As a long time gym rat, I’m always on the look out for the “New New Thing” to keep in shape and keep it interesting.

The most effective prescription I’ve discovered is called CrossFit.

It’s a place where you’ll meet Fran, Cindy, Michael, and Annie – and you just might experience a “Fight Gone Bad” and “The Twelve Nights of Christmas.”

In case you’re not clued in, all of the above are workouts – often named after American military personnel killed in the line of duty.

A central tenant to CrossFit is that “routine is the enemy.”  As a result, exercise routines are changed daily, with a continual stream of WODs (Workout of the Day) popping up.

It’s a workout that my wife says I’m way too old for, and I can’t deny injurying myself once or twice, but the rush that I feel after such a regiment, is unbeatable – not to mention an amazingly supportive commraderie that develops among “crossfitters.”

Part of what makes CrossFit alluring is that’s it’s the “anti-gym”—especially when it comes to marketing.   Yes, the main brand is vigorously protected, but they’ll never spend a dime on advertising.   All the local gyms name themselves, come up with their own tagline, use their blog as a real community hub, constantly update it with photos, videos and comments of actual members – a real case study on a better way to market.  And guess, what?  Powerful naming is at its core.

While a lot of it is very online, CrossFit relies on tried and true offline tactics too.   Collecting T-shirts is a common practice, as local uniqueness is celebrated.

At my gym, some new t-shirts are hanging on the wall.

On the front is NYC, Crossfit.  On the back is the tagline, “Be Hard to Kill.”

http://crossfitnyc.com/

From NYC to L.A., there’s SoHo, NoHo, SoCal etc. Call it user generated “geo” branding – probably the best strategy to turn a dot on a map into a “go to” destination.

So when you’re trying to sell ice cream in Western Mass, what’s a transplant from L.A. to do?

Dan Mazursky didn’t call his place “Berkshire Ice Cream”, or even try to concoct some sweet sounding name. Instead, on his website he describes what he gave birth to:

“In 2005, Danny bought the NE sector of the business. Ready for a fresher, hipper image that reflects the local roots yet urbane sensibility of the Berkshires, Danny renamed the business SoCo creamery (South County Creamery) and introduced the brand with a new logo in rich, smooth colors.”

In Great Barrington, Mass, where this store is based (and my home away from home), you’ll be hard pressed to find big franchise brands, especially on Railroad Street, which feels like you’ve stepped onto a movie set depicting the late 1800s.

Like a cherry on top of your favorite dessert, SoCo Creamery – and its inviting logo and sign – makes the street that much more special.

It’s a name that’s also the epitome of local, phonetically pleasing, memorable – and the product tastes even better. Just ask some of its most fiercely loyal customers, starting with my three kids, who don’t just ask for ice cream, but instead ask (rather, demand) to go to SoCo!

Where do I begin in singling out killer company names?

Last Sunday night, I got some unexpected inspiration when helping my wife fold the laundry (btw, in my experience, a better tactic than flowers in making up with your significant other).

While hard at work folding the kids’ clothes, I caught myself staring at a size 6 hand me down t-shirt and then it hit me. Yes, the story of two brothers scrambling to sell t-shirts from the back of a van, having the guts to call their fledgling company, Life is Good!

Talk about faith and vision!

Their detractors, perhaps even some of their die-hard supporters, family and friends included, might have then uttered: “You can’t call a company that!”

Admit the veto power of that damn line. How many of us have either thought it, heard it, or said it, during an “ideation” session to find the elusive company name? In other words, you got caught in the trap of nixing a name because it didn’t fit into the “conventional” notion of what a company name “should” be.

Let me quote the late great behavioral therapist Albert Ellis who warned us to stop “should-ing on ourselves”.

In my view, Life is Good, is more than just a cool name that’s caught on, it’s a great symbol of the emancipation of naming protocols. Despite being covered in “Nice” and “Feel Good”, Life is Good is actually naughty in its taboo breaking impact.

To take a phrase that’s so utterly optimistic, so non-commercial, so universal in its appeal, so unexpected, is a mark of genius – and combine it with a playful and childish logo, created by one of the founders no less, in a style that many others have since tried to copy. Talk about a viral message that people can pass on online and off, from bumper stickers to bags.

If some religious dude would have proclaimed, “Life is Good”, as I’m sure countless have, it would have fallen on deaf ears. But package it right, give it color, get people wearing it, and it’s golden.

Speaking of which, loosening the old school naming conventions from naming a business after yourself (so immodest, don’t you think?) or boring initials (IBM will never make this blog), shouldn’t be confused for total “anything goes” either.

Some names, no matter how “creative” and out there they are, just plain suck. There’s subjective, and then there’s subjective.

Life is Good has long topped my personal list of favorite brands and is a great way to officially kick off the Ruseter Roster of top names and taglines.

Last fall, the Wall Street Journal had a front-page story lamenting the supposed fact that all the cool names for rock bands have already been taken.  This “end of history” like conclusion seemed pretty ass backwards.  But it did inspire me to sit on it for a while and give birth to an alternative narrative.

Namely, pun intended, we’re actually still in the early stages of a new era of naming companies, products, organizations, causes etc. that embraces what’s fun, sometimes naughty, and usually non-obvious.  Sure, the days are gone when you can name your band after an insect, or your brand after your favorite fruit, but next gen names unearth a whole range of new possibilities: alt txt lingo, entries from urban dictionaries, obscure foreign utterances, sometimes deliberate and audacious misspellings and “bolting on” words and parts of words to create a totally new identity … Ruseter being the latest such creation! (Mr Lutz, my inspiring old school English teacher at Beverly Hills High, is no doubt rolling over in his grave.)

Over the years, I’ve taken on my fair share of naming assignments — but unlike people on Mad Ave — almost always with less time, less money and lacking the advertising budget to turn a test tube like Verizon or Accenture into a household name.

As I drove to Shakespeare and Co in Lenox, Mass to hear the reading of the Declaration of Independence on July 4^th, my wife reminded me that it was old Bill himself who asked, “What’s in a Name”?  Turns out, not just for tragic and heroic figures on stage, a hell of a lot rides on what organizations, big and small call themselves.

Of course, in this sense the Journal piece was spot on, these days finding “the name” is often less a creative exercise than a legal and URL minefield.  But despite the price, the exhaustion, the frustration, the obsession — nailing the name is the first step in building the brand.

As I quite literally bump into words that turn me on, I’m going to anoint especially cool names, slogans, and titles on the Ruseter Roster.  Feel free to do the same, and let’s crow it together.