Naming | Brand Strategy | Copywriting | Legal

Scott Mitchem, Naming Methodology + Case Study: Tingle

New York, NY

Naming a new brand or product is challenging and arduous, with the likelihood of downstream legal difficulties and the harsh possibility of restarting the effort always looming. Scott Mitchem wasn’t able to make it any easier by formalizing a naming process at Office In Concept (OIC), a boutique creative agency based in New York City, but he did learn to ask for help.

Scott served as Managing Partner and Co–Creative Director of OIC, where calling in a wide range of creatives and other subject-matter experts for naming assignments was common practice.

His editorial background often meant that journalists were disproportionately represented on naming projects, along with the requisite linguists, copywriters, and industry-specific consultants. On occasion even an improvisational comedian was included for additional quick, asymmetrical thinking and a little bit of levity.

As with the company’s branding process, interviews, research, competitive audits, and trend analysis formed the basis of the effort, and in some cases additional brand strategy work was required to make progress on a moniker. Such was the case with Tingle (see below), a “cosmedical” spa concept with ambitions of a national launch of more than 200 locations.