Sometimes we are lucky – or not – to inherit a name, and it’s rare that this identity gets challenged.
The creation or merger of companies creates these introspective moments, allowing a collective reflection that forges a management team. It’s a beautiful exercise on the boundary between transformation and communication. And it’s one of the joys of my job: I have one foot in Kilt and the other in Talisker.
This should be easy!
The process is always seen as somewhat “secondary”: okay, we need a name, it’s just a name.
Then begins the consultants’ work: questioning, challenging, observing, and presenting a vision with perspective. This step is crucial—it lays the foundation for a discussion that will take us deep into the heart—and mind—of the organization.
Follow Nemo!
At this stage, everyone is roughly in agreement. Retract the periscope—we’re diving.
The navigation is complicated by underlying currents:
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The old and the modern: balancing tradition and respect for history with projection into the future and new markets. It’s almost impossible to find an identity that bridges this gap.
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The hall and the kitchen: weighing expertise and know-how against market expectations and target customers. This perspective is key: it decides whether the company leans more toward production or marketing.
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The ambitious and the grounded: does our name reflect who we are or who we want to be? Not everyone shares the same capacity for projection.
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Is the boss always right? Everyone has a sensitivity, a personal interpretation of the name, but hierarchy can stifle expression. Each member is torn between sharing their gut feeling—often unsupported—and following the boss’s opinion—or the general consensus.
The compass
The discussion goes in circles: “I like it,” “I don’t like it,” “It sounds old,” “It sounds like a car or a medicine.”
For those who read me regularly, the answer is always the same: the client!
What image do we want to convey to them?
How will they understand this name?
The tool to guide this is the brand platform. It allows us to explore identity from clear angles:
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Values = who we are
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Mission = what we do
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Style = how we do it
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Vision = where we’ll be tomorrow
Of course, it can be enriched as needed: purpose, value delivered, etc.
This “self-work” allows individual viewpoints to be confronted and structured, providing the angles that will guide the naming process—the final step.
Feel it!
The agency’s job is then to propose names along with their universe to express the connection with the previous work.
Company culture and market context are important inputs: not everyone will connect with Nike, nor with “Comtesse du Barry.”
Then comes the “fitting room” phase: the team tries them on and must feel comfortable wearing them.
And again, the client’s opinion when stepping out of the fitting room is useful. I said opinion, not validation: it’s your identity, your image, and you can’t please everyone!
