Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words into Big Business

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Read reviews that mention brand names alex frankel well written naming firm naming industry brand name world of naming frankel received from this book blackberry companies branding word viagra corporate ibm behind accenture become craft fascinating. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. William P Ross Top Contributor: This book delves into the the world of naming businesses.

It is written in gonzo style journalism where the author visits many naming agencies to learn their secrets. What he discovers is mixed as many people he talks are unable to provide him with secrets.

Wordcraft: The Art of Turning Little Words into Big Business by Alex Frankel

There are about five major business sectors the author covers in different industries. The author meets many people in the naming business and often does interviews with them. I found the book to be engaging, but I was looking for more answers about naming than about the personalities in the naming business. In one section the author mentions that switching between consonants and vowels in the pattern of CVCV makes nice sounding names. I wanted a lot more information like this.

Overall, the book held my attention and it was well written so 4. One person found this helpful.

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Without any doubt the best book in my graphic design and brand identity library. It has reinforced my belief in the unquestionable value of a smart brand name. The word crafting journeys described in the book are priceless, and as a graphic designer, I found many similarities between brand naming and visual brand identity design. If you have work to do in naming -this is such a well written book you are certain to find value from the thirteen bucks. The only danger is considering the development of a name to be the first step in brand development.

The process needs to begin with strategic positions. It's not so much about words as ideas. One person found this helpful 2 people found this helpful. Another recommended read about the art of naming. Pretty cool - well written, I really enjoyed the stories. As per usual with these types of books, I feel like I was told a story, not taught how to come up with great names of businesses.

Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. A good read and very helpful for my project on creating a brand. Gave me a heap of ideas I had not considered.

Shakespeare may have had us wonder "What's in a name? Corporations do, and they know it, and they are ready to pay other companies big money to make sure that the names do more than the job of just being handy labels for their products. A brand is not just a name but " Frankel's book is an analysis of five brand names: BlackBerry, Accenture, Viagra, the Porsche Cayenne, and IBM's e-business, concentrating on the work of the small firms that name the products of big firms for a fee.

The world's first naming firm has its own apt name, Lexicon, and it was responsible for naming the BlackBerry, the handheld e-mail device of Research in Motion. This represents in some ways a liability; another considered word, "AirWire", might hint of wireless communication, but BlackBerry did not make people think of what the product did.

As a result, advertising dollars had to be spent to make the connection, but it proved to be an easy connection to make. BlackBerry was launched in , and every message sent by a BlackBerry was labeled as being sent by BlackBerry, further spreading the name. It became a huge hit at least partially because of the name; some e-mail addicted executives took to calling it the "CrackBerry. Look at that brand name: How did we come to "xerox" our paperwork and "have a cup of Starbucks"? Which names work, and why?

For journalist Alex Frankel, what began as an exercise in curiosity--tracing the evolution of a handful of the most successful brand names from the marketplace to their places of origin--resulted in a year-long journey in which he gained access to a previously undiscovered world of forward-thinking creatives: Wordcraft is Frankel's in-depth look at how companies name themselves and their products and, in the process of defining their business through words and language, develop narratives that define the way they present themselves to the outside world.

His lively, fly-on-the-wall narrative takes us into the conference rooms of Lexicon, the world's largest professional naming firm, where we see how the highly successful email pager known as the BlackBerry got its name. We travel to Germany to learn how Porsche approached the naming of its controversial SUV, a car that challenged the company's famously sporty image. The creative team behind Viagra explains how theytook a completely fabricated word and turned it into a powerful idea.

Sep 10, Jesse Jones rated it liked it. WordCraft started off well with indepth and well crafted case studies of BlackBerry, Accenture, and Viagra, and derailed in the second half. The author had a promising book on the craft of words and language in branding, but tried too hard to give it an air of gravitas and zeitgeist when discussing IBMs e-business. Decent book overall, thought it suffers from lack of focus. The name Maverick became so commonly known and understood that it took on meaning as a common noun and adjective.

In the process of being transformed from a proper noun into a common noun, the word was imbued with a story. This is the key point for Frankel and the key point of each of his examples in the book — great names have great stories. After a brief tenure as a naming consultant, Frankel set out to explore and understand the people and processes behind brand naming. These names provide diverse examples of naming situations, drawing brands from a variety of industries.

Wordcraft considers one of largest rebranding projects ever, a surprising endeavor from a classic brand, branding a business concept, and the creation of two new brands. Each naming situation also involves a different cast of characters, from the brand owners to the consultants. One of the most valuable aspects of Wordcraft is that it shows the reader a number of approaches to the naming process. Naming consultancies are profiled in tandem with the brands they are working with.

This rare look inside the methodology of different naming houses and business consultancies is insightful in trying to understand the relationship between the brand and the consultancy. Another strength of Wordcraft is the approachability of the naming stories. Each narrative feels genuine and is entertaining. The book is rich with quotes from brand owners and the people who had hands-on roles in naming these brands.

Frankel paints a complete picture of the naming process that is easy to understand and digest. It was clearly necessary for Frankel to use identifiable international brands to help market the book and make it accessible to the greatest number of readers, but by only highlighting corporate brands, Frankel has neglected to show the process in scale.

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Each of the brand stories told in Wordcraft involves large companies with huge branding and marketing budgets. Frankel has also been criticized for not being critical enough of his subjects. However, in a collection of best cases, such as this, less criticism is to be expected. In all, Wordcraft is an enlightening look at naming process as exemplified by some of the most successful branding efforts in recent years.

Jun 23, Harvey rated it really liked it. His interests in synthetic languages led him to launch his own product naming firm Blackberry, Accenture, Viagra, Cayenne, and e-business. Two of the words are appropriated Blackberry and Cayenne , two are completely made up Viagra and Accenture and one e-business is a composite word made of - Frankel has written the "On Language" column for the New York Times Magazine and reported on business culture for Wired, Fast Company, and Outside Magazines. Two of the words are appropriated Blackberry and Cayenne , two are completely made up Viagra and Accenture and one e-business is a composite word made of a word and a letter that already existed The five words are the main characters in this book on product naming and marketing.

Mar 06, Michael Klein rated it really liked it. Although I read this and the other branding books on here as research for a new article I was writing, I found this book to be very interesting. It is the nonfiction account of how a journalist became a corporate namer, and then talks about tricks of the naming trade and some case studies.

I referenced it in interviewing some namers for my article and they were impressed I had read it - but noted that it turned the author into a total persona non grata in the naming industry center of the SF Bay Although I read this and the other branding books on here as research for a new article I was writing, I found this book to be very interesting.

I referenced it in interviewing some namers for my article and they were impressed I had read it - but noted that it turned the author into a total persona non grata in the naming industry center of the SF Bay area. If you like words and are fascinated by the stories of how decisions get made - good and bad - you'll be entertained. Oct 09, Sasha rated it it was ok Shelves: If you think the idea of people naming businesses and products is the coolest thing ever, you will be on the same wavelength as the author and might be able to enjoy this book.

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For me personally, it's not that exciting. I was interested in the subject for practical reasons. But I simply couldn't read this book Jan 12, Hilary rated it really liked it Shelves: Definitely one of those books that makes you think about the world around you in a different way.

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