My Words, Alexandra was an advertising copywriter, working at leading ad agencies up and down the West Coast, including five years at Ogilvy and Mather, where she helped launch Microsoft Windows and learned the language of Geek Speak. In the mid-nineties she jumped on the dot-com gravy train, and rode it until it crashed in her SOMA backyard. Alexandra took the money and ran, spending a year in Australia, New Zealand, Bali and Fiji. Upon her return, she discovered her passion for naming things and soon after started Eat My Words.

Customer reviews

5 star		79%
4 star		15%
3 star		3%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Zachary Jordan

Simple, intuitive, effective

Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Fantastic book! Definitely helps boil down the whole nebulous process into easy, digestible chunks. I loved the emphasis on structured creativity, which both allows your mind to wander between interesting permutations and ideas and also keeps you on track. We're using the strategies we learned to name our company and will recommend it to others.

Other resources we've stumbled across seemed unnecessarily complex, such that any end-user could never possibly understand the intended implications...Alexandra really has it down to a science, and it shows in the products she's named. Worth every dollar and minute spent.

The most difficult thing for us to figure out when naming was the unique combination of intuitive, smile inducing relatable-ness and a deeper hat tip to the specialized circumstances of the product or company in question. Little wonder Alexandra's time is so valuable!

In all honesty, regardless of what techniques you're using, you can't please everyone. It's tough, but this is by far the best methodology i've seen, and I'd highly recommend others use it in their own naming quests.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

Danavir Sarria

I wish I read this book YEARS ago!

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

UPDATED REVIEW!!!

Ever since I read the 1st edition of "Hello, My Name Is Awesome" last year, which was AMAZING, I've been addicted to learning more about how to come up with brand names that POP.

Alas, even after all of this time though, it seems like the "market" hasn't caught up. I still only found random "scientific hacks" and graphs about coming up with brand names. Nothing exciting. Just more soulless, hard to read/speak words. I was bummed out.

But when I heard the 2nd edition of "Hello, My Name Is Awesome" just published, I knew I had to jump on it ASAP. Even if all it was just extra examples, I would have been pumped.

The moment I opened it up, I was floored. Sequels are usually a hit or miss, but Alexandra hit a homerun.

The 2nd edition felt like an almost completely new book. It was updated with tons of new examples, the resources alone are worth thousands of dollars you would normally have to pay up in consulting, she revealed completely new ways of thinking about brand names, everything that was possibly missing in the 1st edition was covered in the 2nd edition, and way, way more.

It's already given me ideas for my next ecommerce business.

Long story short, if you already own the 1st edition, you NEED the 2nd edition.

If you don't own either, then what are you waiting for? :)

--
--
Recently, I started a premium men's activewear brand and was really having a hard time coming up with a brand name that would really POP in such a hyper-competitive field.

So I started Googling for every possible site on naming your business and I came across hundreds of articles. Unfortunately, 99.99% of all I found was useless. Then I heard about this book.

Once I got it and read it, I literally said to myself...

"I wish I read this book YEARS ago!"

It's not a big book at all, which I think is a plus.

Instead, it's a no-fluff guide to coming up with really awesome business names. Don't expect boring advice like adding "ly" or deleting vowels in your name like every other startup brand these days.

With this book, you'll come up with shocking and fun names that really make you feel something once you read them.

Apparently, the author is a former Ogilvy & Mather copywriter. So you're not going to get weird mathematical formulas either. She treats her brand names like she would a million dollar headline. It's all about emotions and being remembered.

That means amazing brand names, which there are many examples of inside this book. There are also tons of examples of what makes a bad name. Honestly, this could have been called "The Definitive Guide To Coming Up With Amazing Brand Names Fast", because it is. Of course, its current title is better.

With that said, I can't recommend this book enough.

If you're looking to come up with a new business name, there's no better resource.

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

Michael Scanzello

Fun And Informative

Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

Alexandra takes the cake here! She gives you her whole methodology from many years in the naming industry, I didn't even know that was a thing before I read this book! She gives you the rundown from basics to advanced naming for whole product lines, a slew of resources. Anyone looking to find an engaging name for a website, company, shoe, dog ( heck why not?) Should read this book. It's not only a great creativity book, it's a fun read to peek into a very specific industry I never knew existed! It's like stepping into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and shaking hands with the Umpa-Loompas, or at least tasting a Snossberry or two. Highly recommended to any person or company looking to stand out from the crowd and be unforgettable!

9 people found this helpful

Helpful

D. Linabury

Required reading for marketers and branding professionals

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

Even if you've been in the industry a while (Me, 20+ years), you'll find Alexandra's advice and techniques to be useful. This book covers both the strategic and tactical sides of naming, including better idea generation methods than you're probably use now. Quick read, too. Her writing style is as clean and simple and her brand names are. Highly recommended.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Maximus

The Best Book Ever for Brainstorming Brand Names. Seriously...

Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017

Verified Purchase

If you are a marketer, entrepreneur, or creator of any kind, you MUST BUY THIS BOOK. I have read gobs of books on branding and marketing. Alexandra Watkins has really done an amazing job of writing a book that sums up everything you need to come up with brand names that pack a punch. I have it handy at all times when brainstorming ideas. We used this book extensively when brainstorming names for our current company. Highly recommended!

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Info Source

Must-Read for All My Trademark Law Clients!

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2014

Verified Purchase

As a trademark (and patent) attorney with 25 years experience, I now insist that all my clients buy and read this book before picking another brand name. That means I no longer need to try to talk them out of lousy brand names, because in this book Alexandra educates them so clearly on how to pick awesome brand names. Even with my own decades of experience helping my clients pick and secure good brands, this book was full of surprises that changed the way I think (like not worrying about picking a second choice domain name for a first-choice brand). You know a book is great when your only complaint is that you wished for more. This has one very detailed case study in branding that is fascinating to follow, along with all the other lessons and examples.

Before you spend another $10 on a domain name, or over $1000 on a trademark registration, buy and read this book (order copies for everyone involved in your company's branding process, too).

24 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer

More suitable for the US market rather than UK

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

Having read many business and marketing books over the past few days this was my least favourite. I found it to be an 'all-over-the-place' format, some of the advice given isn't necessarily the best and much of the content isn't as applicable to the UK consumers, rather it is suited to US consumers who differ quite considerably. The names suggestions for the new company in Utah raised concerns when Cold Comfort was favoured in the list but surely this would have trade mark infringements on Southern Comfort (a very famous brand in the US)? Trade marking is discussed in detail in this book and is clearly seen as extremely important however I wouldn't suggest any small business/sole trader seeks to trade mark a new business name as soon as one is created as it costly and there are unregistered trademark rights in the UK.
It feels as if this book is aimed towards larger corporations and unfortunately as a sole trader/small business owner (in the UK) this book wouldn't be that suitable.

One person found this helpful

Glasgore

Handy little book to check in on when you're designing a brand

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2021

Verified Purchase

This is a good book to have, I heard Alexandria on the madebrave podcast, i really liked what she had to say and how she came across so i picked up this book.

It's really helpful as i am a student doing digital design at GCU, for a few projects now I've been tasked with branding a company and launching a mock product/event. While i already find this process to be really fun, Alexandria's book helps me see things in black and white and helps me refine my processes and really understand the why behind everything.

Recommend this to every design student in a similar boat and for anyone in marketing/advertising as it will help you dig a little deeper and hopefully come out with really clever and original ideas for your projects.

Dr D K Vladimirova

Very clever and extremely useful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2018

Verified Purchase

This book is a brilliant piece of work. I really liked the SMILE and SCRATH tests as they give you a nice way to quickly sense-check early ideas before you invest too much time and resources into a potential SCRATCH. The advice on purchasing domains is invaluable and can save you a a lot of stress and money if you are trying to buy an exact-word domain name. But what I personally found most useful was the creative brief template and worked-out example, which Alexandra generously provides in her book. I used the creative brief template to develop my own creative brief and it helped me streamline and focus my thinking on the core message. The questions are simple and clear and take you through a thorough process. The book is a very pleasurable read and you don't realise how much knowledge has been packed into a small package. It is a must read not just for naming projects but as part of your overall business acumen.

Phil Martin (Conxy app)

Worth 7 stars. Brilliant. Great advice, full of examples and entertaining.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 12, 2020

Verified Purchase

If you are looking to name something, except perhaps a baby, then this book should be your first port of call. It is concise, provides an excellent framework, is well structured, is full of examples and sparks the imagination.

I've read Alexandra's book, got her SMILE and SCRATCH test loaded in my mind, put my Creative Brief together (to name a new personal productively app I'm developing) and can't wait to get into the brainstorming part of the process. Let's hope I come up with a good name - no pressure.

Steven

Fantastic Book!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2020

Verified Purchase

I'm so glad I found this book! This book is a fantastic resource which is filled with fun and practical advice on how to name a business, product or service (basically anything actually!). I read the book in a day and it's packed with so much useful content. Alexandra has a real fun way of writing which also makes it a very enjoyable read.

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