HP Naming Projects

Client: HP, The Charles Group

Project: Naming

Capabilities: Naming, Industry and Cultural Research, Competitive Audit, Copywriting, Brand Strategy

Working for a handful of agencies in my career, I’ve seen naming done a variety of different ways.

In one place, we’d assemble the entire creative team in the conference room and group brainstorm our way to the name options.

In another, we followed a rigorous multi-week process that involved mind maps, legal vetting, and as much research as the budget would allow for.

As someone who now leads naming projects, I lean rigorous, but with a heavy dose of reality. We don’t need to follow process for the sake of process. We follow process for the sake of the outcome. And if the outcome requires a process modification, we need to accommodate that. I call this being destination-driven and it has served me and my clients well.

While both under the HP umbrella, the two projects had vast number of differences:

very little stakeholder overlap

medium-sized budget vs smaller budget

existing service vs a new service

worldwide rollout vs regional launch

They also had some similaries:

Wanted to rely on the HP brand equity

Both were service oriented offerings

Needed to be straightforward enough to support a self-serve customer experience

Rigid commitment to one process would not allow me to deliver meaningful outcomes on both of these projects. I had to modify things slightly.

Develop Naming Criteria

Evaluate the Competitive and Cultural Landscape

Define the Audience

Craft the Positioning Options

Present Naming Options - Round One

Refined Naming Options - Shown in Context

Refined Naming Options - Designed

User Testing

Final Name

Develop Naming Criteria

Summarize Evaluate the Competitive and Cultural Landscape

Define the Audience Rely on Audience Assumptions

Craft the Positioning Options Rely on Existing Positioning

Present Naming Options - Round One

Refined Naming Options - Shown in Context

Refined Naming Options - Designed

Skip Straight to User Testing

Refined Naming Options Based on Testing

Another Round of User Testing

Final Name

While the above process descriptions may be somewhat interesting. Ultimately, the question you’re probably asking is, “What’s the best way to do it?”

I’ll answer this for two scenarios:

DIY. Trying to do naming in house? Follow the first process above. It’s the cleanest and clearest way to get from infinite possibilities to a single choice AND consensus at the end.

Hiring it out to an agency or freelancer. Looking to bring in an expert? Don’t settle for just seeing final naming results, ask them to explain their process. And then ask how that process changes from project to project. Compare their answers to my lists above. Are you the type of organization that values research and external testing? You may want an agency that knows how to elevate that part. Prefer to move fast and rely on assumptions? You’ll want to find an agency that spends extra time building internal consensus and knows how to generate creative ideas from less data.

But most of all, don’t hire agencies who sit in conference rooms and brainstorm!

Unfortunately I can’t yet reveal the final names from either project, but here are a few redacted screenshots taken along the way. You’ll see some of how we laid out the work, put it into context, and provided strategic rationale. Click on any of the images below to expand them.

One of these names will show up regionally in the HP app as well as in popular software programs. The other will appear globally everywhere that HP products are sold.

Don’t lose sight of the importance of the outcome. In most cases that isn’t actually the name chosen, it’s the internal consensus required to build alignment and start to drive momentum.

There are a lot of ways to do naming, but this also applies to most creative work. This is why I continue to insist we work in an opinion-based field. It’s less about the “right” way to do things and more about the “optimal for this specific situation based on my perspective” way. I know that’s a mouthful, but I do think it’s correct.

These two naming projects were just two of the many deliverables I was able to work on for HP with this scope through The Charles Group. TCG has been great to partner with and I highly recommend them to either clients or creatives.

While you can hire agencies who only do naming, I don’t think that’s necessarily the best route for most companies. It’s a great way to check the box, meaning to do the safe thing that won’t put your reputation on the line. And sometimes that’s needed. But other times a partner who is willing to modify the process with you is better. Someone who will get in the weeds, bring an outside perspective, and can speak to the broader implications of a decision.

My name is Derek and I write all kinds of things for businesses of all sizes in many different industries. Do you have a writing or strategy need? This is what I love to do.

Send me an email: derek@plain.run