David Placek

Founder

Lexicon Branding

🎯 Product Strategy (1)👥 Team & Culture (1)🔍 User Research (1)⚡ Execution (1)

Key Takeaways

1.Comfort is the enemy of a great name; if your team is immediately comfortable with a name, it is likely too descriptive and safe.
2.Polarization is a signal of strength; if half the team hates a name and half loves it, there is energy there (e.g., the Pentium story).
3.Do not use large group brainstorms; they regress to the mean. Use small teams (2 people) working in parallel.
4.A name provides an 'asymmetric advantage'—it is the only marketing asset used in every single interaction for the life of the company.
5.Use 'Sound Symbolism' to map letters to attributes: 'V' creates vibrancy (Vercel), 'B' signals reliability (BlackBerry), 'Z' creates noise (Azure).
6.The .com domain is an 'area code'—it matters far less than having the right name. Don't sacrifice the brand name just to get a matching URL.
7.Compound names (Windsurf, Facebook, PowerPoint) act as multipliers (1+1=3) because they trigger multiple association networks in the brain.

by David Placek

🎯 Product Strategy

A geometric exercise to align stakeholders on the specific behavior and experience the name must evoke before any creative work begins.

1.Draw a diamond. At the top, write 'WIN'. Define exactly what winning looks like for this product.
2.Right Point: 'What do we HAVE to win?' (Current assets, technology, team strengths).
3.Bottom Point: 'What do we NEED to win?' (Market gaps, specific perceptions, resources).
+2 more...

"It’s not about the past. You’re actually creating the future... We’re creating an experience for you."

#diamond#naming#strategy

by David Placek

👥 Team & Culture

A technique to unlock lateral thinking by assigning small teams to name metaphorical proxies rather than the actual product.

1.Divide the creative group into small teams (2 people max).
2.Team A gets the 'Real Brief': They know the product and its specs.
3.Team B gets the 'Metaphor Brief': Tell them they are naming a physical object that shares the product's attributes (e.g., 'Name a fast bicycle' instead of 'fast software').
+2 more...

"When people are working on what they know is not the real assignment, they are now free to make all kinds of mistakes."

#context-shift#brainstorming#team

by David Placek

🔍 User Research

A reframing technique for validating names that removes the evaluator's burden of responsibility and measures market impact.

1.Do not ask: 'What do you think of this name for our company?' (This invites critique).
2.Do ask: 'Imagine a new competitor just launched with the name [NAME]. What do you think they do? What is their vibe?'
3.Evaluate based on 'Predisposition': Does the name make them curious? Does it signal 'these guys are different'?
+2 more...

"If your team is comfortable with the name, chances are you don't have the name yet."

#'competitor#launch'#validation

by David Placek

⚡ Execution

Applying linguistic science to select letters and sounds that trigger specific cognitive responses independent of language.

1.For Aliveness/Speed: Use 'V' (most vibrant sound) or 'Z' (noisy/energetic). Examples: Vercel, Azure.
2.For Reliability/Trust: Use 'B' (the most reliable sound). Example: BlackBerry.
3.For Innovation/Precision: Use 'X' (crisp, tech-forward).
+2 more...

"V, from our research... is the most alive and vibrant sound in the English alphabet... whether you were born in Rome or in Sausalito."

#phonosemantic#engineering#execution