Pebble Presents

Episode 10: What 23 years of naming things teaches you with Aaron Hall

Pebble Strategy

In this episode, Pebble Presents Aaron Hall, a naming expert and founder of Emphatic Branding. Together, Emelia and Aaron discuss naming for brands, companies, and products: everything from the process and stages of naming, to the differences is between pre-screening, vetting, and linguistic analysis for name development (and why each is important). 

Aaron shares how he uses AI in his naming process and workstreams so he can deliver better work for his clients. He also helps us understand the difference between naming strategy and creative name development. 

This was an insightful conversation! If you are considering names for your brand, company, or product…this episode is right on time for you.


Emelia Rallapalli is the founder of Pebble - a brand strategy and marketing research consultancy. With decades of experience in global brand planning, strategy, and research, Pebble has helped shape businesses of all kinds, from ambitious start-ups to global Fortune 100 companies. 


Aaron Hall is a naming expert and the founder of Emphatic Branding. He’s been naming things for 23 years. He founded Emphatic a year ago because he loves sharing his passion for naming with clients.


Welcome to Pebble Presents.

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Resources

Show Notes 

0:23 - Emelia introduces today’s special guest

2:26 - Aaron shares the journey to his current profession

4:52 - Aaron divulges what makes a naming expert tick and breaks down the process of a naming expert

17:15 - Aaron defines linguistic analysis and its importance vs prescreening

20:16 - Aaron shares considerations for hiring a native speaking naming expert - and is it important?

24:28 - Emelia asks Aaron if there is a best time in the process to bring in a naming specialist, and they discuss how they named their own companies

30:21 - Aaron explains the difference between naming creative and naming strategy

33:18 - Emelia and Aaron discuss when the creation of brands, sub-brands or renaming a brand may not be the best idea

42:21 - Aaron shares what he recommends folks read to help them with naming, and the AI tools he uses to make his business flow

50:32 - Aaron participates in a lightning round with Emelia

59:32 - Emelia wraps the episode


Episode Credits

Executive Produced & Hosted by Emelia Rallapalli

Produced by Stephanie Watanabe 

Editing and Post Produced by Erin Zimmerman

Artwork and Design by Liisa Turan-Walters