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Colorado Man Shares Keys To Naming Businesses

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May 29, 2008 6:02 am US/Mountain

Colorado Man Shares Keys To Naming Businesses

Written for cbs4denver.com by Tom Mustin

Reporting
Tom Mustin
DENVER (CBS4) ― Hank Fisher has spent most of his life in the "naming" business. Since 1985, the Denver native has come up with names for more than 200 businesses and products, everything from the Maxus Energy Corporation, to familiar names like Avista Bank and Centura Bank.

Fisher sat down with CBS4's Tom Mustin to talk about the naming and branding business, and what led him to his current position.

"What you're trying to do is tell people who you are, by the name," says Fisher. "Also what you do and how well you do it. If you don't have those three things working you don't have a brand."

Fisher runs the Transum Company, a branding and naming business, from his Denver home office. The seeds for his future life were planted when he graduating from University of Colorado in 1973 with a degree in Sociology.

"I was doing anything, I could to write and study people and their behavior," says Fisher.

Twenty-five years later, he's a known player in a high stakes game where millions of dollars are sometimes hanging in the balance.

"If you don't deliver on what you say, what people assume you're going to deliver on, you're going to flop," Fisher says.

His office is littered with the sources of his inspiration, everything from biology and astrology books, to Latin dictionaries.

Fisher also credits his life experiences for helping him come up with names.

"Running a hot dog cart in Cherry Creek to painting houses to driving trucks, to publishing, I think each of those has contributed," he says.

Fisher says a catchy name can promote consumer awareness, but it's up to the product itself to deliver on the promise.

After meeting with clients to discuss their product, Fisher's strategy is to create a name that's distinctive, legally available, and showcases the client in the best possible light.

"It's not magic," says Fisher. "I really is just good basic business and now and then you hit one that works. That's the fun part."

The road to success is paved with famous failures from the Edsel to the Chevy Nova, which in Spanish means literally "doesn't go." It consequently flopped in Mexico.

"Chevy Nova, meaning new like the celestial, the astronomical term. But somebody didn't do their homework and it went to Mexico and it won't go," laughs Fisher.

Fisher says products need to continually evolve and improve. He uses last year's Colorado Rockies as an example.

"They rise above expectations and suddenly you say Colorado Rockies and they're selling their paraphernalia. They can't keep up with the orders. This year my guess is you can pick your price you want to pay," says Fisher.

Fisher runs his company while also working full time as a Director of Client Servicers for Sholar Architecture and Construction. He says it's an easy balance because in both cases he truly loves what he does.

Meanwhile for companies asking the question what's in a name? Hank Fisher has the answer.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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