A Strategic Brand Creation Practice
Strong brand creation begins with strategic convergence
Organizations move faster and execute more successfully when leadership converges around a singular strategic intent before creation begins.
Without alignment, brand creation drifts into compromise.
The branding industry has become sophisticated at managing strategic divergence.
Few resolve it before execution begins.
Brand strategy processes defer convergence until weeks into the engagement. Alignment is difficult to achieve through presentations, particularly when leadership teams are divided by functions, geographies, and competing priorities.
What follows is a cycle of negotiation and executive friction. Ultimately, organizations move forward not with the most strategically precise solution, but the most broadly acceptable one.
Brands enter the market strategically muted, forcing downstream execution to manufacture distinction.
Built for decisive brand creation.
Brand Oneness™ uses co-creation to bring the organization together at the outset. Not to present strategy. To define it.
RareForces unites the organization’s most informed voices to resolve a singular strategic foundation: the critical audience, their most consequential unmet need, and the value required to command preference.
We call this strategic center point the Brand Bullseye.
It becomes the standard that focuses invention, accelerates decision-making, and underpins conceptual execution across the life of the brand.
Align first. Or miss the mark.
Most brand processes broaden exploration. We focus organizations on the precise value required to command preference.
Strategy defines the opportunity.
It does not create the name.
Naming is where strategy first becomes tangible.
A brand creates value by resolving a meaningful human need for a specific audience. Not broadly. Not abstractly. But precisely.
The strongest names emerge from a deep understanding of human motivation and the ability to express strategic value artfully through language.
Brand creation that is grounded in strategy. Shaped by human understanding.
We give leaders the confidence to decide.
For analytically driven organizations, the subjectivity of naming invites skepticism. Naming often devolves into an opinion-led beauty contest.
Our Brand Bullseye establishes a precise standard for evaluation.
Names are no longer judged on instinct. They are assessed against the strategy the client team has agreed to pursue. Decisions become objective.
We don’t just deliver names.
We deliver confidence.
Every name is rigorously screened for trademark, regulatory, and URL availability before presentation.
Some agencies resort to names that are purposely awkward to pass these demanding reviews.
RareForces creates names that are not only viable, but align with strategy, resonate with audiences, and are aesthetically refined.
That requires mastery.
Clearance is essential. Resonance builds the brand.
Screening and research are essential.
Great names demand more.
Why RareForces?
We align organizations around a singular expression of value before brand creation begins.
Precisely defined brands. Aligned across the organization.
No guesswork.
Decisions are made with conviction. Timelines stay on track.
Strategic clarity accelerates execution and produces brands built to perform.
Let’s talk.
connect@rareforces.com
+1 646 481 7130
Built in Silicon Valley.
Proven in global enterprise.
Brand Oneness has been applied across digital health platforms, connected technologies, automotive brands and architectures, drug delivery systems and devices, and emerging intelligent platforms where strategic precision strengthens long-term brand performance.
Billion dollar brand names.
Wi-Fi was created by Edward Saenz and Lucien Etori for WECA to simplify and standardize wireless networking.
Inspired by Hi-Fi, the rhythmic name signaled a universal standard, fast, interoperable, and reliable.
“Wireless Fidelity” was briefly introduced, but the name quickly proved it needed no explanation.
Wi-Fi has no official valuation. Yet it may be one of the most economically powerful names ever created.
Expedia was developed for a Microsoft travel venture.
Research showed that audiences experienced travel booking as time-consuming and complex.
The name was designed to signal a simple idea: expedited travel planning.
Today, Expedia Group’s market capitalization is approximately $25 billion a reflection of the enduring power of a name aligned to a clear audience need.
The name Sempra Energy was created for the merger of Enova and San Diego Gas & Electric.
With a subtle nod to Semper Fidelis—a reference the CEOs and Chairmen responded to well, the name was designed to convey enduring strength, stability, and the ability to deliver energy solutions reliably, without fail.
Today, Sempra’s market capitalization is approximately $60 billion.
The name Herceptin and the INN trastuzumab was created for Genentech’s HER2 targeted oncology therapy.
At its peak, Herceptin generated approximately $7 billion in annual revenue, and continues to deliver $1.5–2+ billion globally despite biosimilar competition.
The name Kisqali was created for Novartis’ targeted oncology therapy.
Designed to feel distinctive, modern, and globally adaptable, the name balances scientific credibility with memorability in a highly regulated category.
Kisqali has become a leading therapy in its class, generating approximately $2–3+ billion in annual global revenue.
Select Naming Work.
Leadership
Edward Saenz
Managing Director, Founder
Edward is a strategic naming leader advising executive teams on consequential brand decisions. He specializes in high-stakes engagements where alignment, scrutiny, and timing leave little margin for error.
He co-founded Interbrand’s San Francisco office and later founded Gravity Branding, advising Fortune 100 enterprises and technology ventures since 2000. His work includes globally recognized names such as Wi-Fi®, EXPEDIA.com®, HERCEPTIN®, KISQALI®, Nissan XTERRA®, and Sempra Energy®.
Having seen naming efforts falter under unmanaged opinion, Edward developed the Brand Oneness framework to establish alignment before creative development begins. His distinction lies not simply in creativity, but in bringing discipline and clarity to moments where leadership must decide with confidence.
Johanna Pino
Executive Director
Johanna advises executive teams on complex brand and naming initiatives where alignment and structure are critical. With nearly three decades of experience across global enterprises and founder-led organizations, she brings disciplined process and clear facilitation to moments that require strategic consensus.
Her background spans leadership roles in brand strategy and design, guiding work for companies including Intel, PlayStation, Starbucks, and Novartis. As the author of The Elements of Branding, she champions a rigorous, phased approach that replaces “design by committee” with clarity and measurable direction.
Johanna is known for bringing order to complexity, ensuring that brand systems and identities are anchored in business objectives and supported by leadership commitment.
Michelle Andreotti
Executive Creative Director
Michelle leads identity and brand system development for organizations navigating high-stakes transformation. With more than twenty-five years of experience at global brand consultancies in New York, she brings disciplined creative leadership to complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Her work spans comprehensive brand programs across healthcare, energy, financial services, and consumer sectors. Michelle contributes from the earliest stages of brand creation, translating strategic direction into clear visual frameworks that make decisions tangible. By rendering workshop materials and naming explorations with precision and realism, she helps leadership teams envision how strategy will perform in the real world.
Her strength lies in ensuring that brand expression is structurally sound, scalable, and aligned with business objectives from inception through implementation.
Selected clients.