Product and company names, tests, consulting, branding portfolio

The largest manufacturer of chewing gum introduced the new brand 5 GUM into the markets in 2009. This brand excels by its strikingly long lasting, thrilling flavor, a totally new packaging concept, and an idiosyncratic brand appearance. The flavor (or subbrand) names had been chosen accordingly: Electro (a tingling spearmint), Pulse (a crisp tropical), or Cobalt (a cooling peppermint). By extending the 5 GUM range, Wrigley’s launched a new refreshingly-fruity product in many European countries in 2010 with the flavor "red berries". It bore the name "Flood" - created by me.

The next year, it was my job to find a name for the new flavor "watermelon". It had to fit exactly into the existing name system, and at the same time it had to refer to the distinctive characteristics of this particular variant. The name had to be an existing English noun and it had to be easily comprehensible and applicable in most European countries. As if this were not enough, it also had to appear mysterious. The result of a complex creative process and extensive linguistic and legal checks was the brand name TURBULENCE. A complex name with a plethora of points of contact to communicate the name - and to address the consumers' emotions.

Black forest based Testo AG with more than 2,200 employees worldwide is a market leader for metrological devices and solutions for diverse industries and applications. Due to the growing documentation requirements in commerce, trade and industry, a new data-monitoring system was developed. Hitherto data such as temperature and humidity levels had to be recorded and documented by hand. This burden was to be eliminated. The new measuring system for manifold industries enables these tasks to be performed comfortably and safely from a central computer. It is characterized by its ease of installation and use, and it permits significant workload and time savings for users e.g in storage, production or facility management.



In order to market this outstanding new data acquisition system worldwide, it was decided that, unlike all other Testo products, it should receive a trade name of its own. It was my job to find an artificial name with a technological aura: SAVERIS was selected and deemed perfect. SAVERIS has clearly identifiable Latin roots, through which it expresses the product focus: precision, security, reliability and efficiency. At the same time it is in perfect harmony with the sender brand Testo and can be communicated worldwide.

Think of a name like inheritance insurance ("Erbversicherung"), which is neither precise nor attractive. Versicherungskammer Bayern, one of Germany's largest insurance companies, therefore searched for an attractive, descriptive name to designate and advertise their new life insurance for heirs and inheritors. To make the project a little more challenging, the name also had to be available as a .de domain. The product itself is a kind of life insurance which enables the passing on of taxfree accumulated proceeds from once deposited capital. However, flexibility rules. As long as you're alive you can take out money from the account or also ramp it up. Once you are dead, the beneficiaries receive the tax free death benefits immediately.

Thus, this smart product helps save taxes, while it keeps real estate or corporate property in the family by preventing hasty sales. Quarrels among heirs and coheirs are avoided, compensation payments to fellow heirs can be afforded. And you can still access your assets. This is what marks the product off from those of the competitors.



My solution was the name "GenerationenDepot" (generations' depot). It clearly relates the target group - Germany's prominent generation of baby-boomers - in a positive way to the topics "inheritance" and "long-term provision". And even better, it simultaneously transmits the promising concept of an efficient and solid investment - without being unpleasantly euphemistic.