The name of your brief is like the label on the door of your home. Whether you use a title that disposes of, or you bet on simple welcoming, it depends on both – the common policy of the company and the type of the specific assignment.
Think about what you want to say with this name – that the product is new, that it has an abstract concept, that there is a dynamic in its performance or the advantages? Do you want these things to appear in the title at all, or will you go for a mysterious string? After all, the headline is like the cover of a book – it could be strongly appealing to your future partner in executing the task or – on the contrary – remain unnoticed or ignored.
Usually, each organization has a distinct style for naming – it could be a provocative one, an extremely simple, or clearly unique. So you can use the old patterns, or you can go in a new direction depending on the activity.
Focus on the “tonality” of the name. Will you include a hint of the brand culture in the name of the brief? Decide about what kind of feeling you want the title to provoke, what impact should it make. You have diverse options for creating the name – use real words; invent a new word composed of existing ones; or design a fictitious one – not known and not related to anything familiar.
The name can focus on the specific type of activity, but not necessarily. Like for example just “New Website”, “New Campaign”.
In case you hesitate, use brainstorming. Choose two, three, or more persons from your team, and let everyone share their suggestions – without any limitations or judgments at first. And then, select a proper name together or let one word lead you with associations to the next one until you meet your choice.
Also powerful is using any of the proven concepts for finding a solution. For example, the six thinking hats. Edouard de Bono’s method is a creative approach, known for its effectiveness and applied to provoke reflection and analysis. You can either appoint six colleagues or be one of them yourself and take on the role of the decision-maker. Or opt for “covering” all hats on your own and dive into the different roles. But beware – even though it is really fun, this will require certain skills to assure you can split yourself into different personas at the same time.
Each perspective, each point of view is symbolized by a hat with a specific colour. The white one is about the information needed, pure calculations and facts with no space for interpretation. The red one is related to feelings and intuition, legitimizes emotion as an important part of the decision making process. When you put on the black hat, explain why something won’t happen or is not good to happen. In this case – which name won’t be relevant. The hat with the yellow colour is about optimism and a positive attitude when choosing. The green hat is a symbol of creative thinking and creativity. And with the blue hat, you ‘put on’ the leadership role. If at some point the common thinking reaches a dead end, the person with the blue hat has to revive the collaboration.
Once you have created a name, check how to effectively plan the timeline of your brief. Read more about it in our next article.
