Catchword (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Naming, Branding |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California; US |
Number of locations | 2[1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Maria Cypher, Mark Skoultchi |
| Services | Company Naming Product and Service Naming Naming Strategy Naming Architecture Linguistic Analysis Brand Strategy Brand Positioning Preliminary Screening Brand Research Brandable Domains Visual Identity |
| Website | catchwordbranding.com |
Catchword is an American branding firm founded in 1998. With offices in California and New Jersey, Catchword has created brands such as Upwork, Asana, Versant for NBCUniversal’s cable networks, Popcornmeter for Rotten Tomatoes, and Pippit for ByteDance. In addition to naming, the company provides brand strategy, visual identity, and brandable domain names.[2]
Corporate history
Catchword was founded in May 1998 as a naming agency by Maria Cypher, Laurel Sutton, and Burt Alper. The company initially focused on technology and start-up companies, but later broadened its scope to cover other industries.[3] In January 2001, Mark Skoultchi joined the company to head East Coast operations at its New Jersey office. Since 2014, the company has been headed by Cypher and Skoultchi.[3][4] In 2022, the company expanded its services and locations to two additional offices in the Denver area and in Calgary, Canada.[5]
Services
Services offered by Catchword include company and product naming, naming strategy and architecture, linguistic analysis, trademark prescreening, brand strategy and positioning, logos and visual identity systems.[6][7][8]
Catchword reviews brand names and provides naming and branding tips and insights on its website.[9] The company also runs the online site PopNamer, featuring name games in which the general public submits name ideas for trends, social phenomena and existing products and companies.[10][11] Catchword also operates The Catchword Accelerator, a marketplace for brandable domain names.[12]
Work
Catchword has created notable company and product names, such as Asana, Versant (NBCU/Comcast), Refreshers (Starbucks), Atlas (Volkswagen), Upwork, Also (Rivian), Popcornmeter (Rotten Tomatoes), Snap'd and Puff'd (Cheez-It), Pippit (ByteDance), Circaloft (The North Face), Maxsight (Moody's), Vuity (Allergan), Medallia, The Bridgespan Group, Keysight (Agilent), ClearCurve and Fibrance (Corning), Optane and Arc (Intel), Maxify (Canon), Vantara (Hitachi), and Nature's Promise (Ahold).[13][14][15][16][17]
Catchword has created wordmarks and logos for Fullsight,[18] TailFin,[19] Catalyx,[20] and PaperPie.[18]
Catchword’s clients include Aetna, Allergan, Amazon, AMC Networks, Boston Scientific, ByteDance, California State Bar, Canon USA, Capital One, CBRE, The Clorox Company, Corning, Dole Foods, Dunkin' Brands, Fitbit, General Motors, Hitachi, The Home Depot, Intel, McDonald's, PwC, Royal Bank of Canada, Safeway, SEGA, Stack Overflow, Stryker, Tik Tok, Uber, Unilever, and Wells Fargo.[13][14][15][21][22][23]
Awards and recognition
| Competition | Year | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Hermes Creative Awards | 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 | Gold, Platinum |
| MarCom Awards | 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 | Gold, Platinum |
| MUSE Creative Awards | 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025 | Gold, Silver |
| Transform Awards - North America | 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 | Silver, Bronze |
| London International Awards | 2016 | Silver[44] |
| C2A (Creative Communication) Awards | 2022, 2023 | Winner, Honorable Mention |
Catchword has also been recognized by Clutch, DesignRush and Influencer Marketing Hub for several years.[47][48][49]
References
- ^ "Contact". Catchword. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ Schellhorn, Eric (26 July 2004). "Firms play tough game to defend a good name". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ a b "STANFORD Magazine: November/December 2005 > Departments > on the Job". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
- ^ "20th anniversary". catchwordbranding.com/.
- ^ "Catchword expands to Denver and Calgary offices". Catchword.com. February 9, 2022.
- ^ Elliott, Stuart (13 November 2007). "Next Project for eProject: A New Name". The New York Times.
- ^ Denham, Kristin; Lobeck, Anne (2009). Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. Cengage Learning. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-4130-1589-8.
- ^ 99% Invisible (10 April 2014). "How Companies Name New Products". Slate. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Catchword Branding Name Reviews". Catchword Branding. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ "PopNamer". PopNamer. Catchword Branding. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ^ Berry, Freya; Geller, Martinne. "MegaKega? Megabrew? Beer merger plans launch corporate name game". UK Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Just The Word is now Catchword Accelerator". Official website.
- ^ a b Gabler, Neal (15 January 2015). "The Weird Science of Naming New Products". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
- ^ a b Quinn, Michelle (29 August 2007). "Dot-com names get dottier". The Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b "Metroactive Features | Mind/Body/Spirit Marketing". www.metroactive.com. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
- ^ "Catchword Profile". Clutch.co. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Catchword on DesignRush". www.designrush.com.
- ^ a b "Transform Awards North America 2023 Winners Book" (PDF). Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Catchword". The Manifest. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Catalyx – The Science of Operational Processes". Liam Foster Design. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Catchword Profile". Clutch. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Full Client List". Catchword Branding. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
- ^ "Catchword official website".
- ^ "Hermes Creative Awards Winners". Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Winner details - Soluna". Hermes Creative Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Allergan VUITY – Healthcare Product Naming (2022)". Hermes Creative Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "PaperPie – Renaming EDC's Direct Sales Division (2023)". Hermes Creative Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Vello – Veterinary Healthcare Platform (2024)". Hermes Creative Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MarCom Awards Winners". Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "WomenLift Health – Nonprofit Organization Naming". MarCom Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Ursa – Music Streaming Branding (2019)". MarCom Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Lumerate – Tech Company Rebrand (2023)". MarCom Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards – Catchword Search". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards 2020 Winner". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards 2021 Winner". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards 2022 Winner". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards 2023 Winner". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "MUSE Creative Awards 2025 Winner". MUSE Awards. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2018 Transform Awards North America Winners". Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2019 Transform Awards North America Winners". Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2020 Transform Awards North America Winners". Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2022 Transform Awards North America Winners". Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2023 Transform Awards North America Winners". Transform Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Winner details - Catchword". LIA Entries.
- ^ "Caribou – Fintech Company Rebranding (2022)". Creative Communication Awards (C2A). Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "2023 Honorable Mention – Catchword". Creative Communication Awards (C2A). Retrieved March 20, 2026.
- ^ "Top 30 Branding Agencies In California - Apr 2023 Rankings". www.designrush.com.
- ^ "Top 38 Branding Agencies You Should Work With in 2023". Influencer Marketing Hub. 27 February 2020.
- ^ "Catchword Named #1 Worldwide by Top Agency Ranker Clutch". www.prnewswire.com. December 8, 2021.