Naming agency Manchester

Because Bruno spends more time ruling names out than putting them forward. Our copywriters write long lists, then keep only the options that are easy to say, easy to remember and stand a chance of being registered. For a Manchester business with an eye on Europe, every name is read in both English and French. You see the reasoning behind each one.

Bruno’s London office runs Manchester projects, as the agency has no office in the North of England. Euston to Piccadilly is about two hours by train, close enough to come up and run the kick-off workshop at your place. Name presentations then happen over video, with the copywriters themselves. Nobody stands between you and the people doing the writing.

A naming project is the methodical search for a name for a company, product or service, right through to checking it’s available. Bruno runs it in three stages: a workshop to set the brief, a long creative exploration, then a reasoned shortlist whose finalists are vetted. The details are on our naming page. If the name calls for a new look, the visual identity follows with the same team.

The sportiest is Kotcha: Bruno came up with the name of this running app founded by double Olympic champion Eliud Kipchoge, and set its tone of voice. For Ornikar, the full rebrand also covered messaging, the lines that speak for the brand before the logo does. Two projects where the words had to reach a very broad audience, young people included.

Only if the city is part of what you sell. A name carrying Manchester reassures customers in the North West and tells people where you come from, but it can get in the way the day you open in Leeds, London or Lyon. Bruno raises the question at the workshop: where will the business be in ten years? The city’s two football clubs never had that problem, mind you.

By putting them to the test rather than taking a vote. Bruno has you say each finalist over the phone, write it into an introductory sentence and picture it on an invoice or a shop sign. The name that passes without needing extra explanation is usually the right one. The first-day favourite, rarely: we all grow attached to whatever we heard last.

Bruno allows six to eight weeks on average for a naming project, from kick-off workshop to vetted finalists. It varies with what’s being named, how many markets you’re targeting and who has to make the call. A name that also needs protecting in the EU means extra searches, since the UK register has been separate since Brexit. The timetable is agreed at the workshop.