What’s in a name? Why we are Jago

21st May

Published by Vicky

21st May

The story of our name and why we chose it

 

How did you choose the name for your business? If it’s a family business, you might have gone with the family name; lots of people do. But what if it’s not a family business? Choosing a name for your business can be a big headache, and something not all of us get right. After all, we’ve only been called Jago for a year and a half. When we first set out in business we were called Lead Agency.

 

Our Business Leader Ryan says:

The name Lead Agency was a play on words – “lead” as in the leading agency, but also because we would generate leads for our clients. We were mainly focused on SEO and PPC, and that worked well for a while. As time went on, we found that we were doing more design work – and we were interested in a more holistic approach to helping businesses. Rather than just trying to get more phone calls or people through the door for our clients, we wanted to help them to be the very best they could be. That included designing outstanding websites, providing social media support, helping with business processes, creating video content to highlight their services… We decided the name Lead Agency didn’t cover our new approach, creating an image of a lead generating agency rather than a strategic design and marketing agency.

 

Some of the most famous household names are actually quite odd when you think about them. Companies like Kellogg’s are clearly based on the name of the person who founded the company, but what about the hundreds of others where this isn’t the case?

 

Lego is actually a combination of the Danish words “leg godt” which means “play well” – but the word also means “I put together” in Latin. And there we were thinking it meant “tiny enemies of parents’ feet”

 

Microsoft points to the fact the company set out to create microcomputer software, and was originally called Micro-Soft.

 

Nike is the Greek goddess of victory.

 

eBay got its name because the original name – Echo Bay Technology Group – was not available as a URL so they opted for ebay.com instead.

 

Volvo is Latin for “I roll”

 

Samsonite is named for the Biblical character Samson, who was known for his strength.

 

The origins of Yahoo is perhaps the best yet: it’s an acronym for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”

 

Using Greek gods or Latin translations has proved a popular way to name a company – but none of us studied classical civilisations, and our Latin is not great. Plus, since we’re all about being original, we didn’t think it wise to go down the same route as thousands of others!

 

What is Jago?

If you look at Wikipedia, you’ll find several listings for Jago: a Cornish name; a legendary king of the Britons; an English archaeologist; the drummer from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club; an Italian sculptor; a Doctor Who character. None of these is the reason we are called Jago though!

A Jago is actually a Punjabi wedding tradition; the term means simply wake. It’s a celebration held a day or two before the actual wedding, involving singing and dancing. The party goes between the homes of friends and families, dancing and setting off fireworks as they go. The idea is that they encourage people to “wake up” and join the wedding festivities.

 

Wake up and energise

At Jago we want to do more than just build you a pretty website or create some effective Google ads. We work together to create pivotal moments for our clients and for our team members. That means we want our clients to feel refreshed and energised by their dealings with us – more than just being satisfied that they paid for a Google ad and we created one. Calling our company Jago fits with this expanded version of a business model where we want to energise, inspire and uplift everyone we come into contact with. The “Wake Up” part of our name points to our vision of re-visiting a client’s “why”. We are about getting the penny to drop so our clients can see where their next pivotal moment is coming from.

 

What does your business name mean to you? Does it illustrate what you stand for?