Inventors Helping Inventors #518 - Product naming and branding guru helps inventors - Alexandra Watkins
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Jun 16, 2025 In this engaging conversation, product naming and branding expert Alexandra Watkins shares her journey from ad agencies to founding Eat My Words. Notably, she created the iconic Baconator name for Wendy's. Alexandra discusses the art of crafting memorable names, the potential pitfalls of culturally insensitive branding, and debunks the myth surrounding Chevrolet's Nova. She also introduces her SMILE approach for effective naming, emphasizing creativity and thematic consistency, while cautioning against over-reliance on focus groups. A must-listen for inventors!
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How A Baconator Launched A Career
- Alexandra Watkins left advertising and built a naming career, naming Wendy's Baconator early in her freelance work.
- That success launched a nearly 20-year career in product naming and branding for big and small clients.
Don't Let Focus Groups Kill Names
- Avoid killing bold names with over-reliance on focus groups that favor familiarity over creativity.
- Use an objective evaluation instead of asking friends what they "think" of a name.
Use An Objective Name Test
- Use a simple, repeatable evaluation for names to remove subjective bias.
- Try the Eat My Words 12-point "SMILE and SCRATCH" test to judge names objectively.
