Starting a Marketing Firm
Interview with Alexandra Watkins, Founder of Eat My Words
Eat My Words is not an ordinary marketing firm. Meet Alexandra Watkins who brought her incredible creative spirit to founding a unique marketing firm.
Eat My Words has come up with many unusual and creative business names and tag lines.
Tell me about your current business. What are you doing exactly?
Eat My Words is a wildly creative branding firm that creates unforgettable brand names and taglines that make emotional connections with consumers, build instant affinity for the brand, and have proven Return On Investment. Some of our recent naming successes include a frozen yogurt franchise named SPOON ME, a home cleaning robot named NEATO, a gourmet ice cream store named FRIGID, a social networking website for investors named CAKE FINANCIAL, an iPod clock radio named MOONDANCE, and a natural energy drink for women from Del Monte named BLOOM. We opened in March of 2005 and we're located in a wildly colorful loft in San Francisco's SOMA district.
What were you doing before this, and is this your first business?
I was an advertising copywriter for 15 years working for both big ad agencies and eventually myself.
Who are your main competitors? How do you compete against them?
Our competitors are other naming firms. But unlike old-school naming firms who invent unapproachable names using Latin and linguistics, our names are purely conceptual. They are instantly likeable, make powerful emotional connections, and make our clients rich.
We are the only naming firm that monetizes names. For instance, Spoon Me is making a fortune selling Spoon Me t-shirts, pajamas, and booty shorts. We are so confident that we blow our competition out of the water, we have a Competitors page on our website and invite people to compare our names to their names, which we have conveniently listed in a downloadable PDF. We also link to their websites and encourage people to check them out.
How has your experience in running the business been different from what you expected?
Yes, it's been wildly fun and freeing.
Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
I wish I had charged my value from the beginning instead of low-balling my prices.
What have you done that has been very effective in helping to grow the business?
We have created a very strong brand and built long-term relationships with our clients.
What advice would you give to somebody else who wanted to start a similar business?
Stand out in the sea of sameness with an unforgettable brand.
That is great advice Alexandra. Thank you for sharing your story!
Share this article
Additional Resources for Entrepreneurs
Conversation Board
Want to share your comments on this entrepreneurial story? We welcome all comments, questions and suggestions. If you want to read more entrepreneur interviews, just browse around on the site. We've got plenty of them!