Zodomatica Bits of Tzaddi’s Life

Explorations in branding

Recently I’ve been soul searching, reading, and seeking advice as I explore the possibilities of a brand for myself. I guess I’m living up to my name’s meanings of “meditation” and “fish-hook/drawing up from the unconscious”…

One book I’ve looked at is Bulldog: Spirit of the New Entrepreneur by Ellie Rubin. It’s dated now, and so far it’s quite focused on the Bulldog company she formed in the 90’s, but there’s some bits which resonate with me.
Rubin says

The new entrepreneur is someone who creates personal brands that represent what they stand for, not what business they are in.

Works for me, considering that I plan to get up to a number of creative pursuits alongside my web design. I’ve considered whether each pursuit needs it’s own brand, but decided that could be confusing for people, including myself. I think should have one overall brand that fits all the things I might get into, even though there are downsides to this approach as well.

Rubin then describes the process that led to their Bulldog name. Firstly she said

When in doubt, take a look around. Go on a journey.
We looked at all kinds of logos and company names that created a simple but powerful mood and image, and in some ways told a story. We also looked at people who… reflected a brand, in other words, who… had branded themselves as personalities and created equity in their own personal brands.

Then they came up with a shortlist of attributes they wanted their brand to have:

• in the depths of recession, they needed something that would communicate strength, determination, and tenacity
• a humorous element, something visually whimsical, because you should never take yourself too seriously
• a name that would span multiple businesses as they anticipated the coming changes in their market space (design, technology, and communications)
• they narrowed down to one word they wanted to be remembered for: attitude
• they wanted a name that would allow them to create memorable icons and visual branding.

Once they came up with the name Bulldog their challenge was to foster the attributes they wanted associated with the company name.

Coming up with my company name

I’ve been playing with words for a while now. I have a long list of words describing web design, creative pursuits, etc. etc. I bounce around at thesaurus.com and dictionary.com adding to the list. So far I’ve come up with two names that I liked for a while, but after sitting with them I’ve rejected the first and probably the second. Believe me, I’m starting to understand why some branding and naming gurus cost so much!

Actually, I’ve come up with a lot more names than two, but most are used or the domain name is unavailable/unsuitable…

If you have any personal branding stories or ideas to share, I’d love to hear them in the comments. If only I had a giant audience maybe I could crowdsource my new name

Posted: February 14th, 2008 under Design, Marketing.
Comments: 1

Comments

Previous post: « How to add Google Calendar to your website
Next post: BBC’s Planet Earth: wonderment and eyecandy »