4 Brands in 4 Weeks
GLEAMM, an organization within the Texas Tech University (TTU) Office of Research Commercialization, awarded four teams funding to take their products and services developed in the university’s labs to the marketplace. Our challenge was to develop a name and identity for each of these companies to give them an edge at GridNEXT, a large energy innovation conference in Georgetown, Texas. We had four weeks to do it.
The fast pace of this work made it a really fun process! I met with the first team on a Monday afternoon. That evening, my husband and I spent 4 hours brainstorming names. By the end of the night, we had arrived at the name. I pitched it to the team the next day, and they were ecstatic. We spent many more evenings with the power thesaurus, pen and paper. Then, many more hours copywriting, designing logos and creating info cards. The remainder of this post tells the stories behind the companies' names.
Get in touch with us, if you have an idea worth naming. I'm sure we would enjoy working with you!
Harvey
Harvey is an occupancy sensor. Though, it is not like traditional motion detectors. Harvey senses heart rate, and when a human is present, triggers a building to come alive. Radar-based, it uses the same technology to detect a human heartbeat that doctor’s use to diagnose heart conditions. Our research into echocardiography lead us to the name, Harvey Feigenbaum, a key figure in the adoption of RADAR technology in the US. Calling the sensor ‘Harvey’ makes it feel alive and like is has a living relationship with the people in the building and the building itself.
Herold
To herald is to announce or indicate that something is coming. In the case of the Herold weather app it is about indicating how the weather is expected to behave, and what effects it will have business operations. With a human name, the app takes on an advisory role for business owners.
MATES
The name for mates came pretty quickly. It is a two-part service provided by TTU. Having a descriptive name was the best approach for this team. Modeling and Training for Energy Systems is the full name. The MATES acronym alludes to the team being teammates in getting new energy technologies on the grid.
Wakes
Comprised of wind experts and sophisticated instrumentation, the WAKES team accurately predicts the performance of new wind technologies. In their work, the wake of a wind turbine is the signature of its performance. Because the wake is such a key ingredient in how the team discovers and determines the output of a turbine, it was fitting for this team to call themselves WAKES.