Naming is a deceptively simple problem.
The hard part isn't generating names — it's generating names that survive trademark, URL availability, pronunciation across markets, segment fit, and the founder's gut. And then it's voice — the thing that determines whether your blog, your support reply, and your ad copy sound like the same company.
What we run.
- 01Naming brief — strategic constraints, sound criteria, segment fit
- 02Generative rounds — 80–120 candidates per round, screened
- 03Linguistic + cultural screening across target markets
Full surface area below ↓
How naming and voice projects fail.
Brand work fails for predictable reasons. Here's what we see most — and how we engineer around it.
Names die at the lawyer
Eight rounds of brainstorm, founder picks one, trademark search kills it in a week. We screen for legal viability in round 1, not round 5.
URL constraints ignored until too late
The .com is gone. The .co costs $40K. The team picks .ai and pays for the rest of forever. We surface URL acquisition cost as a constraint, not a surprise.
Voice doc that nobody applies
“Friendly but professional, bold but warm.” Useless. Voice has to produce a different sentence — we run before/after rewrites of real copy as the test.
Tone collapses across surfaces
Marketing site is bold. Support emails are corporate. Sales decks are aspirational. The brand has three voices because three teams own three doc and none align.
What we run.
Senior-only delivery. The strategist, identity lead, and writer on your project have all shipped at scale.
Three to six weeks. Survival-first..
Project-priced. Scope-locked. Senior operators from kickoff to handoff.
Brief + constraints
Strategic brief. Sound profile (consonant-heavy, vowel-balanced, etc.). Trademark class registration. Linguistic markets. URL budget. We surface the trade-offs before generation.
Generate against constraints
Multiple generative rounds, 80–120 candidates per round, each screened for trademark, URL, linguistic fit. We present 8–12 viable options, not 3 favorites.
Pressure-test
Top 3 names go to deeper trademark search, full URL availability, founder gut, and customer language test (mock landing-page test on top 3 names).
Voice + messaging
Voice framework with do/don't, real before/after rewrites of your existing copy, messaging hierarchy (30s / 60s / 5min), and primary tagline candidates with rationale.
Concrete deliverables. Nothing vague.
Working artifacts your team uses weekly — not glossy decks parked on a shared drive.
- 01Naming brief + linguistic / market constraints doc
- 028–12 vetted name candidates with screen reports
- 03Top 3 deep-screen reports (trademark + URL + linguistic)
- 04URL acquisition strategy + budget paths
- 05Voice + tone framework with do / don't
- 06Before / after rewrites of real existing copy
- 07Messaging architecture (30s / 60s / 5min)
- 08Tagline / strapline + rationale
What founders ask before signing.
Do you handle trademark filing?
We run pre-screening; we don't file. We work alongside your IP counsel, or refer you to one. Filing is a legal act; we leave it to lawyers.
What if we already have a name?
Then the engagement is voice + messaging only — usually 2–3 weeks at lower scope. We'll tell you honestly if the name is the constraint, but we won't pitch a rename when one isn't needed.
Can you do this without strategy?
Naming, sometimes. Voice, never. Voice is downstream of positioning — without strategy, you'll get a coherent voice for the wrong audience.
How long does URL acquisition take?
Highly variable — anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months. We scope acquisition timing into the project and have brokered acquisitions before, but the cost band is yours to set.
Two ways in.
Both low-risk.
Start a brand project
Tell us about the project, the deadline, the budget band, and the stage. We'll come back in 24h with a scope, a proposed team, and a kickoff slot. No pitch deck. No procurement gauntlet.
- 5-step inquiry — under 4 minutes
- Scope + team proposal in 24h
- Senior operators from kickoff
- Project-priced, scope-locked
30-min discovery.
No slides.
Walk us through where the brand is and what you're trying to ship. We'll surface the real constraint and the honest scope on the call. No follow-up sequences, no pitch deck.
- 30 minutes max
- Honest scope estimate live
- Specific recommendation, even if not us
- Zero follow-up sequences