10 04t14 46 18 00 00 portfolio highlights zip one flex force naming wearable fitness trackers for fitbit javiva naming a blended beverage line for peet s coffee asana company and product platform naming vudu technology company and product naming crazy 8 retail naming for gymboree from asana to zillio click to view globally relevant names we speak that language fluently.learn more globally relevant names we speak that language fluently . learn more . our services creative services we ve been naming companies and products for every kind of business since 1998 . for nearly two decades we ve honed our creative process to a science to offer consistently outstanding services in brand name development and tagline creation . learn more strategic services like a well designed house naming architecture should be welcoming and intuitive so it s easy for customers to find their way to the brands they want . is your portfolio of names easy to navigate or an off putting maze that confuses customers and internal audiences if you re not sure we re here to help . learn more trademark screening precision strategy and deep creative are critical to name development but they don t much good if your amazing name is not available . catchword vets names preliminarily for trademark domain and app availability and to uncover any unpleasant associations . learn more linguistics & research our linguistic and cultural evaluation is backed by an international network of native speakers in more than 100 languages . our screening will protect you from globalization embarrassment . we can also help you utilize customer research the right way to glean maximum customer insight . learn more our team maria cypher principal & creative director in the heady bay area of the mid 90s as many of her stanford mba cohort were launching the first wave of internet startups maria was creating names for them and she s never looked back . as catchword s co founder and creative lead she oversees creative strategy and a crack team of namers . two decades in she still thinks naming is the most fun anyone could have at work . maria has created names for starbucks wells fargo gap fitbit microsoft and hundreds of others causing her to wonder if the guinness book has a most prolific namer category . her creative juices are also fired up as lead singer of a local cover band highway 13 . maria spent much of her youth in asia as a foreign service brat and speaks fluent er conversational mandarin . mark skoultchi principal & project lead mark is a veteran naming professional with 20 years experience counseling clients in every aspect of product and company name development . when he s not steering a client toward a new naming strategy or a final name selection he enjoys strumming guitars building websites for friends and spending quality time with his wife and two kids . as head of catchword s east coast operations he s typically the project lead on all right coast accounts and recently managed projects for volkswagen ets marsh clearsight and raritan . he graduated from brandeis university with a ba in history and earned his jd from the state university of new york at buffalo . go bills actually he s not much of a sports fan . kristen pembroke client services director with a career steeped in agency side branding kristen has led successful client engagements in every aspect of brand development . from technology to consumer packaged goods at previous agencies she has worked on large scale accounts such as peoplesoft and kashi . as client services director at catchword kristen ushers her clients to naming nirvana . lately she s been guiding peet s intel amc networks and hitachi to that happy place . in between conference calls proposals and creative briefs kristen enjoys getting outside in the oakland sunshine . kristen received her ba in journalism with an emphasis in advertising from the university of oregon . and yes thank you she s damn proud to walk and talk like a duck . erin milnes creative director erin has worked in media and communications for more than 20 years but she s relished words since she learned to speak . after stints in various writerly positions managing editor of loyola university press freelance copywriter tech reporter she discovered the word wonderland that is naming . she s had the distinct pleasure of indulging her language geekery to help clients like chevron intel corning and nsf international successfully express their brand through kickass names . erin s love affair with language has included french spanish german ancient greek and farsi . she earned a ba from st. john s college the great books school and studied voice at new england conservatory with the vague idea of becoming a linguist philosopher poet musician . hmm is there a name for that laurel sutton senior strategist & linguist laurel is a linguist strategist and co founder of catchword . her love of language began with a ba in linguistics at rutgers university and continued in graduate school at uc berkeley where she specialized in both sociolinguistics and phonetics . she enjoys the challenge of working out strategy and architecture issues with repeat clients like cisco plantronics corning and keysight . despite being born and raised in new jersey laurel speaks excellent english and has studied french german japanese and asl . she is an active member of the american name society and the linguistic society of america and has served as an expert witness on naming and branding issues . leena mehta project director leena spent seven years in brand management at est e lauder and bare escentuals so she understands the needs of brand managers firsthand . whether it is naming initiatives or strategy and architecture projects she brings her cpg marketing experience to clients like corning healthline johnson & johnson and chobani . she prides herself on her ability to move things along like getting catchword s stress reduction specialist to get out of his chair and take a walk did we mention he s a dog . leena s a true bruin sticking with ucla for both her ba in econometrics and her mba . she is also catchword s resident domain name expert . tamar altfest project manager tamar is a project manager with nearly a decade in traditional advertising experiential marketing and branding for agencies like addis grow marketing and ddb . ranging from nonprofits and startups to fortune 500s her client list includes clorox conagra glide intuit kashi levi strauss and trimble . born in israel and with a ba in english and french from santa clara university tamar loves language . she also has a geek like love for systems and organization and possesses a quirky creative spirit . she s inspired by the 80s particularly the bold colors and playful designs and she never leaves home without a pair of bright sunglasses . team like our work our clients span the spectrum.learn more services creativeservices creativeservices we ve been naming companies and products for every kind of business since 1998 . for nearly two decades we ve honed our creative process to a science to offer consistently outstanding services in brand name development and tagline creation . learn more strategicservices strategicservices like a well designed house naming architecture should be welcoming and intuitive so it s easy for customers to find their way to the brands they want . is your portfolio of names easy to navigate or an off putting maze that confuses customers and internal audiences if you re not sure we re here to help . learn more trademark screening trademark screening precision strategy and deep creative are critical to name development but they don t do much good if your amazing name is not available . catchword vets names preliminarily for trademark and domain availability and to uncover any unpleasant associations . learn more linguistics & research linguistics & research our linguistic and cultural evaluation is backed by an international network of native speakers in more than 100 languages . our screening will protect you from globalization embarrassment . we can also help you utilize customer research the right way to glean maximum customer insight . learn more creativeservices we ve been naming companies and products for every kind of business since 1998 . for nearly two decades we ve honed our creative process to a science to offer consistently outstanding services in brand name and tagline creation . learn more strategicservices like a well designed house naming architecture should be welcoming and intuitive so it s easy for customers to find their way to the brands they want . is your portfolio of names easy to navigate or an off putting maze that confuses customers and internal audiences if you re not sure we re here to help . learn more trademark screening precision strategy and deep creative are critical to name development but they don t do much good if your amazing name is not available . catchword vets names preliminarily for trademark and domain availability and to uncover any unpleasant associations . learn more linguistics & research our linguistic and cultural evaluation is backed by an international network of native speakers in more than 100 languages . our screening will protect you from globalization embarrassment . we can also help you utilize customer research the right way to glean maximum customer insight . learn more 10 criteria for great names download 2016 catchword clients global partners naming guide videos full portfolio name reviews blog press west coast 409 13th st 12th flr tribune tower oakland ca 94612 tel 510.628.0080 east coast 10 jay street suite 202 tenafly nj 07670 tel 212.472.8936