Catchword (company)
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naming, Branding |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California; US |
Number of locations | 4 |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Maria Cypher, Mark Skoultchi |
| Services | Company Naming Product and Service Naming Naming Strategy Naming Architecture Linguistic Analysis Tagline Development Brand Strategy Visual Identity Design |
| Website | catchwordbranding.com |
Catchword is a creative agency headquartered in Oakland, California, with an East Coast office in New Jersey. The company provides naming and branding services for companies in the technology, food and beverage, consumer products, financial services, healthcare and automotive industries.[1]
Corporate history[edit]
Catchword was founded in May 1998 as a naming agency by Maria Cypher, Laurel Sutton, and Burt Alper. The company initially focused on technology and start-up companies, but later broadened its scope to cover other industries.[2] In January 2001, Mark Skoultchi joined the company to head East Coast operations at its New Jersey office. Since 2014, the company has been headed by Cypher and Skoultchi.[2][3] In 2022, the company expanded its services and locations to two additional offices in the Denver area and in Calgary, Canada.[4]
Catchword is a member of the Global Naming Network, which comprises naming firms from around the world collaborating on creative work and linguistic analysis.[5]
Services[edit]
Services offered by Catchword include company and product naming; tagline creation; naming strategy, architecture, and protocol; linguistic analysis; trademark prescreening; naming research; brand strategy and positioning; visual identity design and copywriting.[6][7][8]
Apart from naming services, Catchword reviews brand names on its website.[9] The company also runs the online site PopNamer, featuring name games in which the general public submits name ideas for trends, social phenomena and existing products and companies.[10][11] Catchword also operates The Catchword Accelerator, a marketplace for brandable domain names.[12]
Work[edit]
Catchword has created notable product and company names such as Refreshers (for Starbucks); Atlas (for Volkswagen); Upwork (for Elance-oDesk); Attain (for Aetna); Fibrance, Valor and ClearCurve (for Corning); GoMotion (for SportsEngine); Optane and Arc (for Intel); Nature's Promise (for Ahold); Storyscape (for FoxNext); Charge, Flex, Surge, One, Zip, and Force (for Fitbit); Sam '76 (for Boston Beer); Keysight [1] (spinoff of Agilent); Crazy 8 (for Gymboree); Dreamery (for Dreyer's); Infusion (for Spalding); Javiva (for Peet's Coffee & Tea); Kijiji (for eBay); Snap'd (for Kellogg's Cheez-It brand); Vantara (for Hitachi); Maxify (for Canon); Relieva and Vuity (for Allergan); Photoshop Elements (for Adobe); Asana; Bridgespan Group; FireEye; Medallia, Soluna; Ursa and Vudu.[13][14][15][16][17]
Catchword's clients include Aetna, Allergan, Amazon, AMC Networks, Canon USA, Capital One, CBRE, The Clorox Company, Corning, Dole Foods, Dunkin' Brands, Fitbit, General Motors, Hitachi, The Home Depot, Intel, McDonald's, PwC, Royal Bank of Canada, Safeway, SEGA, Stack Overflow, Stryker, Tik Tok, Uber, Unilever and Wells Fargo Bank.[13][14][15][18][19][20]
Awards and recognition[edit]
| Competition | Year | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Hermes Creative Awards | 2019, 2020, 2022 | Gold, Platinum[21][22] |
| MarCom Awards | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 | Gold, Platinum[23][24] |
| MUSE Creative Awards | 2020, 2021, 2022 | Gold, Silver[25] |
| Transform Awards - North America | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 | Silver, Bronze[26] |
| London International Awards | 2016 | Silver[27] |
| C2A (Creative Communication) Awards | 2022 | Winner[28] |
Catchword has also been recognized by Clutch, DesignRush and Influencer Marketing Hub for several years.[29][30][31]
References[edit]
- ^ Schellhorn, Eric (26 July 2004). "Firms play tough game to defend a good name". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ a b "STANFORD Magazine: November/December 2005 > Departments > on the Job". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "20th anniversary". catchwordbranding.com/.
- ^ "Catchword expands to Denver and Calgary offices". Catchword.com. February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Global Naming Network USA Members". Global Naming Network. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (13 November 2007). "Next Project for eProject: A New Name". The New York Times.
- ^ Denham, Kristin; Lobeck, Anne (2009). Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. Cengage Learning. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-4130-1589-8.
- ^ 99% Invisible (10 April 2014). "How Companies Name New Products". Slate. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Catchword Branding Name Reviews". Catchword Branding. Catchword Branding. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "PopNamer". PopNamer. Catchword Branding. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ Berry, Freya; Geller, Martinne. "MegaKega? Megabrew? Beer merger plans launch corporate name game". UK Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 30 October 2015.[dead link]
- ^ "Just The Word is now Catchword Accelerator". Official website.
- ^ a b Gabler, Neal (15 January 2015). "The Weird Science of Naming New Products". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ a b Quinn, Michelle (29 August 2007). "Dot-com names get dottier". The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b "Metroactive Features | Mind/Body/Spirit Marketing". www.metroactive.com. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Catchword Profile". Clutch.co. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Catchword on DesignRush". www.designrush.com.
- ^ "Catchword Profile". Clutch. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Full Client List". Catchword Branding. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Catchword official website".
- ^ "Hermes Creative Awards". hermesawards.com.
- ^ "Winner details - Catchword". Hermes Creative Awards.
- ^ "Winning details - Catchword 2020". MarcomAwards.com.
- ^ "Winner details - Catchword Branding". MarcomAwards.com.
- ^ "MUSE Advertising Awards - Search term Catchword". museaward.com.
- ^ "Past winners books". Transform magazine.
- ^ "Winner details - Catchword". LIA Entries.
- ^ "Winner - Caribou: Fintech Company Rebranding". Creative Communication Awards (C2A). 8 July 2017.
- ^ "Top 30 Branding Agencies In California - Apr 2023 Rankings". www.designrush.com.
- ^ "Top 38 Branding Agencies You Should Work With in 2023". Influencer Marketing Hub. 27 February 2020.
- ^ "Catchword Named #1 Worldwide by Top Agency Ranker Clutch". www.prnewswire.com. December 8, 2021.