WANT Branding

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a leading consumer health company in the homecare industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We wanted to find a new name for our company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT developed a naming strategy briefing document. We went through 4–5 rounds to get to the right name.

We originally just hired them for naming services, but we were so impressed that we then engaged them to work on our logo and create a brand style guide. 

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with Jonathan (Founder) — he was very involved. Then, four other key people were involved. 

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

We did a lot of online research and looked at reviews, past clients, and portfolios. We did a pretty extensive RFP, and about five agencies participated. WANT clearly distinguished themselves as the best of the five.

How much have you invested with them?

Between the three projects, it was about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them around October 2020. It was about a three-month project.

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

We are just starting to do some marketing with the new brand. We have a complex stakeholder group that includes our investors and board of directors, and everyone is really happy with the name and logo. We have high internal alignment.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

WANT was excellent in this regard. The team was very collaborative and communicative, and they delivered on their key dates. We’re in the Bay Area of California and they’re in Florida, but they always made themselves available in our time. We did a lot of Zoom calls. They were always willing to jump on the phone if we needed to have a discussion.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise was impressive, as evidenced by their body of work, clientele, and portfolio. They had a lot of credibility, which was important to our stakeholders.

They were also really good listeners. WANT listened to the stakeholders’ feedback and always responded well to our requests.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. Even when we increased the scope of the project, they were very responsive and willing to work on weekends or holidays. Overall, I was very pleased with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Feel free to express your concerns. They were very flexible in terms of our project and willing to take on additional projects, so communicate what you’re happy or unhappy with — they’ll be very responsive.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the trade marketing director for Freixenet Mionetto. Our company sells sparkling wine.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We wanted to evaluate new product ideas.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Basically, the project involved research, insight, and strategy. We tested concepts with consumers through focus groups that gave us insights into potential new products. We also tested billboard and print ad campaigns with them.

What is the team composition?

I primarily communicated with two people from WANT but another two people also worked on the project.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

Other people in the company previously worked with WANT. They came recommended within the organization.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them in September 2014.

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

WANT’s research provided us with clear direction on the way forward for our new brand development. They did an amazing job.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via email and used PowerPoint for presentations. Their team was excellent. WANT was professional, thorough, and on time.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

There are lots of research firms in the market. However, few firms have bona fide brand strategy skills like WANT. Jonathan (Founder) personally moderated a lot of the focus groups. His interactions and conversations with consumers gave us a clear path for our brand’s direction. His involvement was exceptional and made a difference.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was honestly satisfied with their services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to clearly communicate and explain your goals for the research.  

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I worked with WANT Branding, I was the brand director at an international spirits importer and distributor.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We wanted to understand consumer perceptions of one our variants on a tequila brand I worked on. We hired WANT Branding to do customer surveys, interviews, and research to find out their perception of us and create something that captured what the consumers’ views were.

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT Branding did the customer research to gain insights on consumer behaviors and perceptions. They looked at our key markets and gave us a detailed report of all their findings and qualitative information, they also created a video that helped us communicate all of that to our senior management using a proprietary process. 

We then extended the scope of the project. They helped us with brand strategy and architecture. The team also worked with us to create a robust strategy to help us achieve our growth ambitions through line extensions. 

What is the team composition?

I interacted with Jonathan (Founder) and Bruno (Senior Director).

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

My former organization had had experience with WANT Branding. When I was working on this project, I realized that there had been a former relationship, but the person who worked with them was no longer at the company. 

So, I called Jonathan in and I liked his previous experience and accessibility. He approached the project in an entrepreneurial way, which we also liked. He was willing to add to the scope as needed. We chose them because of that flexibility.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $150,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from the end of 2011 to September or August 2012.

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

One of the line extensions we launched was the most successful in the segment for a new flavored tequila launch. We got instant distribution, 10% of the mother brand volume, which was great. We saw movement in our metrics and brand power during that year of about a couple of percentage points.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was excellent. That’s one of the reasons I liked them. WANT Branding was very responsive and quick to get back to us. Jonathan and Bruno were only a phone call away. They met their deadlines, and when I needed to push the deadline up, they were always able to meet it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

WANT Branding helped us run brainstorming sessions, and I was always impressed with the way Jonathan presented himself as a professional researcher and a great moderator. I learned a lot from him. WANT Branding went above and beyond the scope sometimes and provided value-added services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Focus on their brand strategy work. We started with customer research, but the bread and butter of the experience with them was brand strategy.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

When I was working with WANT Branding, I was the VP of Corporate Marketing at Quest Diagnostics. We were a publicly-held healthcare company with about $45 million in revenue.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We worked with WANT Branding for several projects, starting initially with a new product launch. Their role then evolved over time to include managing the whole brand architecture as we grew our product portfolio.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

WANT Branding helped us maintain our overarching brand architecture as we acquired various brands. Throughout our engagement, we’d acquired about 8–10 brands, which meant that our product portfolio grew into quite a hodgepodge. Their team was responsible for working on those product launches, leading naming projects, and growing our brand architecture.

It was great to work with Jonathan (Founder) and his team because we could give them a one-page brief, and they’d just run with it. They really guided us through the process.

WANT Branding was good at taking in the important parameters of our project, understanding the naming constructs used by our company and competitors, and then screening potential names from a trademark perspective. That way, we never got emotionally attached to a name that wouldn’t be a viable option.

From an organizational point of view, we had to work across over seven business lines, which meant there were lots of internal opinions. Coming up with a name wasn’t the hard part — the hard part was the organizational buy-in around a name or a strategy. Jonathan was a pro in making that process easy.

What is the team composition? 

Most of my contact was with Jonathan and Bruno (Director), but I’d also worked with others on their team.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

I found them through my professional network, but I don’t recall the specifics.

How much have you invested with them?

For our portfolio of work, it was around $200,000–$250,000, which I consider very affordable. A single product was close to about $25,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between 2008–2011, spanning multiple projects. It started out with naming a testing product and grew to the full naming architecture. After I left Quest Diagnostics, WANT Branding continued to work with my former marketing team because they’d impressed them, too.

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

I’ve worked with many partners, agencies, and consulting firms throughout my career, and WANT Branding is the best I’ve ever worked with. One of the hallmarks of a successful naming project is that you’re able to go from start to finish with a trademarkable name in a short period of time, without a lot of rework.

Jonathan and his team were pros at this — it was all super-fast. We could get naming projects done in about three rounds, even within our complex organizational matrix. They’d start with the high-level requirements to align on the strategic emphasis points before getting us to identify what we wanted the name to represent. From there, it was all about getting a broader direction and narrowing down until we reached the voting process and trademark application.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

They worked really well. I liked that I didn’t have to superficially manage them. If I gave them a one-page brief along with a timeline, they would execute the project while managing themselves and our team. That took a load off of our shoulders because there were a lot of other things that needed to be done.

It was really their ability to manage upward. They would communicate challenges, align on game plans, and let us know if they were having a tough time with the organizational buy-in. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing to highlight is a job well-done that was efficient, effective, and easy. It was just straightforward, and we got quality results. We never got cockamamy suggestions that were off the mark from the brief. Instead, they gave us a good game plan that was within our strike zone without a lot of struggle or effort.

Again, that organizational adoption piece was key. Naming can become emotional very quickly, so they did a great job of bringing us back to the principles so that we could get aligned on the decision-making process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any constructive criticism for them. I wouldn’t have re-employed them so many times if I had issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

People don’t always know what they’re getting into when entering a naming project. If it’s your first time, know that you can lean on WANT Branding to help guide you in developing that initial brief together. Having an open dialog about where your starting point is allows them to be in the best possible position to fill in the gaps. That way, you’ll have an effective idea of what you need to do and why, and there’s a higher probability of success.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a former founding partner of a partnership development company that worked with corporate brands, lifestyle brands, and celebrities.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

As we were getting started, we wanted to organize our brand positioning and messaging. We were doing a lot of different things, so we wanted our messaging to communicate that in a very distinct way.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focused on brand strategy, naming, and identity. We had a name but needed its meaning to be expressed with clarity in look, feel, and design. Additionally, they assisted with our work with a new client that was going through a merge. They created the new identity, design, and look of the newly merged company. 

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (CEO) and Bruno (Senior Director) were both involved. It was important for us to have senior members of the team supporting our team. There we other teammates staffed to the work as well.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

I found them through networking on LinkedIn. We vetted several agencies, but they stood out with their 

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we spent about $100,000.

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

They put us on the map, getting us a new key client. We also ended up with the resources to introduce potential clients to our brand with great confidence and conviction. They did an outstanding job.

Partner and investor feedback was outstanding, which is often difficult to achieve. The acceptance was an indicator that we had the right look and feel of a luxury lifestyle partnership company. People understood what we were doing, despite our relatively unique offerings in marketing and business development.  

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

Jonathan was willing to be very hands-on throughout the project, and it was great to have him engaged with his perspectives on our vision. He was on the front lines to help every step of the way. We met in-person regularly. They were always available, which impressed us. Our business was dynamic and changing, but they were able to adapt to that to deliver upon our expectations.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood our business well and gave us a platform to continue to grow. Their strategic and creative expertise makes them very unique. Their understanding and approach to brands in very holistic. They were involved in the feedback loop and were great to work with.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They did great work on all levels.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your own competitive analysis to understand where your brand fits into the market. Jonathan is impressive, engaging, and smart. He’ll help you through the process.  

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of FirstRoot, Inc. Our mission is to create the next generation of impact investors. Our unique go-to-market strategy supports all stakeholders as youth use participatory budgeting to invest real money in their schools.

Youth learn the 5 C's of modern education: creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and civics as they experience true agency and stewardship over their futures, learning through their own experiences how money really works.

We want to get $1K into 1M schools globally and watch what happens when youth control $1B in capital.

For what projects/services did your company hire WANT Branding?

Our original name was Tilliden, Inc. It was a lovely name - but it had some significant challenges. A company in the financial services sector had a potentially similar name, it was close to the spelling of a German opiate, and while the name resonated with Europeans it didn't resonate with a global market.

We needed a new name that was easy to say, easy to spell, was available, and conveyed our brand values of trust, optimism, and growth.

What were your goals for this project?

Simple: create a new name that is easy to say, easy to spell, available, and conveyed our brand values of trust, optimism, and growth.

How did you select WANT Branding?

WANT Branding was recommended by our marketing partner. We interviewed their principals and decided that they fit. We work on trust, so we did NOT enter a competitive review process. Instead, we relied on the very strong and positive recommendation from our marketing partner to hire WANT.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

WANT guided us through a very through, multi-step process. What impressed me the most the very significant investment that the WANT team made in reviewing a tremendous amount of background material on our company and our process.

I've been working in this space for more than decade. I've written articles, books, given keynotes, and produced hundreds of events. The WANT Branding team really dug into this past and used it to create the foundation of a brighter future.

What was the team composition?

WANT put together a five-person, multi-faceted team that included the head of the agency. Working with our own internal design team, our marketing agency, and my leadership team, we all benefitted from WANTs' leadership.

They ensured the team was stable throughout the project - a great benefit when dealing with such an important topic.

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

We changed our name from TIlliden to FirstRoot. We're a startup, so we don't have a lot of metrics to share. But that's OK - we needed the foundation provided by the new name.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The WANT team was incredibly crisp and effective at all aspects of project management.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The discipline to follow a proven problem-solving process.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of brand marketing for Time Warner Cable.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We were challenged with bringing together a number of different product and business lines. We had TV, internet, and were introducing phones, but they each had different brands, meanings, and offerings. So, we needed a partner that could focus on our brand strategy and naming platform for our diverse portfolio.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to inventory everything we were trying to sell to consumers. WANT Branding was tasked with cleaning up some these offerings by aligning all of our different product names. Sometimes that meant getting rid of older brand names so there was less clutter. They also did ad hoc product naming tasks and helped us brainstorm new names. Now they’re our branding and naming agency of record.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–4 people. Our primary contact was Jonathan (Founder).

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

One of our VPs a the time worked with them on another naming project in the past so we asked them for an RFP. We considered 3–4 other agencies, but we were impressed by WANT Branding’s work.

How much have you invested with them?

Our retainer was about $45,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from February 2011–November 2012.

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

Their impact became apparent right away. Now all of our brand names are very cohesive and tie together.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very professional and managed the project well. They always went above and beyond and were proactive, so they were great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They thought strategically and came up with interesting names that were right on target. Everything that they came up with was strong, likable, and on-brand. They consistently met our expectations. They dove into our business to figure out what made sense for our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they were fabulous.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No matter how big or small the clients they work with are, they’re very flexible and are committed to finding a solution that meets their specific needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of customer engagement and insights for Summit Hills Foods, formerly Southeastern Mills. Founded in 1941, we’re a family-owned food and ingredient manufacturer supplying retail, industrial, and foodservice industries.  

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

Our name, Southeastern Mills, was very regionally focused, but, over the last few years, we’ve really changed how our business work and have grown to accommodate a global customer base. We’ve also changed our product portfolio through acquisition and divestiture. We no longer milled flour and were no longer focused in the southeastern US. We needed to completely reframe who we were through our name so we could poise ourselves for growth in the future.

What was the scope of their involvement?

 Our goal was to completely change our name. We’re very driven by our company culture, so we had some unique demands. They interviewed our leadership team and some of our shareholders, but because of our culture, they also met with multiple employee groups to hear about why they work with us and what makes us special. We didn’t want to lose our culture, so WANT Branding really needed to understand the core tenets we built our business on.

They helped us build a stronger foundation for our culture by creating brand building blocks and a manifesto to go along with the new name.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a principal, a project manager, and three creatives. Collectively, we work with about six different people.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

We asked our peers in the agency for recommendations. After looking at WANT Branding’s website, we looked at their Clutch profile. It helped that they were the number one agency for rebranding on Clutch; they really stood out. Once they came in to deliver our RFP, they acted the most like a partner and it seemed like they understood our needs as a smaller company.

They were flexible with how we worked, and it didn’t seem like they were going to replicate a structure they’ve used with thousands of other companies before. It felt like a personal, customized process.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in May 2019 and wrapped up in September 2020.

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

Our new name has been so well-received by our internal employees, which was our biggest goal. Several of our employees have worked with us for decades, so we wanted to make sure they were on board.

Specifically, the manifesto that WANT Branding gave us provided us with the language to easily communicate why this change was critical in 2020. We were able to use the language they gave us in our style guide and create a video to launch the new name when we couldn’t be together. It also helped us create a press release, which helped our customers get on board faster.

As a result, it has been a seamless transition. Our oldest customers loved hearing about why we changed our name and what it means.

WANT Branding was thoughtful and considerate throughout the project. They helped us discover even more about ourselves to really solidify the core of who we were and gave us a better way to communicate that to our customers.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

The project took so long because COVID-19 threw a wrench in everyone’s plans. We filed the patent and trademark in November of 2019, but we didn’t hear back until July 2020. We were very nervous about doing anything without confirming that we were going to be able to own the trademark.

WANT Branding was so flexible with us and paused part of our process so we were only paying our retainer during the months where we were actually receiving service. They were so understanding about things outside of our control. They were clearly dedicated to serving us and completing our project in the best way possible.

Even with all those hurdles, they did great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We respected that WANT Branding’s principal was dedicated to being involved throughout the project. During the RFP, we knew that most of the agency leaders we spoke with at other companies would disappear. Jonathan (Founder) was in town for the meetings, spent time in our facility, and spoke face-to-face with all of our stakeholders and employees. For us, that means the world. We’re a small company, but we were treated like every aspect of our project was as important as a much larger company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

All of the issues we faced were external; they did a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Lay your expectations out clearly on the front end. They are great listeners and they are there to help facilitate a process. But you have to make sure you know what you're expecting at each step of the way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a trade association that represents the natural gas and oil industry. I’m a research lead for the organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We went into it merely thinking we needed a new logo. Our old one had been in use for 15 years or so. In the course of putting out RFPs to different firms, we realized that the scope was broader than logo design and that we needed to develop a new brand story and visual identity. That’s what they ended up working on.

What was the scope of their involvement?

WANT Branding first went through a discovery phase, where they talked to us about what we were looking for. They then turned to external stakeholders, including member companies and external audiences we interface with to get a sense of what our organization is from their perspective. 

They also made an overview of our organization and an extensive brand search across member and non-member companies, so that we wouldn’t end up with a logo or brand identity that conflicted. They even did a broader search within the energy and environmental space to see what sorts of brands were out there.

Having made that assessment, WANT Branding came back with a comprehensive and on-the-money brand story covering what our staff and external people thought our company was and where it was headed.

That was then helpful in creating the identity and logo. To wrap things up, the team built brand guidelines that allowed us to maintain that identity in years to come. 

What is the team composition?

Jonathan (Founder) was the lead and our main point of contact. Robert (Director) was helpful in developing the brand stories. Some of their teammates did the research at the very beginning of the process, and we worked with 3–4 of their designers on the logo and collateral around it.

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

I was charged with doing an assessment of who out there might be able to help us. I don’t remember if I first came upon WANT Branding via a Clutch review, but I came across the site early in the process.

I saw them mentioned elsewhere as well. I was doing a literature search of potential candidates, and we sent an RFP to around 10 firms. 

We received four responses that were interesting and worth considering, and WANT Branding was definitely superior to the others we considered — everything from having a competitive cost to their holistic scope of work. We felt that the team they had would serve us right.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2019. The core project ended in December of that year, but they could’ve done it quicker if we’d moved quicker. They gave us some additional assistance with rolling out the brand guidelines in January 2020.

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

Our measure of success was anecdotal feedback from our own staff, member companies, and external stakeholders. People across the board were pleased with the logo and branding we rolled out. We didn’t do a huge, elaborate rollout, because we’re not a consumer products entity. 

We particularly didn’t feel like doing one after COVID and all the events in March 2020. In using our new logo and bringing member companies on board with it, we got very good reviews all the way up to the board level. People were very pleased with what we came up with.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

WANT Branding was nimble and recognized that they would have to talk to our member companies, different committees, etc. They were very helpful in supplying us the information to carry forward to the different audiences. They were willing to assist when we needed tweaks or other possibilities. 

I give them top marks for project management. They kept us on track as best as they could, and any delays and missed meetings were on our end. I appreciated their perseverance and willingness to do what we needed to do even over weekends, to be prepared for Monday-morning meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their strategic vision. We went into it thinking we just needed a logo, although we realized there was more to it than just art design even before bringing WANT Branding in. We appreciated their ability to work with us and make us see the bigger picture and bring it to life.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were quite pleased across the board.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would suggest talking to Jonathan and, if at all possible with the limited travel these days, having him come in and discuss the project. He brings a lot to the table.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is a Fortune 50 technology service company. I’m the diversity and inclusion global marketing lead. 

What challenge were you trying to address with WANT Branding?

We’d hired WANT Branding to help us rebrand a foundational learning program around unconscious bias and privilege.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had an introductory call with Jonathan (Founder) and about five of his team members, during which they explained their process in great detail. Then, we had calls between some of our program’s stakeholder owners and the WANT team, so that they could understand what the program was going to consist of and why it needed a new name. 

We went through three rounds of possible names to use for the launch of the program. They proposed different names, suggestions, and approaches to our working group. The final deliverable was a name.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with Jonathan and two other individuals. 

How did you come to work with WANT Branding?

As an organization, we’ve used them in the past. One of my peers recently used them for another naming project, so they came highly recommended internally. We didn’t consider other organizations when scoping this project.

How much have you invested with them?

It was under $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project went from May–August 2020.

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

Our chief diversity officer and his team were highly involved in the project, as this falls within the D&I department. They were very pleased with their process as well as the team’s professionalism. We were more focused on that in terms of results, rather than metrics.

How did WANT Branding perform from a project management standpoint?

They adhered to deadlines, even to the point that they were waiting on us at some points in the process. We had some internal changes, and WANT was very patient with us as we moved through those. They were very communicative. They built in prior reviews with me to ensure the process would go smoothly in front of the bigger team. All in all, it went really well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge was impressive, as was their portfolio. They’ve obviously worked with very large, reputable organizations and created quite well-known brands. I’d say that’s their strongest selling point.

They were very good about communication, as well as follow-up and follow-through. They were very professional during our team meetings with the full group. They were open and willing to listen to feedback or concerns that arose during those sessions. They really took that feedback to heart and came back with a solution during the next round.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’d say the process went well overall. There’s nothing I’d improve upon.

Any advice for potential customers?

Being new to the naming process myself, I’d suggest being prepared and asking questions about the process so that you’re clear on how they work right away. It took me a second to catch up, which I attribute to my lack of experience in this field. I didn’t realize how important names are or how they’re actually created. Be prepared to ask lots of questions, and the WANT team will be more than happy to walk you through them.