The Marketing Bureau

The truth about odd agencies
By Tim Loc
First Published on www.imediaconnection.com

Once every clear Sunday, my friends and I stroll through the beer section at BevMo. It's a daunting task. We wander through the stretch of aisles without knowing what to expect. Though, eventually, we'll stop at an item like "Old Speckled Hen" or "Hair of the Dog." Someone says, "Hey, I wonder what 'Hair of the Dog' tastes like," and the rest of us will nod in agreement, affirming our collective interest.

What we've learned is that a good name goes a long way in provoking intrigue. Marketers understand our lot. As 21st century consumers, we're caught in a blitzkrieg of detail. We're swamped with buzzwords and technical spiel, so we're conditioned to skim through the fine print. To incite that initial point of connection (visually and emotionally), we require something conspicuous at the forefront, and what's more conspicuous than a name like Rouge Dead Guy Ale?

Never before has a name been so tantamount, and ad agencies are conscious of this zeitgeist. It's reflected in the evolution of their own names. Gone are the days of Anderson & Anderson. Welcome to the present day of Circ.us and Mother. But while agencies are having fun with their names, it would be shortsighted to say that it's all about the flash and novelty. The name can act as a one-word pitch as well; what does the agency want to instill in the client? Is it a sense of trust? Maybe even a hint of intimidation? You might say a name is poetry distilled to its finest point.

Below are a few of the more provocative names in the interactive industry. What do they mean? How were they born? As it turns out, a single word can be a mouthful.

Mindcomet

Takeaway message: Infuse your personal philosophy.

A quirky name can get a client to take notice, but the attention is redundant if the message lacks substance. Remember: A client comes in search of information, and a name can clue them in on the direction and attitude of the company.

Take the case of Catalyst:SF -- it serves up optimism by reflecting the forward progression of the market. In the case of Mindcomet, the agency wanted to build around the ideas of founder Ted Murphy. His philosophy was two-fold:

1.   The agency should be a service to consumers.
2.   There is never a shortage of possibilities.  

"The 'Mind' to him was complex, creative, and human, supporting the fact that we are a people-focused company, not a software shop," says president and CEO Marcelle Turner.

As for the "comet," Murphy felt that it embodied the perpetual motion that is required to keep the market afloat. It also projected the unyielding vastness of space, thus giving the name an air of mystery. "He felt that no matter what we eventually became, [these] elements should remain a part of our core values," Turner says.

The lesson here is to consider the directives of the company. What's the purpose of your agency? What does it do differently? Have your name channel these answers.

Big Spaceship

Takeaway message: Embrace the weird.

Names can get people to take notice. This doesn't mean it should elicit national outrage, but it often helps to pull something from left field. Thanks to their knack for non-sequiturs, agencies like Big Spaceship and Razorfish have no trouble distinguishing themselves.

"Clients like [our name]," says Big Spaceship founder and CEO Michael Lebowitz. "It communicates more of what they can expect from us than would a traditional one based on founder names. Best of all, people don't forget it."

When he first set out to look for a name, Lebowitz dusted off his dictionary and hunkered down in a café for several hours. The word "spaceship" came to the forefront; he liked how it portrayed the internet as a frontier, just as space is regarded as the "final" frontier. He ran into a roadblock, however, when he realized that Spaceship.com was already taken. His remedy was to add "big" as a modifier. "We settled on 'big' primarily because it's inclusive; there is room for everyone on a big spaceship, and it has notes of a mothership," he says.

The advantages come in two with a name as off-kilter as Big Spaceship. While it sticks with clients, it also shows that the agency is not afraid to take risks in a market that frowns upon the dull. 

R/GA

Takeaway message: Go beyond the alphabet.

We've been stuck with the modern alphabet for, what, five centuries? You'd think that 26 letters would have gotten stale by now.

Some agencies seem to agree. Companies like R/GA and Mediaedge:cia have looked beyond the realm of traditional spelling, and with good reason.
Aberrant marks and dashes provide a spark of visual stimuli. While readers expect to gloss over a line of text, a well-placed mark can break up the flow and force them to take notice. The effect might seem insignificant, but that extra split-second of attention could amount to greater recall.  In the case of Modernista!, a mark can also change the inflection of the word. The exclamation mark evokes a sense of spontaneity.

Inspiration can be found away from the keyboard as well. Aside from the rakish dash that cuts through its name, R/GA also incorporates a splash of design in its insignia. According to CEO Bob Greenberg, the red square next to "R/GA" was inspired by the Russian Constructivism art movement that lasted from 1913 until the 1940s.

As the agency forged its way into the digital period, the square came to symbolize the smallest element on the screen: the pixel. Greenberg also says that the line in "R/GA" recalls the forward dash in URL addresses. This constant re-interpretation imbues the namesake with an aura of purpose and history.

Omelet

Takeaway message: Hand it over to the people.

Omelet avoided a hard-line approach to its name and brand. Rather than beating clients over theirs heads with a message, the agency asked them what they wanted to hear. This populist approach was applied to the shop's name as well. 

"We just wanted to find a name that would resonate with clients, press, friends, family, etc. -- that could mean something different and special to every person," says CMO Ryan Fey.

To Fey, the name wasn't an object to possess and protect. It was something to be shared and interpreted. He noted that all omelets are "custom-built," each one being a reflection of its creator. The agency also encourages wordplay to stress the elasticity of the name. For instance, Fey says that they "omeletize" projects to make each one distinctive.

So how did "Omelet" come up in the first place? Fey and his partners, Steven Amato and Shervin Samari, found out that their initial choice had been slapped with a trademark restriction. Looking for another name, they sat around in a diner until someone suggested the breakfast dish. "[The omelet] is the king of breakfast," Fey explains. "And who doesn't love an omelet?"

Steak

Takeaway message: Look elsewhere for inspiration.

When searching for a name, inspiration can come from unexpected places. Forget the conference room. Just walk outside to consider the details of daily life.

This was what Steak CEO Oliver Bishop did when he was struggling to come up with an agency name. After a lengthy (and unproductive) brainstorming session, Bishop went on break to get some dinner. He was in the midst of eating when he realized that the answer was sitting on his plate, and thus came the arrival of Steak Digital.

It wasn't just a stab at cleverness. To Bishop, the word reflects the agency's aim at being bold and approachable. "We wanted a name that gave us scope to develop our offering and not limit us," says managing partner Mark Schwartz.

And from there the Steak brand took hold and flourished. The name was supplemented with a logo that featured the silhouette of a cow. "We do get a lot of, 'Oh, you're the purple cow guys.' But that's OK. It means we're [being] remembered," says Schwartz. "After all, we work with marketers. Why should they trust us to represent their brand if we can't demonstrate we understand branding?"

Though the fateful dinner has sprouted a bevy of good things, there has been one hiccup for the agency: Things weren't as rosy when it pitched to a client who was vegetarian.

Tim Loc is an editorial intern at iMedia Connection.
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