---
title: What’s in a name? (or why 18 Digital.)
description: How and why do agencies and consultants come up with business names? We look at where the name 18 Digital came from and reasons for choosing it.
image: https://18digital.ca/hubfs/Blog_images/18%20digital%20logo%20for%20blog.png
---

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[![original - landscape-1](https://18digital.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/original%20-%20landscape-1.png?width=500&height=182&name=original%20-%20landscape-1.png "original - landscape-1")](https://www.18digital.ca)

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# What's in a name

Branding and names are important, but what is the best way to launch a marketing consultancy?

[Learn More](https://18digital.ca/contact-us)

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# What’s in a name? (or why 18 Digital.)

[Barry](https://18digital.ca/blog/author/barry)

 Mar 16, 2024 1:04:01 PM

When I started my digital marketing consultancy, one of the first things I had to decide was whether to do this under my name or create a brand under which to do business. 

The uncomfortable truth–and apologies to my parents– is that I don’t particularly like my name\*.  The number of famous Barry’s isn’t the most distinguished list in the world.  In North America there are a few luminaries from the sports world–Bonds, Sanders–[Ranker.com](https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-people-named-barry/celebrity-lists) has the most popular Barry’s as Manilow and Gibb; not the aesthetic I was shooting for. 

So next route was to think about what name or brand should I look at.  Do I still stick to my own identity and perhaps look at my surname or initials?  I knew I didn’t want to revert back to the first wave of digital agencies from the late 90’s early 2000’s where you [pick a colour and a fruit or animal](https://medium.com/@georgebaily/enough-with-the-wacky-colour-animal-brand-names-5392b3befc70) and run with that–although kudos to [Blue Chicken](https://www.bluechicken.com/) for persevering.

In the end, I have gone for something that (I hope) feels somewhat serious yet has plenty of personal connection: 18 Digital. 

![original - landscape - name only](https://18digital.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/Logo%20variants/original%20-%20landscape%20-%20name%20only.png?width=400&height=156&name=original%20-%20landscape%20-%20name%20only.png)The 'digital' part is hopefully pretty obvious. I’m only going to do work that could be described as digital, online, web, internet or even New Media (call back to the team at FIFA in 2002…). If my clients need support in anything outside of this, I know plenty of brilliant people I'd recommend but this it isn’t something in my wheelhouse.

'18' has a little more of a story to it. My family and I packed up and emigrated to Canada in 2018, the biggest decision we made (and I’m happy to tell our story to anyone interested over a coffee), so that year is hugely significant to me.  I also felt that 18 indicated a degree of maturity.  My goal is to provide clients with a serious, results-focused strategy to drive their business forward, and while I intend to have fun working with them, I want them to be assured that I’ll be wholly dedicated to their objectives.

So that’s the reason for 18 Digital. Names and branding are important, and I hope to grow 18 Digital into a company that becomes synonymous with digital excellence and stands for the core values I believe in.

\*True story: when we moved to Canada in 2018, I saw it as an excellent opportunity to rebrand myself and shake off the yoke of Barry-ness.  Unfortunately, within days of landing in Calgary, I met so many great people who have become firm friends that I couldn’t execute the re-brand as I’d hoped.

[Brand](https://18digital.ca/blog/tag/brand), [18-digital](https://18digital.ca/blog/tag/18-digital)

## Read On

### [What lessons can we learn from Legal Tech My wife and I recently went on a ‘date’ to a panel discussion about legal tech (who says romance is...](https://18digital.ca/blog/learning-lessons-from-legal-tech)

### [Content marketing in the age of short atten…. SQUIRREL Something paradoxical is happening in content marketing right now. As marketers, we all know the...](https://18digital.ca/blog/how-to-keep-your-audiences-attention)

### [ABM is Test cricket without the bats and balls? Even in Canada, hockey, basketball, football (and increasingly soccer) dominate North American...](https://18digital.ca/blog/abm-is-test-cricket-without-the-bats-and-balls)

[![White out landscape](https://18digital.ca/hs-fs/hubfs/White%20out%20landscape.png?width=300&height=106&name=White%20out%20landscape.png "White out landscape")](https://18digital.ca/)

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