Brand Naming & Strategy

Is your brand wearing the wrong clothes?

Names, voices and branding ideas to grow on

If the name of your organization, product or service is how people remember you, your brand voice is how they recognize you beyond that name and a logo. Brand voice makes people feel (or not feel) a certain way when they see your advertising, collateral and product offering. Your brand strategy (aka branding strategy) shapes how customers absorb that offering. It helps explain your unique selling proposition, competitive edge and personality. Done right, all three working as one serve as the foundation for long-term growth.

Who is Paul Fenn?

A deeply experienced media-agnostic copywriter delivering juicy ideas, copy and content for clients in B2C and B2B. Clients come to me to clarify and harness their strengths to grow their prominence or dominance. To become unshackled from ineffective, outdated or dull corporate communications. To apply a well-thought-out brand persona that connects with audiences. And to start conversations and relationships that inspire trust and belief, while growing revenue.

Why work with me?

I’ve spent 30+ years naming, branding and positioning companies, products and services. My inaugural projects included:

A name for Bank of China’s first credit card (DragonLink)
A new Indonesian toilet tissue brand (Pantastik)
A Singaporean kids’ toy startup (sadly lost to time)
A new Citibank Asia insurance product (SimpliCiti)

Back in Canada, I named:

A cannabis company (Norleaf)
A renewable energy concern (Potentia)
A geothermal energy company (Nderground)

I’ve also created countless names for products and events in industries as varied as bottled water, building products, mass timber construction, executive travel, and hospital and autism fundraising.

"Branding is a dark art. Don't do it alone."

- Paul Fenn, Toronto Brand Creator & Strategist

Naming

What’s on offer

Naming: Companies, products, services, events and campaigns.
Brand voice and tone: How you sound everywhere, from your ads and website to your packaging and truck livery.
Taglines and slogans: The line that sums up your offering and makes it interesting and memorable.
Big-idea concepts: The creative platform upon which a campaign, new product, business or event is built.

Branding

Names and ideas I’ve launched

TripleClamp Moto: A startup with no name, no address and no products, launched in a garage. I named it TripleClamp, a nod to its three founders and the key frame component that holds the front end of a bike to the rest of it. Tagline: Born in a garage. Raised on the trails.
The Autists: I named, conceived and creative-directed the Geneva Centre for Autism’s annual fundraiser. It ran for years, opening at Koerner Hall with Chaka Khan live, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars and generating massive awareness, to the long-term benefit of the organization.
Zinata: Brand voice and a descriptive tagline for a new global supply-chain consultancy.
Saponetti: A brand persona for a zero-waste Toronto startup. Green, but not tree-huggingly so.
Autumnal Italy: A speculative campaign concept for Alitalia, “No Sweat. No Swarms.”
Lil Studio of Hair: Name, logo and tagline for a boutique hair salon in Toronto’s Junction.

Strategy

How I work

Discovery: We talk about what you are, who you’re for and who you’re up against.
Research: Your market, your competitors and the names and voices already taken.
Longlist to shortlist: I generate widely, then pare back as time and reflection reduce fog and lead to clarity. You get a shortlist with the thinking behind each option.
Refine: Two rounds of revisions, plus a final polish.

I flag obvious conflicts with a page-one Google search of the name in your industry, but formal trademark clearance is a job for your lawyer.