A namer? Is that actually a thing? That was my reaction seven years ago, when I was introduced to Nik Contis, the global director of our new naming practice. At the time, Nik and I worked for a large branding agency in New York City. I headed up our research division—which meant that I tackled questions about the marketplace, consumers and products. Which people should we target? How do they make buying decisions? What can we say or do to make sure they become customers? What should our pricing model be? What product features will result in the greatest market share?
Lisa Bertelsen is the founder of Answered, Inc. (www.answeredinc.com), a company that works with startups, providing expertise in market intelligence, branding and go-to-market strategies. She specializes in brand name testing.
Nik Contis also contributed to this article, he is a namer and Senior Partner at PS212. He has 25 years of naming and branding experience, working for clients such as Verizon, Microsoft, Google, Toyota, General Motors, Levi’s and CocaCola.