Portfolio Highlights

A software company formed by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and programming whiz Justin Rosenstein is clearly not ordinary. So, the company’s name also needed to stand out from the IT herd.

Asana, a Sanskrit word conveying “yoga pose,” reflects the founders’ love of yoga and their quest for focus, flow, and clarity. It’s also an apt name for the company’s productivity platform, which enables team members to manage complex projects smoothly.

In 2015, Asana announced 100% year-on-year growth, with 140,000 companies using its platform to generate annual recurring revenue in the tens of millions. Namaste.

The margin for error was slim with these wireless fitness trackers. Successful names would have to be short enough to fit on the small devices, and match the snappiness of the mother brand. In addition, the names would need to fit within a larger portfolio of related products and still telegraph each product’s distinguishing features. For Fitbit’s entry-level device, Zip was in the zone, followed by One, which unifies data on exercise, calories burned, and sleep. Next came Flex, Fitbit’s first wristband, and finally Force, a fitness wristband to be reckoned with. All single syllable, all evocative, and all tied together by a common construction—a naming convention was born.

Volkswagen has some of the auto industry’s most iconic (and distinctive) cars and car names, from the Beetle to the Touareg. So we were excited when they called on us to name their sturdy 7-seat SUV, codenamed “CrossBlue.” Working with VW’s US, German and Chinese marketing teams, Catchword explored a broad range of messaging themes, and developed over 2500 name candidates. The global nature of the project meant we also carried out linguistic and cultural screening in 19 different languages, including Min Nan and Kejia Chinese. Atlas, the name VW decided to adopt, reinforces the vehicle’s size and strength and implies a titan among SUVs.

From the moment we heard about this online movie service, it had us under its spell. Users can instantly stream an almost infinite library of HD movies on demand—as well as new releases—directly to their Xbox 360®, PlayStation® 3, Blu-ray™ player, HDTV, iPad®, or computer. And the crispness of the definition and richness of the surround sound makes Vudu little short of … well, voodoo.

Made with green coffee extract and fruit juices, Starbucks’ line of sparkling cold beverages packs a natural, revitalizing punch. The name Refreshers conveys that, without veering into the high-octane territory of energy drinks. And it’s inclusive enough to encompass handcrafted in-store beverages, sparkling canned product, and VIA instant packets. Try some and find out what all the buzz is about.

Intel’s innovations pretty much define modern computers, so when they asked us to name a technology that would revolutionize memory, we knew this wouldn’t be a routine software-update-naming project. Deploying 3D XPoint technology, Intel’s next-generation memory combines the plasticity and speed of RAM with the resilience and dependability of hard-drive memory. The name Optane—coined from octane, obtain, and optimum—conjures acquisition of blazing fast speed and the optimization of hardware, from personal laptops to servers.

Unlike competitors’ products, Netforts’ technology could target unsuspected flaws in network security before they caused problems. And Netforts wanted a new company name (and exact dot-com domain) that played to this prescient proactivity. The Eye of Fire is an ancient Germanic rune that gave its goddess omniscience: nothing was ever hidden from her. An apt metaphor for this technology. The company went public in 2013 and has grown ever since, acquiring six companies and playing a significant role in detecting high-profile vulnerabilities at Microsoft, Facebook, and other major corporations.

SportsEngine, Inc., a division of NBC Sports Group, provides software solutions and mobile applications for 23,000 youth sports organizations and is used by 15 million athletes annually. The company needed a name for its all-in-one class-management software for studios providing such disciplines as gymnastics, dance, and martial arts. The new name needed to express the brand’s approachability and enthusiasm, and be instantly understood by studio owners, parents, and students. GoMotion makes it easy to manage activity classes, registration, payments, and more on the go.

In 2014, Elance and oDesk, the two largest online platforms for connecting clients and freelance workers, decided to merge to better provide international services with their combined resources. They realized they could maximize impact by developing a new, unified brand. They called on Catchword to develop a new name that would capture their vision and inspire their global community of millions of independent professionals and the businesses hiring them. Upwork—the company’s new name as of May 2015—is as innovative and impactful as the company itself. The name invites you to reimagine how work happens today and suggests that the best talent is always up to the task.

NOTE: Upwork was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 10 best new company names of 2015! See here.

The Attain by Aetna app is a first-of-its-kind health experience designed in collaboration with Apple. It combines a member’s health history with their Apple Watch® activity to provide personalized goals, achievable actions, and big rewards—like an Apple Watch or gift cards from popular retailers. The name Attain, which is conveniently alliterative with “Aetna,” possesses a slightly techy tonality and speaks to reaching and realizing health goals.

Transform Award Winner – Best Naming Strategy

Not so long ago, potato chips were always on a first name basis with the deep fryer. A delicious but greasy and caloric affair. But in 2006—pop!—along came a new snack brand, offering consumers a healthy and tasty alternative: potatoes are heated in a pressurized chamber and quickly released to “pop” them out. Catchword assisted Addis in developing the name Popchips, perfectly capturing the excitement and distinctiveness of this category-popping product.

Agari was founded by the thought leaders behind Cisco’s IronPort solution and co-founders of the DMARC standard for email authentication. Using predictive AI informed by global intelligence from about 2 trillion emails annually, the company protects organizations against phishing, account takeover, and other advanced email threats. Agari, meaning “rise” and “advance” in Japanese, suggests technical advances and the start of a bright new day in cybersecurity.

FoxNext created an interactive, role-playing video game series, where every choice you make transforms your story, and turned to Catchword to name the series and two of its lead titles. For the series, we recommended Storyscape, which suggests the expansive, immersive nature of each narrative adventure. For the first game, about an ancient city of power-hungry factions, magic, and secrets, we recommended Eternal City, which evokes continuous play and a mystic, age-old metropolis. For the second game, in which you chuck it all and start over with a new city, new job, and new lovers, we recommended Life 2.0.

When Corning developed a revolutionary container for the storage and delivery of drugs, they tapped Catchword to name it. Valor reduces contamination, enables faster filling operations, and resists damage and breakage – with 30 times more protection against cracks than conventional glass vials. This super glass container means more reliable access to essential medicines, with potentially life-saving results. Valor nobly expresses these heroic qualities.

Corning has engaged Catchword to name numerous technologies and businesses, including Fibrance, an innovative light-diffusing fiber that you can bend, curve, and wrap around almost anything, while maintaining bright, beautiful, and uniform light. It enables decorative lighting to be designed or embedded into tight or small places where other bulky lighting elements cannot fit. Fibrance, a coining of fiber and vibrance, quickly telegraphs the product’s key attributes and benefits.

Corning developed a revolutionary fiber-optic technology that maximizes flexibility, and they wanted a name that sounded friendly, without using literal words like fiber and flex. We explored hundreds of evocative and metaphoric names, as well as more descriptive names. Not only does this fairly intuitive name clearly evoke bending, it also calls to mind the clarity of glass and light.

How do you improve on a world-famous brand of photo-editing software? Adobe gave us the challenge of naming their smaller-lighter-friendlier version of Photoshop. It had to sound just as good as the classic app, while conveying that it was a product for non-professionals. The Elements name has since been extended to several other Adobe products, including Acrobat and Premiere.

Unlike most of the leading blended iced coffee drinks, Peet’s Coffee’s new line would be hand-made with freshly brewed East African roasts. The company had spent a year conducting research and optimizing recipes, and Catchword set out to develop a name with equal rigor (though quite a bit faster). Peet’s and Catchword agreed the name should convey the premium quality, flavor, and exhilaration of these icy refreshments, as well as Peet’s unique personality and unwavering commitment to freshness. The name Javiva was made to order. Long live freshly brewed java!

The Javiva line launched in March 2015 to rave reviews. And by June of 2015, the beverage had outperformed Peet’s previous blended drink by 67 percent in sales.

Wells Fargo’s launch of this secure online storage service was a big deal, and the product name needed to have impact. It also needed to be reasonably transparent. So how did we infuse this vault-like product (not the sexiest of images) with some life? vSafe (for virtual safe) was not only descriptive; it also sounded like “be safe.” A fitting rallying cry.

What do you call a super-creamy, super-premium ice cream with unique flavor combinations and a yum factor almost beyond description? That was the question put to us by Dreyer’s when we were tasked with naming their decadent new line of ice creams. Many names later, Dreyer’s had their answer. And ice cream lovers had their dream come true. We just wish the project had lasted long enough for some extended, um, field research.

The strategy consultants who started The Bridgespan Group took a cut in pay to do so; they truly wanted to make the world a better place. Bridge spoke to their desire to serve as a bridge connecting nonprofits to the private sector, while span referred to their flexibility and breadth of services. This simple naming solution also lent itself to a powerful logo and identity.

When Agilent spun off its electronic test and measurement division into an independent company, they needed a name that would showcase the new company’s solution-driven approach. Keysight spoke to a key benefit: solutions that unlock the critical insights needed to understand the changing technology landscape and solve thorny engineering problems when designing and manufacturing electronic products and systems. And the name’s authoritative, no-nonsense tone suggests a company that helps you cut to the heart of the matter and get the job done. Fast.

Spalding had invented an in-ball micro pump that kept balls inflated without changing their weight or balance. (How cool is that?) Rather than naming each type of sports ball, we suggested creating an ingredient brand name for the technology. After Infusion’s introduction, Spalding’s market share doubled and unit sales of Infusion balls topped one million in the first year alone. We were as pumped as Spalding.

Messaging directions and stylistic preferences are of course critical to developing a name for any product, but when it comes to foods and beverages there’s nothing more helpful than actually experiencing the new comestibles. And, when Catchword first sampled Gordon Dessert’s new line of mochi (a delectable combination of premium ice cream and other tasty ingredients wrapped in sticky rice dough), we knew we were naming a truly category re-defining confectionary. A play on okey-dokey, Mochidoki makes use of the product descriptor in a fun and playful way, all while recalling the product’s Asian roots and sounding bite-sized and delicious.

Canon was developing a ground-breaking line of high-speed, Wi-Fi–enabled inkjet business printers for small offices that could handle printing from PCs, smartphones, tablets, and cloud services. Maxify says it all: Maximum access, maximum convenience, maximum Wi-Fi.

Ahold’s U.S. supermarkets (including Giant Food and Stop & Shop) sold more than 500 natural and organic products ranging from chips and salsa to pasta sauce and peanut butter. They challenged us to create a distinctive name that would quickly communicate the health benefits and general deliciousness of the entire line. Ultimately, we landed on a name that let nature do all the heavy lifting.

Anoto needed a name for its amazing smartpen, which could capture anything written by hand, as well as perform calculations, record audio, translate words, play music, and cook dinner. (Okay, everything but the dinner part.) The new name had to embrace all of these features, convey a next-generation writing implement, and also work as a company name. Livescribe hit the mark.

Director Vicki Abeles wanted to ignite a national conversation with her documentary about the pressures faced by American schoolchildren, and their steep cost. She asked us to create a title and tagline that would get people talking. Sounding overly preachy or tragic would be a turnoff; the key was to suggest a gripping story. Our solution, Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture, got attention. The New York Times dubbed the film “a must-see,” and screenings around the country helped launch a grassroots movement.

This health insurance start-up told us that they knew what was wrong with healthcare and how to fix it. By using data models, applications, and operations software, Clover seeks to realign the insurers, patients, and providers into a more efficient system that leads to better health outcomes for the most vulnerable individuals, specifically elderly and lower-income populations. The name Clover conveys the harmony and simplicity of a fully aligned healthcare system. We feel lucky to have found it for them.

Gymboree hired Catchword to help launch their new retail stores and fun line of kids’ clothes. The new name had to appeal to kids and their parents AND be available as an exact .com. After going through umpteen domain name searches (actually, the number was a lot higher) and domain name brokering, we landed on a brand name and URL that’s fun for the whole family. Crazy 8 fits every kind of kid, 8 days a week, even your own little wild card. In 2019, after 12 years with Gymboree, the brand was acquired by Children’s Place.

AknaDx had developed a simple blood test to predict a pregnant woman’s risk of giving birth prematurely, creating an affordable, non-invasive diagnostic for expectant mothers. But the techy name AknaDx lacked the warmth and humanity of the company’s reason for being. Mirvie is a rich coining that draws on several Romance languages: Mira means “objective” in Italian, “purpose” or “look!” in Spanish, and the feminine form of “wonderful” in Latin. Vie is “life” in French and “means” or “paths” in Italian. Mirvie suggests the wonder of pregnancy, a means to your objective, and life-saving, targeted insights.

Boston-based VC firm IDG Ventures wanted a more casual and compelling name that reflected their core competency: partnering with entrepreneurs to build exceptional companies. After generating 3,000+ names, we landed on Flybridge. The name refers to the area above a ship’s pilothouse with a duplicate set of steering controls. It spoke to the company’s commitment to helping to guide their portfolio firms in a complementary way.

Over the years, McDonald’s has engaged Catchword on a variety of naming related initiatives. From McCafé naming strategy and architecture development to dressing up a burger with just the right name. On this occasion, one of Catchword’s names was selected for the Golden Arches’ new grilled chicken sandwich: a perfectly seasoned and seared fillet lovingly prepared with a light vinaigrette and combined with McDonald’s new hand-crafted roll. A culinary work of art(isan).

Most folks may be unaware that Clorox has sold healthcare products directly to hospitals for years. When this expertise inspired a top quality line of caregiving products available directly to consumers for use at home, the company wanted a name that spoke to nurturing and healing but also carried the gravitas of serious, hospital-grade service. That’s when Clorox CareConcepts was born—a gentle yet trustworthy name conveying the quality care of hospitals, now available at home.

We’ve named tons of educational games for LeapFrog over the years, and it always brings out the kid in us. No exception here. This high-energy learning system, co-branded with Disney, was designed for preschoolers, and used full-body movement (dancing, hopping, jumping, playing) to drive learning. The product name needed to be lively, suggest movement, and appeal to little ones. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, what a wonderful name!

The Silicon Valley office of venture capital firm Weiss, Peck & Greer wanted a company name with less of a stodgy, law-firm tonality. Ideally, the name would sound “science-y” and suggest a fast-moving company that kept pace with Silicon Valley. The board was our toughest crowd initially, but they rallied around Lightspeed. The name differentiated them and put them light years ahead of the pack.

When Malt-O-Meal asked us to name their new cinnamon-sugar whole grain cereal, we were tempted to accept payment in product (we love cereal!). The food name needed to suggest an economical alternative to their key competitor, General Mills’ Cinnamon Toast Crunch. With Cinnamon Toasters, we leveraged the Malt-O-Meal brand’s lovability, and communicated a warmer, friendlier, more accessible (read “affordable”) product.

EEI came to Catchword searching for a name for the new company whose platform not only connects financial data and the real world, but breaks down data barriers to create a universal standard. A term out of nautical history and mythology from many cultures, the Ninth Wave is a single, massive wave that is the last of a series of incrementally larger waves. The name naturally conveys the flow, integration, and power of the company’s new platform to sweep away obstructive complexity while avoiding the obvious “fin” and “tech” references of so many players in this sector.

Meeting the FDA’s myriad requirements for pharmaceutical naming (while retaining a milligram of marketing appeal) is always tough. That’s why most pharmaceutical names resemble Slavic gods (like Ipabog or Krsnik). For Merck’s shingles vaccine, we loved Zostavax (from vaccine and herpes zoster, the name for shingles). It was meaningful, easy to say, and—hold on to your pill fob—had only one set of adjacent consonants.

Blockchain mining needs huge amounts of energy, which has led to an increase in damaging fossil fuel consumption. Soluna seeks to solve this problem by creating the first blockchain company powered by its own private sustainable energy sources. A coinage of sol and luna (“sun” and “moon” in Latin), Soluna evokes human aspiration at its most fundamental—looking up at the great light in the sky. The name recalls “solution” as well as “una” (one), suggesting the company’s all-in-one energy production and computer processing solution. Soluna has been recognized with both a Transform Award and a Hermes Creative Award for Excellence in Brand Naming.

There are few brands more iconic than Converse’s Chuck Taylor All Star. So, Catchword was of course honored to be engaged to help develop a strategy for naming the company’s historic update of the sneaker line. From Chuck– and All Star­–specific naming strategies to feature and end-benefit based, we explored every possible creative solution. The approach that made the most sense? The one as classic as the shoe itself: a simple, numeric modifier that kept the focus on the epic Chuck name and still strongly suggested an evolution of the brand.

Eaux Vives wanted a name for their bottled water that suggested purity and stood out from their French and Italian competitors. We went straight to the water’s source for inspiration: a stream filtered by a glacial esker in the northern reaches of Quebec. The coined Eska sounds crisp and refreshing, and also vaguely Scandinavian (with all the cool associations that implies).

Healthline needed a new name for its Healthcare Information Technology group, which allows clinicians to extract simple, accurate insights from messy, free-form data—and thereby give patients the best possible care. Catchword developed the name Talix, coined from italics, to convey this idea of emphasizing and drawing attention to what’s important, and unlocking the power of unstructured data.

Roku, a leading streaming device company, knew it was time to move away from its numeric product naming system as it prepared to launch new offerings. In order to ensure consumers found the device that fit their needs and to support continued portfolio expansion, Roku came to Catchword for help developing family names that signaled the right level of tech and entertainment.

Take Care Employer Solutions (a Walgreens subsidiary) and CHS Health Services, two of the largest worksite healthcare providers merged to create the leading worksite health provider, with approximately 500 health centers and more than 200 clients nationwide, including Google, Time Warner, and General Electric. Working with senior leadership and board members of both companies, Catchword developed the name Premise Health, which alludes to on-premises healthcare facilities and management, as well as a company setting the stage for a real impact on employee population health.

ZS Associates wanted to showcase their suite of software tools for salespeople. These were formidable products for streamlining, coordinating, and optimizing sales efforts. We wanted to create a product family name that was just as powerful and direct. Something that communicated cutting through confusion and red tape to help a sales force compete more effectively—and go the distance. And so, Javelin.

This company’s GPS device for autos was truly different: it gave you real-time traffic data, a big deal at the time. But their brand name, CircumNav, was a snooze, and didn’t reflect how exciting their navigational product really was. Our new name, Dash, heralded a device that got you there (wherever “there” was) in a hurry. It also recalled the device’s dashboard location.

While consumers have many options for streaming music nowadays, most subscription-based services are focused solely on delivering as much music as possible, and provide little opportunity for artists and fans to interact in truly meaningful ways. Ursa, the name Catchword developed for an exciting new music engagement “ecosystem,” speaks to a constellation of streaming services and connecting in countless ways (features, music, people, etc.). It also recalls the major and minor scales (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), and evokes an otherworldly music streaming platform.

When Safeway needed a name for its top-of-the-line beef, Addis Creson (a branding agency and frequent partner of ours) brought us in to help out. We liked the understated confidence and quiet authority of Rancher’s Reserve for this premium house brand. And its alliteration and propulsive rhythm made it very easy on the tongue. Not unlike the beef in question.

Plantronics needed a name for its new mobile phone station designed for the mobile-first professional, with support for Microsoft Teams, chat, and online meetings. Elara, a moon of Jupiter, suggests exploration as well as connection. This on-desk solution helps you launch your day’s activities and keeps your contacts in orbit with enhanced smartphone capabilities.

Over the years, Catchword has had the pleasure of partnering with Corning to name many innovative products, including Fibrance, the highly flexible, light-diffusing fiber (vibrance of color and light + fiber + radiance). When Corning decided to spin-off a new company to develop smart, integrated products and solutions using Fibrance, they asked us to create something that complements the product name while conveying the elegant versatility of this new light technology. Versalume was the clear choice.

A secret: private label products are generally just as good as the name brands. In fact, you could say they’re equal. The supermarket chain Lucky/Albertsons needed to brand their line of over-the-counter health and beauty products, from shampoo to eye drops to vitamins. Our solution was Equaline: equal parts savvy shopper and high-quality product line.

Turns out brains need workouts, too. This company came to us with a line of computer games, developed by pioneering neuroscientists, for those in need of brain fitness—basically anyone over 40. The company name had to work for consumers and brain experts alike. Posit (meaning “to put forward for study”) had a scientific feel, and was also rather positive.

Sometimes a company’s location comes in handy. Aegon, the international insurance giant, wanted a name for their Scottish fund management arm that would distinguish it from the parent company. We suggested Kames Capital. The tower of Scotland’s Kames Castle dates back to the 14th century, and the main structure was built in the 18th century and has been inhabited ever since. As a symbol of stability and continuity, Kames Castle was a fitting image for a fund management company wishing to inspire confidence. Using a Scottish name also leveraged Scotland’s stellar reputation in financial services.