Nomen UK's Green Man

One of Nomen UK's greatest assets is its team of freelance creatives who produce the thousands of words, names and ideas from which Nomen creates their unique products. The creatives range from sixth-form students to retired advertising directors, from entrepreneurs to jobseekers. We have an artist, a novelist, an opera producer, a film director, a marketing manager, a quiz master, an archaeologist, a busker, a carer and many others.

Sometimes one of these extraordinary people does something extra extraordinary and we would like to celebrate one of these now.

Don Hardwick used to be one of the most respected creative minds in 'adland' until he retired some years ago. For the last twelve years, Don has been a volunteer warden with the Kent Wildlife Trust. A few weeks ago, he was given The Marsh Volunteer Award for Nature Conservation in association with The Kent Wildlife Trust Silver Butterfly Award. (The Marsh Family Trust funds a number of awards nationally, mostly for science and the arts.)

We are so proud of Don that it has rendered us speechless. Almost.

http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk

Dog day afternoon

What's the best way to celebrate the end of a challenging and exciting year? How about driving your company to the dogs?

Last month, a stream of taxis carrying staff, freelance creatives and assorted hangers-on set off from the Nomen UK offices to the local greyhound racing stadium. After one of those thank-you-and-well-done-everybody meetings in a rather plush boardroom with exceptionally decent biscuits, the day dissolved into almost uncontrollable fun.

A lengthy meal was interrupted at regular intervals as the lights went down and greyhounds hurtled around the track. No-one in our group made a profit, and the creatives spent much of the time commenting on the dogs' names, which they often felt could have been much improved by Nomen.

The picture shows Nomen Managing Director Emma Peto and former MD Paul Norman encouraging their chosen dogs. Neither won.

Modern versus traditional?

In an age of rebranding, repositioning and re-launches, it is interesting to note that one of the world's premier brands, Coca-Cola, has not materially changed its logo since 1885. For 124 years, the company has remained true to its design roots.






Meanwhile, as this graphic (courtesy of http://thedenveregotist.com/article/4689/enough-said) shows, its main rival Pepsi has made numerous changes. While Coke has "stayed still", Pepsi changed its look at least ten times since 1898 - most recently with a multi-million dollar rebranding exercise in 2008.



What do we conclude from this? Does the consistency of Coke's logo impress a sense of consistency, heritage and authenticity on Coke? Does it shout inner confidence? Do Pepsi's frequent changes suggest desperation, defensiveness or indecision? Or do they show dynamism and a modern outlook? Maybe it simply shows that such action is essential to maintain a defence against the all-conquering Coke.



All these views have their advocates, but it could also be said that the relative stability of their market shares over time shows that the consistency of the logo doesn't have a huge effect. Each company has a strong name that can either be dressed up in logos or not, and it is that which ultimately counts. If you don't have a name, you don't have a brand.

Naming a car with true character

When you hear a product name and immediately recognise the underlying brand, you know you're witnessing a highly effective naming strategy. That's how it is with a sports car beginning with the letter 'E': it's a Lotus. It has been so for decades and it was central to Nomen's brief to create a name for the first new Lotus model since the Elise in 1995.

But the strategy's longevity is a double-edged sword and presents two significant naming challenges. Firstly, a lot of the really good 'E'-words have been used, so it's harder to find the right one. Secondly, it is becoming increasingly difficult to effect a differentiation of the new model from the other names in the range.

This was particularly relevant in the case of the new car because, while it retains the agile, fun-to-drive feel of all Lotuses, it is a higher-specification addition to the range. The name needed to reflect this extra sophistication and modernity as well as the traditional Lotus sportiness.

Names come in all shapes and sizes and can even be custom-made. When a dictionary word does not suit, an invented name might be called for. This was the case for the new Lotus: the Evora.

The driving experience and personality of the car are reflected in the sophisticated-sounding name. The Evora is as visually elegant and technologically superior as the name implies.


So far the Evora has been a huge success and was crowned "Britain's Best Drivers' Car 2009" by Autocar magazine. The first car has been handed over to its new owner this month.

The trouble with words

The trouble with words is that they don't mean anything. People mean things - words are simply the form most commonly chosen by people to try to get their meaning into the mind of someone else.
But when I hear a word, do I hear the same as you? Consider a simple word like "green", or choose something a little more controversial, like the word "good". The word I say is not always what it seems... yet words tend to pass by unchallenged.

And so, as the average 21st Century verbal archaeologist (that's you!) tries to uncover the meaning of the words he stumbles across in his day-to-day adventures, it is not unusual that he may, from time to time, fall short of full understanding.

The problem is rooted in 3 things:

1. You can never know what I'm thinking and I can never know what you're thinking and, while my seemingly inoffensive usage of common words might lead you to thinking you did understand me, there really is no guarantee.
2. Every word I use has a meaning for me and a meaning for you. Given point (1) I can only assume that you mean the same thing as me.
3. We seem compelled to want to share our thinking and meaning.

And now enter the brand name. Since the advent of the industrial revolution and the beginning of consumer choice, the brand name has been an effort to bring meaning about a product, company or service into the mind of the would-be consumer. This meaning may be a simple description of what the product, company or service is, like "Green", or it could be something meant to illustrate some kind of value, like "Good".

Let's start with "Green": "green" like grass, or "green" with envy? "Green" like money or "green" like golf? You can see the problem for the consumer!

And what if the brand name was supposed to elicit a value, such as "Goodness"? Is that "good" like "OK", or "good" like "better than OK"? "Worthy", or "Godly"?

This is the challenge of the brand name: put letters together to create a name that transfers the meaning, description or value of a product, company or service into the mind of the consumer.

But words don't mean anything, people do.

And that's why you have brand-name specialists!

New name, new life?

Have you ever considered that your name could be controlling your life?

Scary as it seems, this may actually be true, as found in a study by Harari and McDavid (1973). Experienced teachers were asked to mark short essays by 11-year-olds who were identified by first name only. These first names were chosen to include four names that other teachers judged as attractive (David, Michael, Karen and Lisa) and four seen as unattractive (Elmer, Hubert, Bertha and Adelle). Although the same essays were matched with the different names, those with 'attractive' names scored a full grade above the essays with 'unattractive' names.

So what can you do about it?

For all you poor Elmers and Berthas, there is a solution to get you back in control - change your name. There are examples all over the world of people having their lives transformed by adopting a different name. Would Eminem have sold half as many records had he stuck with Marshall Mathers? Could Eldrick Woods ever attain the fame and popularity of Tiger?

Companies have also found new life by shedding their old names. Since Ofoto became Kodak, the online service has grown from 18 million to 25 million users, and the Norwich Union to Aviva switch is looking to be a similar success story. Nomen has been involved in many company rebranding projects where a new name was required, including Kalyx (previously UKDS), Thales (Thomson-CSF), and Aimia (Nichols Foods), to name a few.

Just goes to show: a rose by any other name does not necessarily smell as sweet.

A high-performance name for athletic swimwear

Names are often associated with superior specification and excellent performance, but it is rare that one becomes associated with gold medals. However, that seems certain to be the case with Speedo's LZR Racer bodysuit, named by Nomen.

Technical and aesthetic innovations were consciously built into the product in order to boost the athletes' confidence both in and out of the water and the name had to reinforce this. LZR Racer suggests speed and technology, and when the performance lives up to that promise (seventy-nine world records were beaten by athletes wearing the suit in 2008), then a virtuous circle is created. The name empowers the wearer to improve their performance beyond that of the product's advances.

But it doesn't end there. The name spreads the impact of this breakthrough beyond the target market of elite, world-class swimmers. For while you may not see anyone wearing this suit at your local pool, the synergy between Speedo and LZR Racer is such that both are singularly memorable and associated with each other.

A halo effect emerges that associates all Speedo products with superior performance. This in turn will increase demand across the range and move Speedo to the gold medal position on the sales podium as well as in competitive events.