Naming is Storytelling, Just Harder - with Scott Milano

Everyone thinks they can name things. Toss some words around in a brainstorm, pick the one that sounds right, hope it passes trademark. But naming done right is storytelling compressed to its most essential form, and getting it wrong costs more than most organizations want to admit. In this episode of The Trending Communicator, host Dan Nestle reunites with Scott Milano, founder and managing director of Tanj, one of the world's top naming agencies, and the man who has named more than 1,000 brands generating trillions of global impressions. He also built ChatNamer, an AI naming assistant with thousands of monthly users, within months of ChatGPT's arrival, long before most people knew what to do with it. Dan and Scott explore why naming belongs squarely in the communications conversation, not just the brand or marketing silo. They dig into the mechanics of encoding brand DNA into a single word, what happens when organizations get it catastrophically wrong, and why AI can accelerate the process without ever replacing the judgment that makes a name land. Listen in and hear about... Why a great name is shorthand for an entire brand story The Apple vs. ExecuTech thought experiment The Jaguar rebrand: bold strategic pivot or brand homicide? How Ally Bank, Natural Bliss, and Prosperity Now demonstrate names that deliver long after launch Where AI genuinely helps in the naming process and where it reliably fails ChatNamer: what it is, why Scott built it, and what it's actually useful for Notable Guest Quotes "It is 100% storytelling. And if you get it right, you're basically encoding the DNA of the brand and like the core message of the brand right in the name." [00:08:52 – 00:09:06] "The shortest poem is a name... some very deep significance [is] encoded in that word, whether it's a personal name or certainly in our case, a brand name." [00:10:35 – 00:10:56] "Naming is as much about words as it is about people. It is a people sport." [00:49:59 – 00:50:05] "The biggest takeaway... is to not underestimate the power of a name. It's fundamental. It's the tip of the spear for any conversation, any message, any communication..." [01:01:26 – 01:01:43] Resources and Links Dan Nestle Lilypath | Website The Trending Communicator | Website Communications Trends from Trending Communicators | Dan Nestle's Substack Dan Nestle | LinkedIn Scott Milano Tanj | Website Tanj | Instagram Chatnamer | Website Scott Milano | LinkedIn Timestamps 00:00 Naming: The Creative Job Everyone Thinks They Can Do 02:01 How Dan Got His Start in Naming (Thanks to Scott) 03:43 What’s Changed in Naming—and What Hasn’t 05:45 The Effort Behind Good Names (and Dan’s Sony “BIONZ” Win) 08:00 Is Naming Just Marketing? Why It’s Actually Storytelling 09:10 The Name as the DNA of Your Brand 11:14 The Psychological and Cultural Power of Names 13:19 When Naming Goes Wrong 15:29 What Customers Really Take Away from a Name 16:19 ExecuTech vs. Apple: Branding Near Misses 18:10 Apple, Nike, and the Stories Baked into Brands 22:22 How Top Agencies Build Brand Narratives 25:40 The Chicken-and-Egg Problem: Does Brand Grow Into Name or Vice Versa? 29:17 When Public Reaction to Names Goes Sideways (Nintendo Wii & More) 31:39 Brand Overhauls: The Jaguar Example 36:27 Brand Loyalty, Employee Buy-in & Naming Success Stories 41:06 Research, Creativity, and AI in the Naming Process 45:55 AI’s True Role: Springboard, Not Storyteller 48:32 Can AI Really Name Your Company? (Spoiler: Probably Not) 55:24 The Power of Good Questions in Naming With AI 58:29 Why Human Judgment Is Non-Negotiable for Brand Names 01:01:26 The Takeaway: Never Underestimate the Power of Naming 01:03:23 Where to Learn More (and Why Naming Experts Still Matter) (Notes co-created by Human Dan, Claude, and Castmagic) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices