It’s been a while since I’ve seen a well-written, insightful naming brief. Maybe life’s just too immediate for any kind of brief to form in fact. Recently, the MD of a thriving design agency said to me that in-house was struggling to define what makes a decent brief. Good point. I see plenty of documents labelled ‘the brief’ that look remarkably like large sections of a proposal or an overview of background information that could be found by spending ten quality minutes with Google.
In an agency world were strategists might benefit from more thinking time and there could perhaps be more constructive interaction with clients over the drivers of their deadlines, it seems to me that a clear and inspiring brief should be centre-stage more than ever. In the world of naming in particular, a humble 2-pager makes all the difference to the outcome of a challenging and often subjective exercise.
There are four important reasons that a naming brief gets my vote every time. A naming brief, by the way, is not the same thing as the design brief…..
A namer will need to interrogate some issues that design will not. Design takes cues from broad personality, naming takes its cues from tone. Design may look to explore two or three creative routes, whereas naming will need to encompass a wider range of start points. Design will hug and stay close to a single driving idea which it executes across many touch points – naming meanwhile might voice various different aspects of a brand’s purpose, personality or soul, at least initially. At the start, it’s a volume exercise.
Naming has some hoops to jump through which take the creative process in to a not-very-creative-place for a while, before the all-clear can be given. Trade marks, domain names, social media requirements – all the stuff that kicks naming brilliance out of touch and bruises it up a bit before the dust settles, either by luck, compromise, or a further nod to brilliance. Design tends to be allowed to follow a creative journey towards its end before someone mentions the wisdom of searching and registering the logo. Not so naming – and a brief has up front permission to draw together the legal and more technical requirements, whilst not as yet passing judgement.
Naming needs a strategy. A strategy that nudges the (often unfinished) brand DNA towards creative routes. A strategy that explores the parameters of the naming spectrum and the types of name that might meet our objectives. A strategy that looks at the role of the name, its place within an architecture or portfolio, the criteria for its success and any no-go areas. These are things that will help a naming process stay on an objective track, rather than winding a subjective path to mediocrity.
Sometimes inconveniently, but nonetheless a regular and familiar part of the deal, The Entire Universe and its Offspring may wish to pitch in to the naming process and often late to the party. Not something the design process has to worry about quite so often nor in quite the same way. We all ‘do language’ after all. The naming brief and its stated objectives will help to channel this veritable tide of names and, importantly, highlight any genuine candidate from afar. So be it client, customer group, freelancer, creative director, Chairperson’s Significant Other or the strategy intern with an hour to spare, let’s do them the favour of pulling together something to inspire and guide and release the verbal talent within us all.
Our clients should be wanting to sign off a naming brief. We should be asking for the time and space to write one. Namers – read, absorb, then apply copywriter’s prerogative and ignore it for a while. The brief will await your return with objectivity and admiration, no doubt.
Briefit means Briefit. Whatever that means.
