Brand strategy and name design

People don’t buy products;
they buy better versions
of themselves.

Brand Strategy

Phantom Actor challenges organisations to identify and articulate what makes them special in ways that are meaningful to people. This is required to establish brand.

Brand communicates your differentiation. Hallmarks of good brand include clarity of purpose and competitive positioning, understanding what is meaningful to consumers, and a dedication to aesthetics…

Why aesthetics? Because it’s the language of feeling, and, in a society that is information-rich and time-poor, people value feeling more than information.

A fact that hits home as brand value is now most companies’ single biggest asset. More than 84 per cent of the Standard & Poor’s 500 companies’ market capitalisation consists of intangible assets. About half of that comes from brand.

In 1980 virtually the entire market capitalisation of the S&P 500 consisted of tangible assets. Today, the value of intangible assets are five times greater than tangibles for most major businesses.

For S&P 500 companies, tangibles, like real estate and equipment, comprise just 16 per cent of company value, while intangibles, such as IP rights and the brand, make up 84 per cent.

A company’s brand now accounts for a significant portion of its market cap, often ranging from 10 to 50 per cent or more, depending on the specific company and market conditions.

Name design

We design and test product, company, and brand names.

Customers today don’t like to be sold. They like to buy, and, when confronted with the clutter of me-too offerings, they tend to buy based on what they value. “If I buy this, what does that make me?”

A good name is a banner for that special identity. It hones and simplifies the story that people use to understand you and what you can do for them.

Thanks to evolution and our need to survive, our brains manufacture these stories in seconds, and according to research, you only get once chance to nail it. There is never really an opportunity to replace a first impression. This matters because first impressions will shape every decision people make when interacting with a product, company, or brand name.

This leaves as little as .033 seconds to frame your enterprise.

Phantom Actor guides its clients through strategic brand assessments that ensure the tip of the spear—name—is efficient and effective.

Recent Projects

Co-venture

Our little slice of California here in Western Canada

In partnership with Chef Erin Smandych, Phantom Actor is bringing LA-style pizza to Western Canada. Fuckin’za—or Fun’za to the kiddos—is also an exclusive importer of New World olive oils, such as Brightland® and California Olive Ranch®, and healthy soda alternative Olipop®.

Phantom Actor is working with San Francisco’s Bluedot to introduce their geofencing technology to Canada for the first time. Named by Fast Company as the Most Innovative Company in Hospitality for 2022, Fn’za will use it to encourage Canadians to spend more time enjoying urban sports and activities.