13 Naming 6: Wordplay

13

NAMING 6: WORDPLAY

There are some marvellous brand names in English because we can twist and turn the language to give it several meanings at the same time. You can do this in other languages, not all, and international copywriters have all told me that English is the one you can have most fun with. It can work as long as your brand is a lighthearted one. If you’re a specialist in family law, a charity or a shipping company you might want to keep it straightforward.

The idea I have a friend with a bicycle repair company called Richard’s Bicycle Works. On reading his business card, lots of English speakers will say, “Richard’s Bicycle Works! I should hope so, considering that he’s the one who fi xed it.” Then they laugh at their own little joke because they think they are the fi rst person who thought of it. (Including me.)

In Avignon in the south of France, there’s a hairdresser’s shop called L’Hair du Temps. This is pronounced exactly the same way as the phrase l’air du temps, which roughly means zeitgeist or the way we live now. It’s also the name of a Nina Ricci perfume. So by making a little jeu de mot and altering it to L’Hair du Temps; they’re showing that they speak a little English, that you can expect a moodern cut and they’ll make you smile. Hairdressers do seem

to be masters of the wordplay brand name. My local is Aristocuts. Then there is our local landscape gardeners, Cutting Hedge. This one was spotted in Los Angeles: The Merchant of Tennis. Yes, they are a little bit jokey, but they certainly are memorable.

In practice • Use wordplay to name a product or a service, or for your whole organisation, only if it matches your brand’s positioning. • Take a phrase and play with it until it makes people smile. • Test it to check that other people get the joke. • As ever, with intellectual property, check with your country’s trademark registration organisation, and worldwide, to make sure that it’s available and that you can use it.