Catchword

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a US Brand Manager at PwC. I manage naming and messaging efforts across all parts of the business to ensure the way we go to market is cohesive, consistent, and strategic.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catchword?

We engage Catchword primarily for descriptive naming projects, including B2B offerings for different parts of the business. I also work with them to create naming POVs to help reinforce our methods when deciding on names at PwC.

What were your goals for this project?

During naming projects, we hope to present names that meet our creative guidelines and sound appealing to stakeholders and their clients. For the naming POVs, we hope to rally people around the importance of descriptive naming through compelling explanations and real-world examples.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The engagement with Catchword began before I joined the team, so I am unsure of the selection process.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

For every naming project, Catchword joins the briefing calls with the stakeholders, and they ask a variety of questions that help them understand the strategic and creative parameters of the name. Their team spends 1–2 weeks generating names, which they send to us in an Excel file. Our team shortlists the ones we like, and Catchword screens those names for direct internal or external conflicts. Once we have a list of names to present, Catchword pulls the names into a presentation, complete with a recap of the initial briefing call as well as the strategic rationale for each name. Depending on the project, they may also join the presentation call and present the names themselves. Sometimes, a second round is required, and they'll run the second round of generation as well.

What was the team composition?

Mark (Principal/Project Lead, Catchword) and Laurel (Senior Strategist, Catchword) are our main points of contact. They work with a team that helps with name generation, but I haven’t met any of those members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Success is demonstrated when our clients are excited by the descriptive naming options that Catchword generates. This is often the case when it comes to our presentations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Catchword is very communicative throughout the process, so we always feel comfortable and confident that the projects are moving along smoothly on their end. They're quick to get in touch if they have any questions along the way, which ensures alignment between our teams and prevents any last-minute confusion. We've never had an issue with deadlines, as they're almost always able to flex and work with our timelines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What stands out the most is their ability to turn descriptive naming into something that our stakeholders can get excited about. They also create extensive lists of names after having thoroughly explored all angles of an offering's possible name.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they’ve been very successful so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the VP of Product for a startup diagnostics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catchword?

We hired Catchword to help our company rebrand and create a new name.

What were your goals for this project?

We set out to find a new name that reflected our company's mission, aspirations, and values.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I identified five potential vendors after sorting through personal referrals and Clutch reviews. Based on the vendor’s previous healthcare experience, naming process, quote, and apparent chemistry with my company, I chose Catchword.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The process began with an introductory call with one of their principals. I described our objectives for the project in great detail and provided the team with context about the nature of our company, what we were trying to achieve in the market, and additional information about our market landscape/competitors.

That was followed up by a formal project kick-off call where we explored the boundaries of what we were interested in. Three weeks later, the company presented a set of 10 names they liked most, along with 70 additional names they thought we might want to consider. There was also some follow-up work to determine trademark availability and explore certain naming themes more deeply.

What was the team composition?

I worked directly with their principal/project lead daily. This person was supported by 3–4 additional professionals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Catchword came up with a name that everyone on my team loved. The name came with high risk from a trademark standpoint, but we worked with our legal team and Catchword to find variants that kept the spirit of the name intact while reducing the risk of infringing on existing trademarks. It was an excellent outcome, and we’re moving forward with that name as the foundation of our rebranding effort.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was highly effective. It was clear that Catchword had done this countless times before, yet the process felt tailored to our needs and the branding considerations specific to the healthcare industry.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I found it very easy to work with the Catchword team. Their responsiveness to our feedback and requests was exceptional. Additionally, the creativity they showed in the breadth and depth of naming candidates was excellent.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, not that I experienced. I’ll definitely work with the Catchword team again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and creative director of Independent Design Agency. We primarily work with B2B and nonprofit clients in a range of industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

One of our clients hired us to create a brand, and they hired Catchword to create a name for the same business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catchword created hundreds of names throughout the process. They worked to produce ideas from scratch. The potential names fell into various categories that related to our branding efforts. Once the client narrowed down their selection to the best options, Catchword did the legal trademark searches to clear the choices for the final selection.

What is the team composition?

Mark (Principal, Catchword) was the lead on the project.

How did you come to work with Catchword?

The client partnered us together for the engagement, so we didn’t have a part in the selection process. We had heard of Catchword because they have a good reputation in the industry.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The client was thrilled with the name Catchword produced. The options were all terrific and aligned with the direction our branding efforts were going. The name was easy to create logos and other materials around, so we were delighted with the work they did.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Having a set schedule and specific deadlines made the project run smoothly. They delivered everything on time. Although some projects between naming and branding companies can feel separate, they included us in the process and kept us informed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Catchword showed a broad understanding of branding which is essential during naming efforts. They made the collaboration run efficiently and provided our client with a seamless experience. Their services brought value to the project as a whole.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything for them to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a new beverage manufacturer. We primarily specialize in alcohol-based beverages for the U.S. market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

We wanted the right name ahead of our brand launch. We knew what we wanted to convey and how we wanted to position ourselves, but we wanted help with the name.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After listening to us discuss our goals at an intake meeting, they came up with a broad spectrum of names based upon our product and our approach to the market. We were open to various naming inspirations, and they returned with quite an exhaustive list. From there, we pared down their recommendations to the brand name and a few potential names for future products. We have a host of other products in the works, so we plan to keep them engaged as we work through the naming process for those new goods.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one main collaborator.

How did you come to work with Catchword?

They were recommended to us. We worked with other marketing agencies in the past, but never an entity that was a dedicated naming company. A good name was crucial to our success, so we decided to give them a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent in the neighborhood of $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019 and took a couple of weeks to unveil the name. We have an ongoing contract with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We definitely got what we wanted. We feel very comfortable with this name, and they gave us everything we needed within a fairly short time frame. Everything flowed on schedule, and we feel good about the final deliverables.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was great, and the process was easy. They’re very approachable and easy to contact. They always made time for us. Our early meetings were in person, and the rest were via conference calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are experts in a very important aspect of branding, and they were great to work with. We enjoyed the people and their creative process, and they provided a far more exhaustive list of wonderful names than we could have come up with on our own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From our vantage point, I saw nothing they should improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for a publicly traded telecommunications company called Shentel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

We wanted to name a new division of our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially built a creative brief based on our theme and motivation. Ultimately, we went through three rounds of naming and reviewed over 150 options they generated for this division.  

What is the team composition?

A partner in the company is our main point of contact. He had additional teammates work on it, but my only interaction was with him.

How did you come to work with Catchword?

We found them through Clutch. Their website and their client roster set them apart from the other companies we considered.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $27,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from November 2018–January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We haven't rolled out the finished product, so we don't have any official statistics yet. Everyone on our internal team is pleased with their process and the names they generated.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. We primarily communicate through phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided immediate value throughout the discovery and development phases. They led us through multiple iterations, and their final outputs included a cursory trademark search.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any recommendations for improvements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any specific advice; they’re delightful to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m on the global brand team at PwC. It’s a global professional services firm that primarily provides accounting and consulting services. I work with our brand strategy group to manage a lot of projects that involve naming, messaging, and positioning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

We hired them to help with naming initiatives for two of our products—a global tax service and a global strategy consulting business. On both occasions, we needed to come up with a descriptive name that aligned with our brand parameters and pleased our internal stakeholders.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catchword was involved from the beginning of the naming initiative for the global tax service. We shared out requirements with them, and they held extensive interviews with our stakeholders. Together, they aligned on about three themes to anchor their creative process. Once they had a pretty firm grasp on what we were looking for, the team went off on their own to generate a collection of names.

We brought them in a bit later in the naming process for the global strategy consulting service. After giving them a short brief of the product, they quickly interviewed our stakeholders and went straight into the naming process.

Basically, all we had to do was tell them what we need, and they’d get it done. In both cases, we were working with groups of pretty tough stakeholders. Catchword was instrumental in helping us navigate those conversations. They made themselves available to help whenever we asked.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Mark (Principal and Project Lead, Catchword) and Laurel (Senior Strategist, Catchword).

How did you come to work with Catchword?

Another one of my colleagues at PwC found them, so I wasn’t involved in the sourcing process. We’ve continued to work with them over other providers because of their skills and professional approach to each project. Their creative work is very strong, and we really enjoy working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Both projects together cost a total of about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on these projects from August–December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

At the moment, we don’t have any concrete metrics. In terms of anecdotal evidence, both sets of internal stakeholders were ultimately happy with the names we decided to use for the products.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management skills were excellent. If there were any delays, it was caused by something on our end. They moved quickly and routinely delivered high-quality work. I never felt the need to double check any of their submissions for grammatical mistakes.

In addition to their top-notch customer service approach, Catchword has a lot of experience in the naming field. They follow a clear process, but remained flexible in accommodating all of our stakeholders’ feedback and requests. We never felt confined by their processes. I was comfortable working with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Naming projects can be a bit challenging because it can feel like a pretty subjective process, especially when dealing with stakeholders. Catchword’s extensive experience helped us establish a sense of credibility, bringing a professional and structured strategy to the naming process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of global marketing at a testing and certification company. We offer businesses and organizations an opportunity to test candidates and employees to set them up for the right career path.  We also help organizations select talent and develop leaders based on our assessments and reports.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

We needed a vendor to help us come up with names for the new products that we were going to launch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catchword helped us develop the names for our new products and rename the products we already had. (Some of our products needed renaming because they changed or their features were enhanced.)

The second phase of the project was refreshing the look and feel of our brand. Our business has grown so much over the past three years that we wanted to change our visual identity. Catchword came up with a tagline that describes our logo, so now people have a better idea of what our logo stands for.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with Catchword?

One of our team members recommended them. We looked at a couple of other agencies, and we decided that Catchword was the best fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between March–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We're happy with the names and the tagline. The feedback from our management has also been very positive.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept us up-to-date with everything, so I always knew what was going on with the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're committed and deliver on promises. They always met their deadlines.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of Good Characters. We specialize in Chinese naming.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Catchword?

We work with Catchword to serve clients who need Chinese versions of product, service, brand, and company names.

What were your goals for this project?

We want to craft great Chinese names.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I reached out to them in 2004 with a newsletter and a questionnaire. They provided valuable feedback. I visited them and sensed that they’re the type of people who are willing to help.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We've worked with them on quite a few naming projects. Each project typically starts with a brief. Catchword provides clear instructions. They let us know exactly what is expected and what we should do.

What was the team composition?

We mainly work with two members of their team, a senior strategist and the creative lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Working with Catchword allows us to do a better job because they have a deep understanding of their clients' goals. I'm always glad to have Catchword as a partner because we can expect our projects to go well. Working with them allows us to focus on what we do the best without worrying about other things.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Catchword is a great partner because they're easy to work with. They're very thorough. They communicate well whether in person, email, or over the phone. They provide good feedback so the project always run smoothly and efficiently.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'm most impressed by their friendliness and responsiveness. They’re smart, dedicated to their clients, and respectful of their partners.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of anything. They've been great; I wish more agencies were like them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the brand strategy function for a large consulting firm. I think about all things related to brand, such as naming, positioning, and messaging.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

We do a tremendous amount of naming each year for products, services, platforms, and internal programs. We’re a very lean team. I wanted to find an agency partner who could help us with both big and small naming projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Catchword functions as an extension of our team. Once a project comes in that we need to name, we'll let them know details such as if it’s a quick turnaround request. We'll get on a call and brief them on the details of the naming request. They frequently join calls with our stakeholders to help understand what we're naming and the criteria for the name. Then they go back and generate hundreds if not thousands of names. They work with our internal brand team to shortlist our favorite names. Catchword builds all of the naming presentations for stakeholders. We jointly present the strategic consideration and rationale for why we like the shortlist names.

Catchword also prescreens those names legally to look for any immediate and clear conflicts. Our internal legal team does the full legal clearing and trademarking. They also help us in some instances. For example, they help us with linguistic disaster tracking for large global products. They figure out if the name means something it shouldn't in a specified language.

What is the team composition?

We work with Mark (principal, Catchword) and Laurel (senior strategist, Catchword).

How did you come to work with Catchword?

Somebody at my company had worked with them in a prior role. He recommended I chat with Laurel. I spoke with her and it felt like a strong fit. We test drove them on one of our large naming projects. We were really impressed with the quality of the work.

How much have you invested with them?

I don't have the exact number but it's at least $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around November 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In 100% of the naming projects they've done, we've adopted and used the name they came up with. We may have gone through multiple rounds of names, but we've never had a project where they couldn't land the name. They're able to give us hundreds of options and variations. They give us many ways to convey the value proposition, which we wouldn't be able to do ourselves.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is awesome. I have such peace of mind in working with them. We're so busy, and managing naming projects is a pain. The reason why I've used them so much is because it's so easy to work with them. They're able to manage the process end-to-end. They're proactive in their communication so there's never a surprise. They're never behind schedule or unable to make a delivery date.

What keeps us coming back to Catchword is the ease of working with them. We've gone to them with quick turnaround requests where we need a name back in 48 hours. I’ve rarely heard them say no we can't do it. They find a way to make it work. There’s no barrier between our team and theirs, which is wonderful. They’re really upfront with us about what they can and can't do. It's become a trusted agency relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're really impressed with the conceptual flexibility in their naming. They're able to create great descriptive names, as well as names that are more coined and earnable. With other agencies, the names will tend to sound the same after a while. Catchword is able to come at the process with a combination of creativity and strategy. They want to understand how this name fits with other pieces of our portfolio. They really think about names as business and brand assets.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We're thinking about moving them to a retainer model. It's not that they could do better but that we want a more seamless integration of our relationship. I wish I could have somebody at Catchword on call at all times. We're not structured that way right now but that's what we’d like to see happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of Eggland's Best. We are a leading egg producer in the United States. We manage Eggland's Best as a brand, and we have several other complementary brands. I am in charge of our digital and marketing services, which includes packaging, branding, naming, and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Catchword?

One of our brands is introducing a new packaging concept that is a significant improvement over what we currently have. The challenge was to determine the best branding strategy for that packaging so that our customers still recognized our products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I cannot divulge too many details regarding the scope because the brand has not yet entered the marketplace. However, I can note that the deliverables were quite impressive and of a higher quality than we expected. They presented hundreds of options organized by quality and style, which was very helpful. There was some time sensitivity to this project, and we're satisfied with how they handled the timelines.

What is the team composition?

We met with various people, but Mark (Partner, Catchword) was our lead contact.

How did you come to work with Catchword?

Following an RFP process, we examined Catchword and several other firms in the branding and naming field. Based on the presentation and the examples of past work, we decided that Catchword would be the perfect partner for us. We appreciated how they addressed pricing and our introductory questions.

How much have you invested with them?

The overall cost was more than $25,000. We considered it a very competitive price.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement spanned June–October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The results of their work are not yet in the market, so I cannot report any kind of results or reaction. Internally, we are very pleased with their work.

How did Catchword perform from a project management standpoint?

They were supportive and communicative throughout the engagement. The quality and professionalism of their interaction was refreshing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Catchword team was thoroughly accessible. I always received quick responses when I had questions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I believe they accomplished all that we needed of them.