Tanj

Only the Films You’ll Love

When the folks at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) introduced themselves to us as “complete film nerds,” we knew we had a fun challenge ahead of us.

TCM’s new streaming service, targeted at serious film lovers, is populated with a carefully curated collection of high-quality movies — including exclusive streaming access to The Criterion Collection.

We talked with our clients about all of the feelings associated with watching great films: utter delight, comfort, fun, connection, and more. And we all realized we had to capture these in the name.

After a broad naming exploration, TCM selected “FilmStruck.” Inspired by the construction of “awestruck,” “Moonstruck,” et cetera, the name elegantly expresses the feeling of being moved by a film. With the knowledge and enthusiasm of the film nerds at TCM, we have no doubt plenty of subscribers will soon be FilmStruck.

3 Little Letters, 100 Million Sales

Wii. You know that crazy little game console brand that shook up the gaming market? We like to think it’s because of the name. Members of our team created it, after all. But the truth is, the name was only one part of the brand’s success.

Nintendo’s vision for changing the face of gaming, the creation of a completely unique product, and a need to develop a brand that was as innovative as the product itself all led to the creation of the name “Wii.”

And what does “Wii” mean? The name was plucked from the English pronoun “we,” as in ‘we will play together,’ and lightly spun to give it a highly unique look and feel.

You Need an Ally

Let’s face it: banks don’t have the best reputations these days. For your average consumer, there is a general feeling of “us” against “them.”

Several years ago, GMAC Financial understood this and aimed to develop a different kind of brand for a different kind of bank.

Enter Ally Bank – a unique refreshing take on how banks operate and what they offer, with a uniquely refreshing name developed by members of the Tanj team.

The name “Ally” comes from the English noun “ally,” meaning a person or group that supports you for a common cause. By always doing the right thing, the company serves as a relentless ally for customers, empowering them to make smarter decisions about their financial lives.

Since renaming the company, Tanj has worked extensively with Ally to develop dozens of brand names for new products, services, features and more.

Just Veem It

When you’re a tech company that’s about to hit the big-time, you’ve got to be ready for the show. Great talent, solid software, plenty of funding – all a must.

And payments company Align Commerce had all that. They were prepped to change the clunky, outdated world of international payments, and with a recent round of funding, there was nothing standing in their way.

What they didn’t have was a name they liked…

“Align Commerce” wasn’t bad, but it didn’t say, “We’re about to change a global industry.” It was more generic and difficult to pronounce globally. Plus, they didn’t even do commerce anymore.

So we partnered with them to create a more powerful, telegraphic and highly unique global name.

The goal was to craft a name that was fast, sleek and short. Something people anywhere could adopt as a verb (“Google”, anyone?), and that didn’t require any inherit meaning because...

Make Your Move

Have you ever driven in New York City? You’ve got to dodge, weave, step on it and STOP… all before the light turns green.

Nissan had this in mind when they built the Juke crossover. It’s a sweet ride for navigating tricky streets safely and stylishly.

Members of our team helped develop the name “Juke.” And we think it is a really good fit since “juke” means “outmaneuver.”

Designed to look like a proud boxer from the outside, and feel like a jet-fighter cockpit inside, Juke lets you quickly carve up the toughest city streets.

Bravo for Bravia

Who doesn’t love a big flatscreen? The vivid colors, impressive picture and sheer size make you want to jump to your feet and belt ‘Bravo!’ for its amazing performance!

Well, maybe we’re exaggerating a teensy bit.

But TVs can be cool, and when members of our team developed the name “Bravia” to help Sony climb back to the top of a highly competitive flatscreen market, the goal was to create a name that spoke to high performance.

Hence “Bravia,” lightly coined from the word “bravo,” denoting a really good viewing experience.

Making the Best Coffee Naturally Better

Coffee-Mate is probably at 90% of coffee stations in offices and waiting rooms around the country. To continue its quest for global creamery domination, Nestle’s Coffee-Mate wanted to extend the brand into the wonderful world of all-natural real milk creamers.

We helped them get there by naming the new brand “Natural Bliss.” We think the name speaks for itself.

While it’s true that most of the folks at Tanj prefer a light splash of organic milk and no sugar in their daily joe, we have to say, Natural Bliss is quite dreamy. You should try it.

Lose Your Bank & Let’s Go

Changing the name of a business that has been around for more than 75 years is no easy feat. But this particular client truly embraced the challenge and went all-in on developing a whole new brand.

When we began working with this midwestern credit union, their name was MECU—a relic from their history as the Motorola Employees Credit Union. Having long outgrown that history, they were ready for a new name to better fit with their current and future status as a friendly credit union that is always by their members’ sides.

We renamed the credit union “andigo,” a coined name that gives a nod to the idea that “wherever I go, andigo is with me.” Next, we developed a tagline to go alongside the new name. The team decided on “Lose your bank & let’s go” to make a bold statement about what it means to be a credit union rather than a bank, to emphasize the “go” embedded in the name, and to serve as a clear call to...

Got What It Takes?

Mack, the iconic American Truck brand, recently launched a competition for its dealership services and parts pros. The event series, named ‘Mack Masters’ by Tanj, is designed to be a team-building and training opportunity that showcases each team’s awesome skill set. It’s also a fantastic opportunity to bring together and honor the pros who live, breathe and love the Mack brand.

You Need a New Haircut

DXB, a full-service creative and digital agency with offices in NYC and Romania, had a growing business, but one big challenge: the name ‘DXB’ lacked imagination or a clear message. Plus it didn’t stand out when pitted against agencies with similar names (think DDB, BBDO, JWT, SS+K, Y&R).

So the founders decided to bite the bullet and change the name before making significant investments in growing the business and the brand. After several in-depth discussions with our team, it became clear that DXB needed to break out of its shell with a fresh, bold name, that felt, quite frankly, a little crazy.

That’s where the name “New Haircut” came in. We created it to push the envelope, extend the boundaries of how current and future clients perceive them, and send a fun message about who they are and what they offer their clients. We hope the name serves them well, keeping the business flowing and growing.

Your Avenue to Invention

Several years back, OneSource, a business information services company, began revamping its entire product offering and brand to chart a new course for the future. Part of that task was to rename the company with a more distinct, ownable brand name (there are dozens of companies named OneSource inside and outside of technology) and a name that better reflected the value the company actually offers.

Through an extensive, collaborative process, we developed a variety of options for the client to consider. The final choice was “Avention,” which was lightly coined to position the company as an “avenue to invention.” As a name and concept, Avention steers the business away from being a simple source for information, and toward the idea that Avention tools, information and insights serve as a runway for business innovation.

Making Brick & Wonder

This one goes out to all our fellow architecture and design fiends.

Introducing Brick & Wonder, a cool new presence in the architecture and design community developed by our friends at Lang Architecture, who also created Hudson Woods.

This real estate destination, which is the antithesis of a Zillow- or Trulia-type platform, features a highly curated selection of amazing properties from all over the world, all of which are currently for sale.

In partnership with Studio Sanderson, we developed the general story behind the brand, as well as the name ‘Brick & Wonder,’ which is a tip of the hat to the musing put forth by famed architecture powerhouse Louis Kahn in his book Silence & Light.

The Science of Intuition

When Agilent, a global leader in designing and manufacturing scientific instruments, asked us to name their revolutionary new gas chromatography system, we said, “Sure! Wait, gas chromato-what?”

We immediately knew a very detailed kickoff would be essential in order to fully understand exactly what this instrument was and how it differed from earlier generations of gas chromatography (GC) systems. Fortunately, the whipsmart folks at Agilent were able to get us up to speed quickly, and we hit the ground running.

It quickly became obvious that they weren’t exaggerating when they called this new system “revolutionary.”

After deep exploration and vetting of hundreds of names, the team landed on the name Intuvo. The name suggests that this new GC instrument is intuitive to use, while also aligning nicely with messaging around intelligence. The simple structure of “Intuvo” works well linguistically across the globe...

Rise Up

Yeasts are eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom Fungi. But forget the science and think about how cool yeasts really are. They make all those baked goods you love possible.

Pakmaya, a leading brand of Turkish yeast and a true global powerhouse when it comes to these bubbling wonders, was expanding its operations in US. To better connect with US bakers and other B2B audiences, the company decided to rename the brand specifically for the North American market.

After an in-depth exploration of names, Pakmaya landed on “Bellarise.” The name is an elegant blend with European flair (“Bella,” meaning beautiful in Italian) and American pragmatism (“rise,” denoting the benefit of quality yeast).

Everyday, Every-way Wellness

Employee health packages are no longer just about annual check-ups and medications: they’re about everyday, every-way wellness. To ensure employees are able to live well and remain optimally productive, we need to approach wellness from all angles. And we need to encourage people to play an active role in their health.

That’s why Regence started Regence 360Me, a turnkey wellness program that puts employees in control of their own health.

360Me, the brand name we developed for Regence, says a lot in just five characters. It puts the employee — “Me” — in the driver’s seat, and suggests that the program provides a 360 degree approach to personal health and wellness.

We also worked with the client to create descriptive tier names to identify the three different versions of the program. It was important that the names not come across as ‘good, better, best,’ because the best solution for one employer may not be the best...

Shining Light on Risk

Risk is everywhere. Managing risk, especially in business, requires a 360-degree approach. And in infrastructure-related industries like energy, the consequences of not thinking critically about how to mitigate risk are tremendously high.

That is where Luminent comes in. Named by Tanj, the Luminent platform shines light on corporate risk within infrastructure-intensive industries. The platform automates the preparation of reports for pipelines, plants and other facilities to help workers more efficiently and effectively compile the right compliance information for proper legal review.

Better Data for Better Health

Imagine what’s possible when you tap into the power of the most comprehensive dataset in health – a trove of actionable, accurate information spanning nearly 1 in 3 Americans today?

With its new platform and brand, named AXIS by Tanj, BlueCross BlueShield offers analytics and insights on providers and procedures captured via more than 104 million patients. In turn, innovators and the medical community at large can leverage the AXIS dataset to gain a deeper understanding of how to improve decision-making and build tools that lead to better health for all.

AXIS, a short, classic sounding name, sends a clear, powerful message appropriate for this revolutionary brand, and aligns with the trusted BlueCross BlueShield name.

Building a Better Name

It’s tough to change the name of your business — especially when you’ve been going strong for ten years. But sometimes the moniker you’ve been going by just doesn’t jibe with who you are and what you do.

Such was the case with a recent client of ours. The folks at Big Builder Sourcing match top talent with leading home builders across the country. “Builder sourcing”? Accurate. But “big”? Well, they work with big builders, but also smaller ones — and they provide the same level of attention and knowledge to every client, no matter the size.

We renamed the company MatchBuilt to speak to the end result of successfully placing talent. Just as their clients build homes, MatchBuilt builds connections. The name is a great fit for the business today and is flexible enough to carry them into the future. It’s all about finding that perfect match.

My Iris Is The Key

Hate passwords? Like security? Have eyes? Well then Myris is for you.

As part of a larger strategy and identity project spearheaded by R/GA for Eyelock (they are pioneers of iris authentication technology) we named the sweet new personal identity verification device in the image above.

We called it Myris – from “my + iris” – since it takes video of your irises to let you access all of your important data without having to remember and type dozens of pesky usernames and passwords.

It’s great technology, highly useful and rapidly evolving. It was also named ‘Best in Show’ upon launch at CES 2014. Stay tuned for more from Eyelock and Myris.

Turning the Tables

Our friends at Venture86 – the brains behind an entirely new way for restaurants, distributors and manufacturers to buy and sell food – explained the situation to us in very clear terms:

The current way restaurants purchase food is old-school. Think pencils, paper, faxes and endless phone calls to distributors, all to keep their kitchens stocked every day.

That’s where TradingTable comes in. TradingTable is Venture86’s innovative B2B food service online marketplace that gives all parties – restaurants, distributors and manufacturers – the forum, tools, information and access they need to streamline their businesses and optimize how they buy and sell food.

We named it “TradingTable” to tell an effective, credible story about how the platform brings together all parties. Plus the accessible, memorable word choice works across cultures and languages, which is key in the restaurant business.

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