Cameron McNeill likes to name names.

No, McNeill is not the modern-day version of Deep Throat, the recently identified source who squealed on the culprits in the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. McNeill, a partner in Vancouver-based McNeill and Craik Real Estate Solutions Inc. (MAC), which markets and sells large-scale residential developments, often has the final say in determining a project's handle.

"A name is a different label that we use to differentiate ourselves from other projects," says McNeill, who has been a real estate marketer for 13 years.

Ultimately, he says, the name is a small part of the overall development - but it's a critically important part. And McNeill is one of many real estate marketing specialists who must come up with unique monikers for projects in B.C.'s booming and increasingly competitive residential market.

Bayne Stanley, Business Edge
Cameron McNeill, left, and Jason Craik in front of their award-winning 'Qube'.

What's in a name? Everything.

A project's name, he says, must resonate with its target market, convey a sense of community and be memorable.

"I don't like names that are generic and forgettable," says McNeill.

He's doing something right, because MAC ranks among the top of B.C.'s condo marketers and sellers. The firm has sold approximately 1,300 homes so far this year.

Working with teams comprising developers, marketers and others, McNeill has come up with names for projects that quickly sell out. The monikers are as diverse as the districts in which the projects are built.

Qube - a conversion of an office tower at Georgia and Jervis streets in downtown Vancouver, which was known because it was built from the top down 30 years ago - was an exception because it came quickly to McNeill and others who participated in a brainstorming session. Other names can take a month or longer to determine.

The $60-million cube-shaped structure, developed by Anthem Properties, helped MAC win a Canadian Home Builders' Association Georgie Award for the best marketing campaign in 2004. The Copper Sky project in the Steveston area of Richmond, which was derived from the famous Tall Ships flotilla that visited there, won MAC the same award in 2003.

Park 360 in Burnaby earned its name because it is surrounded by parks. On the other hand, McNeill chose the name Olive for a condo and retail development at 16th Avenue and Cambie Street in Vancouver because it will have a Capers grocery store at ground level. Olive, he says, conveys the message of "gourmet living."

The name Elan - for a 23-storey project at 1299 Seymour Street in Vancouver - was determined from a contest where the winner received a discount off the price of one of the condo units.

"They weren't just doing it to win a trip to Vegas," he notes.

Jason Craik, McNeill's partner in MAC, says Realtors and developers believe a good name helps bring out the personality and soul of a project. Developers can't take a name lightly; they must "think it through thoroughly," he says.

He and McNeill like to get together in a room for one day with all partners, consultants and stakeholders to crunch names.

"It's an idea session," he says. "Obviously, we have to build the right product for the right market. So once we find out who those people are and who those hypothetical profiles are - and there are usually multiple ones for each product we do - we have to design units for them.

"What also comes out of (their profiles) is their style, what they eat, what they smell, how they dress, what they drive. So we get a sense of the look, feel, style - what appeals to them. Now that we've determined what the mix and what the unit sizes are going to be and everything else, we have to determine how to reach them - and that comes through naming a project and finding the soul and personality of the project."

For example, he says, a traditional name won't necessarily work for a younger group of consumers. A name should also reflect some legacy to honour the project's uniqueness and distinct architecture.

Sheri Wisnowski, an associate with Vancouver-based Monkey Forest Consulting Ltd., which helps promote developments while assisting developers with community engagement, community development and public communication, says names mean "everything" to a project.

"It's a brand-building exercise," says Wisnowski. "There's a lot that can be communicated through the name."

The name conveys messages about the property's location - which is critical to the project's success - as well as the lifestyle in the area and the aspirations of people in the target market.

"We all make emotional connections through names," says Wisnowski, adding people who don't hear names tend to become disconnected. "Personal names are very important."

In Wisnowski's opinion, younger buyers are more influenced by names than older buyers. However, older buyers see much more advertising than younger buyers, so a project's name must still appeal to the older age group.

A project's name reflects residents' perceptions of where they are in life.

A name goes through a lot of brainstorming sessions and then gets "broken down" into different marketing strategies.

Brainstorming sessions often involve developers, marketers and focus groups, although not everyone does focus groups.

"It really comes down to a vision being communicated about a project and how that vision will be perceived or translated by the consumers, and the emotional connection that they could possibly develop as consumers," says Wisnowski.

She prefers names that reflect addresses, such as Two Harbour Green, located in Vancouver's Coal Harbour, or Chancellor House, at UBC.

When developing names, she often likes to use a play on words or rewrite words in a unique form. But fancy words don't always work.

She points to townhouses known as Azure - a version of the colour blue - on Beach Crescent near the foot of the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver. Most people know the development as Beach Crescent rather than its actual name.

"(The name Azure) doesn't reflect the location," says Wisnowski. "I see no blue there whatsoever."

(Monte Stewart can be reached at monte@businessedge.ca)