Spotlight on: ABC Namebank

This is the first in a series of weekly postings that will spotlight other naming firms. We think our clients should have a choice, and clearly Eat My Words is not the only naming firm in the phone book.

Speaking of phone books, just like "ABC Carpet Cleaning," and "ABC Plumbing," who have outsmarted their competition with names that get them listed first in the Yellow Pages, the first naming firm featured is "ABC Namebank." The brainchild of "Naseem Javed, (pictured above), ABC Namebank is a naming company whose "level of specialization is unmatched by any other agency in the world."

ABC Namebank's gold-star portfolio include Telus, Intria, Zarlink, Tronicus, Duplium, Gentra, Genexxa, Celestica, Minnova, Gennum, Agricore, Pollara, Vincor and "hundreds of others," which do not appear on their website. We did find this on the website though: "Over-creativity can cause fire and damage. Don't get too creative. Do not twist, bend, stretch, exaggerate, corrupt or modify alpha-structures to their extremes in naming. It may result in difficult,confusing, unpronounceable and only silly names. Avoid overly creative solutions."

A scrolling ticker on the homepage links to Mr. Javed's appearance on CNN Business Unusual. If you don't have time to watch it, here are some highlights...

On how he named his company...
"We specialize in the alphabet, 26 letters of the alphabet. All the connotations, all the permutations, the analysis. I borrowed the first three letters for my company".

On if Coca-Cola was a good name...
"Coca Cola is a very nice name. It was developed 20-30 years ago, 50 years ago [actually 1888]. But you would not want to fly a Coca-Cola Airlines most probably it will leak all over the place".

On what some good new names were...
Sony [formed 1958], Panasonic [formed in 1955] and Microsoft [formed in 1975]

In summary:
• There are 26 letters in the alphabet
• He's never enjoyed Virgin Cola on Virgin Airlines
• There have been no good names since 1975

IS ABC NAMEBANK THE RIGHT NAMING FIRM FOR YOU?
To evaluate if a naming firm is a good fit for you, ask yourself these 5 questions:

1. Does the company have a creative name?
2. How memorable are the names in their portfolio?
3. Do they have experience in your category?
4. What do their clients say about them?
5. Do they look like they’d be fun to work with?

For more on other naming firms stay tuned for weekly spotlights in our blog or check out Our Competitors on the Eat My Words website, which provides a fresh alternative to old-school naming.