# Catchword Branding

> Catchword Branding is an independent Oakland-born naming and branding consultancy whose small team turns strategy, linguistic research, trademark prescreening, domain work, and thousands of candidates into names such as Asana, Upwork, Vudu, Volkswagen Atlas, Intel Optane, and Rotten Tomatoes' Popcornmeter. Founded in 1998, the firm has expanded from specialist naming into brand strategy, visual identity, research, and a portfolio of premium domains while remaining a project-based professional-services business.

- **Founded:** 1998
- **Headquarters:** Oakland, United States
- **Founders:** Maria Cypher (Co-founder, Partner and Creative Lead), Laurel Sutton (Co-founder, Senior Strategist and Linguist), Burt Alper (Co-founder)
- **Products:** Company, product, and service naming, Naming strategy and architecture, Trademark, domain, and linguistic screening, Brand strategy and research, Visual identity
- **Notable:** Created names including Asana, Upwork, Vudu, Volkswagen Atlas, FireEye, Intel Optane, Starbucks Refreshers, Corning Valor, Vuity, Popcornmeter, Versant, and ALSO., Reports more than 750 clients, 1,500 projects, and work for 50 Fortune Global 500 companies., Ranked the #1 naming agency on Clutch every year since the category began in 2017 through at least 2026.

## Products & services

- **Company, product, and service naming** — Discovery, naming parameters, broad and deep creative development, finalist refinement, and preliminary availability screening.
- **Naming strategy and architecture** — Portfolio audits, naming systems, nomenclature, brand hierarchy, taglines, and governance for complex brand families.
- **Trademark, domain, and linguistic screening** — Preliminary trademark research, domain strategy and brokering, social availability checks, and cultural-language evaluation using native experts.
- **Brand strategy and research** — Positioning, purpose, voice, messaging, customer research, brand equity work, and quantitative or qualitative validation.
- **Visual identity** — Logos, wordmarks, visual systems, iconography, style guides, templates, and packaging design.
- **Catchword Accelerator** — A collection of roughly 2,000 premium brandable domains assembled through decades of naming and screening work.

## Achievements

- Created names including Asana, Upwork, Vudu, Volkswagen Atlas, FireEye, Intel Optane, Starbucks Refreshers, Corning Valor, Vuity, Popcornmeter, Versant, and ALSO.
- Reports more than 750 clients, 1,500 projects, and work for 50 Fortune Global 500 companies.
- Ranked the #1 naming agency on Clutch every year since the category began in 2017 through at least 2026.
- Won more than 100 creative and branding awards across naming, strategy, corporate identity, logo design, and client service.
- Named a San Francisco Business Times top women-owned business in 2021 and 2022.
- Won 2026 NYX and MUSE Silver awards for the Macmillan Learning visual identity redesign.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Won NYX Silver and MUSE Silver awards for the Macmillan Learning visual identity redesign.
- **2026-05** — Named a 2026 Clutch Global Award winner for both naming and branding.
- **2025-09** — Co-founders Maria Cypher and Laurel Sutton discussed Catchword's naming and premium-domain business on Domain Name Wire Podcast episode 551.
- **2025** — Publicized work on Versant for NBCUniversal's standalone media company, ALSO for Rivian's micromobility spinoff, and a redesigned identity for Macmillan Learning.
- **2024** — Named Rotten Tomatoes' audience score Popcornmeter and Moody's unified risk data and management offering Maxsight.

## Links

- Website: https://catchwordbranding.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/catchword-branding/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/Catchword
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/catchwordbrandnaming

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/catchword-branding
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-24