‘How it was named’ is a series where I explore the creation of brand names that have caught my interest. This edition features Cléa Hernandez of Mythograph 

 

1] Tell us about Mythograph; what do you do?

 

I’ve been calling it a brand storytelling boutique… I do brand strategy, brand messaging and with that, content strategy and copywriting.

 

But the way that I’m developing Mythograph to be different is that I’m focusing on creating a community with the brands that I’m helping people birth.

 

2] And why do you do it?

 

I really want to help companies shine by helping create their ‘tribes’. And you do that by speaking with the people on the ground — the ones creating the story and the culture and being the lifeblood of the company. You want to understand what attracted them here, what keeps them going. Is there purpose in their job? How do they connect that to the greater purpose of what the company does? Because those are the important stories. Those are the ones that are going to create a lasting effect in terms of the brand. 

 

My brain just works in stories, it’s a compulsion… as though I was designed to listen, to take in stories, to take abstract information and create a narrative around it. And I do it because I’m stubbornly idealistic and I really believe that we can solve all of the world’s problems if we’re communicating with each other in the right way.

 

When it comes down to it, it’s about cultivating a sense of shared meaning.

 

3] What values inform your ‘why’?

 

Structured idealism — creating the space to dream and to believe by building the frameworks that support that. 

 

I value collective progress; listening and having compassion are a huge part of that… listening to understand and not just sell.

 

I have a real reverence for words, for language, that is critical to the work I do and how I do it. I believe that you should be very intentional with what you say and how you say it. Because you don’t know who or what it’s going to affect or what cycles it’s going to set into motion (you can see this playing out in a lot of areas of our world right now, where we live in this post-trust era… no one believes leaders anymore. And I think it’s because we’ve been lied to so much.)

 

4] How did you end up with the name Mythograph? (did you work with an agency, undertake trademark searches and registration, indicative costs…)

 

I don’t *really* remember but it was in one of those very random yet mundane moments where creativity just strikes… It just kind of came to me in a flash and I was like, “Huh, what a cool word.”  

 

I do think I was thinking about the *process* of storytelling in that moment. And then this idea just kind of came to me because it was the idea of companies/brands existing as modern, living myths, legends and stories; and then how to tell those stories as they’re unfolding, in a way that’s *lesson based*… something that drives collective progress, that’s not just about money but about understanding.

 

After the word came to me, I looked it up to see if it was a real word, and ‘mythography’ is! It’s both the representation of mythical subjects in art, and a critical compilation of myths. So for instance, Joseph Campbell was a mythographer. And now I think of myself as a brand mythographer. I’m entrenching the brand essence by combining the creative, expansive idea of mythology and an intentional, analytical way of plotting the story.

 

I have done naming strategies before and I did do my due diligence in terms of ‘who am I trying to appeal to? Is this going to resonate?’. In terms of trademark searching, I only did a knockout search on the WIPO website.

 

5] What did you almost call it before deciding on ‘Mythograph’?

 

I didn’t. Mythograph felt so real and present and inevitable. It just felt so right. And the more I spoke it, the more I told people, the more real it felt. The more I started to actually use it in my work, the more it solidified as a core concept in what I do now.

 

6] How important is a business name according to you?

 

Oh my god, on a scale of 1–10, I think it’s probably not a 10, but it’s a nine. It is one of the most important assets of the brand, for sure.

 

For example, I put out a proposal recently in response to an RFP (Request for Proposal) for a non-profit and their name is an acronym. “Nobody’s going to give a shit about you with a name like that”, I recall thinking, and part of their RFP was that they wanted a name strategy, which is awesome! They’re aware of the name not really working to their advantage.

 

There’s so many other aspects of a great brand that you can get away with a name that’s not the most perfect name ever, and it’ll be fine, you won’t notice anything. But when you have the right name, there is a resonance that happens with everyone who uses it. It becomes such a part of the zeitgeist.

 

Brands are like people, they are archetypes — the way that we relate to them is very personal. Like with Sleight of Brand! That name has so much personality which gives it so much power… I immediately think I have a connection with that, with you, through the name of your company.

 

7] What one thing do you wish people were aware of about your area of expertise/industry? 

 

There is a lot of strategy that goes into it, a lot of research.

 

If you’re getting something that was just pulled out of someone’s ass — even if it’s very slickly designed — if it doesn’t tie with your competitive landscape, your industry, your target audience, what they are, what they need or want etc, it’s not fit for purpose.

 

Yes, it’s creative work, but it’s also deeply, deeply research driven. There’s this perennial misalignment sometimes between strategists and non-strategists where non-strategists are being purely creative, iterating on an idea, sort of riffing like a jazz musician. They can come up with so many amazing things, but it *has* to be built on strategy to work as it needs to.

 

8] Question for funsies! Fill in the blank: Whatever you do, don’t _____ 

 

Lie.

 

Whatever you do, don’t lie because either they can smell it right away or it comes out in the wash at some point.