The brief

Based in Paris, ShakHR (pronounced ‘shaker’) was a start-up created to ‘shake things up’ in the fast-growing freelance world.

Backed by global HR giant Adecco, the platform specialises in matching skilled professionals in key sectors with big-name organisations – offering support and benefits for freelancers and a roster of top, reliable talent for corporate clients.

But the name was ill-conceived, hard to pronounce and anything but catchy. Our client wanted a complete rebrand, with a new name to reflect their fresh, people-focused approach.

The process

In a huge break with convention, we agreed to create the new brand and name in a 2-week sprint process. This allowed only a few days for naming (intermittently to allow full trademark checking).

The challenge was formidable, so I created a tailor-made approach. In a one-day workshop including creatives and clients, I ran through the preliminary steps (competitor landscape, limitations, strategies etc.) before running a series of intensive 20-minute brainstorming sessions based around creative territories and specific name formation techniques. To save time, we ran preliminary trademark checks live.

The session was exhausting. Our clients left drained, but thrilled. We had a shortlist, with five names everyone felt passion for.  

The final name

Generated in the brainstorming session, I recognised that Yoss had the fresh challenger feel and impact our client wanted.

Especially since I devised the tagline that hits freelancers’ emotional sweet-spot: ‘Your Own Boss.’ I wrote a compelling rationale, citing the use of the word in internet memes as a life-affirming, fist-pumping ‘Yes’ that comes straight from the gut. Our client loved the idea, and duly went ahead.

To our mutual delight, Yoss won a bronze award for naming strategy at the 2018 Transform Awards.