Name Recognition

Schelper was apoplectic. “We hadn’t changed one bloody thing, just the name!” he recalls. “That’s all we had done, just like we had said in our advertising. It was so frustrating—the eight years of goodwill in the Pontillo’s name was lost, and we had to start from square one again.”

It was a tough lesson to learn—customer perception often trumps reality. Schelper and Stenson slashed their own salaries 15 percent, added more pizza ingredients, instituted performance incentives, and brainstormed other ways to ensure that customers “left happy.” It took nearly two years, but the plan worked. Davanni’s now has 21 restaurants in the Twin Cities metro.

What’s in a Name

Typically, agencies use proprietary methods for developing names. Nametag uses a process called Ideonics, which begins with a deep understanding of the client’s business strategy. Next comes market feedback, analysis, presentation of results, and rolling out the brand plan.

The list of names that Nametag presents is typically very short. “Every single name we present is in lockstep with the strategy and positioning of the company or product,” Levin says. “Only then can the brand come to life in the marketplace to articulate that strategy.”

Recently, Nametag put Ideonics to work for Imation, the Oakdale-based manufacturer of data-storage systems, which sought a name for a new coating that protects CDs and DVDs from scratches and smudges. “Imation, like many technology companies, is risk averse,” Young says. “Its competitors often choose names that are flat and predictable.” Nametag assembled a cross-functional team from various Imation departments—engineering, sales, research, science lab, field sales, marketing—to get the company to think more broadly and creatively.

“As a company, we had spent several years identifying scratch resistance as a primary customer need,” recalls Jessica Walton, Imation’s manager for optical media. “We then went through a detailed process with Nametag to identify the technical elements of the product, its features and benefits, and the target customer.”