April 24, 2002. Silicon Valley, CA. Brighter Naming announced today that Athol Foden, their president, has started a completely new list of names to criticize by their staff as well as by the public at large. Years ago Athol started the popular Name of the Week column at the first naming agency he co-founded, and thoroughly enjoyed the feedback it generated from around the world.

There are industry analysts for technology, consumer products, finance and every industry specialization. There are music, TV and film critics, as well as competitions and prizes for creative endeavors such as writing, journalism, public relations and advertising. But there are few, if any, other naming critics for commercial naming work. So the de facto default has been the spokespeople for the prominent naming agencies - but only when called upon to do so by the press. The Name Critic section of Brighter Naming's website will be more proactive in encouraging debate, criticism, and feedback on important company, product and service names from around the world. In due course, all who have access to the internet will be able to vote online so that proper survey data can also be obtained.

"Names have the capacity to inspire, to motivate, to focus efforts, to describe brands, products and companies," said Athol Foden. "Names are not brands, but rather the title of the complete brand promise. They can have a huge emotional impact on the marketing image as well as that of the management team, employees and buying public. Yet only for a few people are they a continual and powerful source of fascination, inspiration and despair."

Can and should awards be given for creativity in names and logos as well, and how will this be judged? What are the current name trends and styles? And how are they evolving? These are some of the further questions that will be researched and discussed in the critic's forum, just like the American Naming Society studies and discusses people and place names in an academic context.

Brighter Naming is Silicon Valley's full service independent naming agency, providing names for all sizes of companies, products, services and other agencies worldwide. Their methodical management name convergence process uses an international team of namers on every project and they may be reached at www.BrighterNaming.com or 650-960-0411.