Brand Name Expert
San Francisco Bay Area
- Current
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- Division Governor (downtown San Francisco) at Toastmasters International
- Chief Innovation Officer at Eat My Words® (where household names become household names)
- Past
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- Freelance Copywriter at www.alexandrawatkins.com
- Director of New Business Development at StudioMoon, Visual Identity Design
- Freelance Copywriter at MarchFIRST
- Senior Copywriter at GMO
- Senior Copywriter at Miller Huber
- Senior Copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather Direct
- Greeting Card Writer at Paper Moon Graphics
- Sr. Copywriter at Teleflora
- Education
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- Traveling through 34 eye-opening countries including Libya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Tanzania and Peru
- Recommended
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26 people have recommended Alexandra - Connections
-
500+
connections
- Industry
- Marketing and Advertising
- Websites
Alexandra Watkins’s Summary
A winner of Make Mine a Million $ Business, sponsored by American Express, I am the founder of Eat My Words, the wildly creative boutique naming firm featured in The Wall Street Journal.
When you see or hear a "Eat My Words name," you'll never ask what it means, how to pronounce it, or "What were they smoking?!" Our "love at first sight" names make powerful emotional connections, build instant brand affinity, and make our clients rich. We are the only naming firm that MONETIZES names. For instance, the frozen yogurt franchise we named "Spoon Me" is making a fortune selling Spoon Me sportswear, pajamas, booty shorts, etc.
Our names include:
HOSE CANDY (tube toys for hot rods)
I HAVE A BEAN (coffee co. that hires ex-offenders)
REVOLUTIONARY ROAD (innovative auto parts)
SPOON ME (frozen yogurt chain)
NEATO (home cleaning robot)
BLOOM (energy drink for women)
HAND JOB (men's nail salon)
MOONDANCE (iPod dock with mood lighting)
CO-PILOT (ski training system)
MONITOR LIZARD (Web security)
VENUE (luxury goods site)
BRAIN THAW (marketing consulting)
LEFTOVERS (tasteful found furnishings)
FRIGID (ice cream)
ANGELPOINTS (charity rewards site)
POTION (PR firm)
BACKBEAT (headphones)
EAT MY DUST (commercial cleaning)
MONKEY DUNKS (dips for kids)
CAKE FINANCIAL (social investing site)
SWINGSET KITCHENS (food for kids)
DASH (travel make-up kit)
DIZZYWOOD (virtual world for kids)
EXPRESSIONIST (sleek PC speakers)
HALOGEN GUIDES (buying guides for millionaires)
MIXIN' VIXENS (bartending service)
MUDD PUPPIES (brownies)
ALTIMETER GROUP (precision consulting)
PINCH (affordable catering)
SECOND WIND (a "sex-over-60" biz)
SIDEKICKS (fruit salsas)
STUFF A SOCK IN IT (Laundromat)
WAVELENGTH (forum for top cos & social entrepreneurs)
Our clients include Frito-Lay, InterContinental Hotels, Guthy-Renker, Altec Lansing, THX, SIGG, Del Monte, and leading branding firms (including Landor) who put their good name on our great names.
Alexandra Watkins’s Specialties:
Beauty
Branding
Business Names
Consumer Electronics
Company Names
CPG
Product Names
Slogans
Taglines
Alexandra Watkins’s Experience
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Division Governor (downtown San Francisco)
Toastmasters International
(Non-Profit; Non-Profit Organization Management industry)
2009 — Present (less than a year)
As Division E Governor, I inspire, motivate and serve the 27 Toastmaster clubs in my Division, which encompasses all of downtown San Francisco. I oversee a team of 5 Area Governors who like me, are dedicated to making every club in Division E a Distinguished Club by building membership, encouraging educational accomplishments, and fostering a supportive atmosphere for speakers of all levels. Simultaneously, I continue to serve as President of San Francisco Toastmasters, the leading club in our Division, which I have taken from a sleepy club of a dozen members to a thriving club with record growth including 41 new members in the last year alone, which is more than any of the 200+ clubs in our District.
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Chief Innovation Officer
Eat My Words® (where household names become household names)
(Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)
March 2005 — Present (4 years 5 months)
My company creates powerful, memorable, evocative names and taglines for leading brands and new products and companies. A typical week for me could include dreaming up names and taglines for a new snack food, the lastest gotta-have it gadget, a new label of blue jeans, an energy drink that makes you horny, and a toy company.
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Freelance Copywriter
www.alexandrawatkins.com
(Marketing and Advertising industry)
April 1998 — March 2005 (7 years)
I rode the dot com gravy train until it crashed in my SOMA backyard. As a freelancer "back in the day," I created clever ads, postcards, websites, direct mail, names and promotions for a range of consumer and B2B clients. I worked with marchFIRST; USweb/CKS, Organic, Sapient, Scient, Addwater, Real Branding, and wrote massive websites for Dockers, Home Depot, Kinko's, Levi Strauss, Logitech and Shutterfly. Some of the other clients I worked with included Lipton Tea, Good Guys, OpenTable, Frito Lay, Muata wine, Mani Pedi Nail Spa, and Apple. I am also the person behind a lot of beauty product names and taglines for Gap, including the travel make-up kit called "Dash" which had the tagline, "A little color goes a long way."
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Director of New Business Development
StudioMoon, Visual Identity Design
(Marketing and Advertising industry)
February 2002 — December 2002 (11 months)
Developed relationships with clients and helped execute identity, branding and naming projects.
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Freelance Copywriter
MarchFIRST
(Public Company; Marketing and Advertising industry)
May 1998 — July 2001 (3 years 3 months)
Concepted and wrote websites for Levi's, Dockers, Logitech, Egg, Toys R Us, and JC Penney. Rode the gravy train until they filed for bankruptcy. They still owe me $23,000+.
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Senior Copywriter
GMO
(Public Company; 51-200 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)
January 1997 — June 1998 (1 year 6 months)
Wrote ads, collateral and direct mail for Kia, Club Disney, Sonicare and Beringer Vineyards.
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Senior Copywriter
Miller Huber
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)
February 1995 — February 1996 (1 year 1 month)
Created ads, direct mail and websites for 3Com, Hitachi, Access Health, National Semiconductor, Pinnacle, Sun, General Magic and Pacific Bell Voice Mail. (Back then I went by the name Sandra, as well as Sindra, Blondra, and Mandra. I went back to my birth name of Alexandra when people started pronouncing my name Sondra and calling me Sandy. Miller Kadanoff was actually my employer - they changed their name to Miller Huber.)
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Senior Copywriter
Ogilvy & Mather Direct
(Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)
August 1989 — February 1995 (5 years 7 months)
Created ads and direct mail for Microsoft, Intel, Visio, Budget Gourmet, Mighty Dog, The Las Vegas Hilton, AAA, Central Point Software, UA Cable, and Xerox.
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Greeting Card Writer
Paper Moon Graphics
(Marketing and Advertising industry)
1988 — 1993 (5 years)
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Sr. Copywriter
Teleflora
(Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Marketing and Advertising industry)
April 1987 — August 1989 (2 years 5 months)
Developed copy and ideas for holiday advertising and sales materials. Created the best-selling Lifesaver's Candy "You're a Lifesaver Bouquet" for Secretary's Week and "Kiss and Make Up" boquet with Hershey Kisses and lipgloss.
Alexandra Watkins’s Education
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Traveling through 34 eye-opening countries including Libya, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, Tanzania and Peru
Food, people, culture, photography, wild dogs 1996 — 2006
- Activities and Societies:
- I have been to 137 of the "1000 Places to See Before You Die" in 34 countries where I've sunk my teeth into local delicacies including a barbecued squirrel in Tanzania, ostrich carpaccio in South Africa, and stewed camel meat in Libya. My favorite food is JIF peanut butter, which I once survived on for two days on the remote island of Amantani in Lake Titicaca, Peru.
Additional Information
Alexandra Watkins’s Websites:
Alexandra Watkins’s Interests:
Road biking, floaty pens, world travel, Toastmasters
Alexandra Watkins’s Groups:
Toastmasters (President, San Francisco Toastmasters)
Make Mine a Million $ Business (2008 winner)
City Club of San Francisco (2008 speaker)
Golden Gate Greeters (Joie de Vivre Hospitality)
Creative Geniuses of the World
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Women 2.0 -
San Francisco American Marketing Association (SFAMA) -
Obama for America -
Inbound Marketers - For Marketing Professionals -
CPG Branding and Marketing Forum -
Innovation People Expert Innovators Creative Network -
Make Mine a Million $ Business -
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives -
Speakers and Panelists -
Innovative New Product & Service Innovators & Inventors -
Retail Industry Experts -
Start-Up Phase Forum -
Ladies Who Launch -
Innovative Marketing, PR, Sales, Word-of-Mouth & Buzz Innovators -
BASN-San Francisco Bay Area Startup Network -
CONSUMER GOODS & RETAIL PROFESSIONALS -
Brand & Communications Management -
CONSUMER PACKAGED GOODS CONNECTS - SuperGroup! -
Licensing, Merchandising & Brand Management -
The Big Idea Network -
Ogilvy: Past, Present & Future -
Retail Marketing Executive -
Creative Professionals -
Restaurant Network -
marchFIRST Alumni /Former employees -
Food Industry Marketing & Communication Professionals -
USWeb Alumni -
Toastmasters District 4 -
AIGA San Francisco -
Toastmasters International Members -
FMCG Global:Consumer Goods Innovators & Specialists -
PERSONAL BRANDING -
OPEN NETWORKERS! -
Branding Professionals -
Retail Management Professional Network -
OUTSIDE OF THE BOX THINKERS -
Packaging Design -
Cosmetics and Beauty Network -
Brand Innovators, Branding Leadership & Creating Innovation Network -
Restaurant Biz -
The High Powered Food & Beverage Forum - Foodservice & Retail Executive Management Networking -
Liquid Brand Exchange -
Fuse: Design & Culture, Brand Identity & Packaging -
The Naming Coterie -
San Francisco Toastmasters
Alexandra Watkins’s Honors:
2009 President, San Francisco Toastmasters
2008 Winner, Make Mine a Million $ Business Program
2007 Eat My Words office featured in HOW Magazine spread
2006 Eat My Words office featured on HGTV’s “Small Space: Big Style”
2005 Copywriting Instructor, Academy of Art (also taught in Fall '06)
2004 Traveled to Libya (and quoted about it in the NY Times)
2003 Sabbatical in Australia, Bali, New Zealand & Fiji
2003 Loft featured in glowing article in the SF Chronicle
2002 Invented Moon Doggies organic dog biscuits
2001 Featured on Ultimate Kitchens on the Food Network
2000 Paid to write hate mail to The Man Show
1999 Paid to eat Ghirardelli chocolate and write about it
1999-2001 Founder & Producer, Tails of the City 1.0 and 2.0
1998 California AIDS Ride 5 top fundraiser ($14,003)
1995 Grand Prize, Aveda's "50 words or less" Makeover Contest
1994 First Prize, Seattle Weekly Personal Ad Contest
1988 Created the first line of retro greeting cards (300+ in print)
Alexandra Watkins’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- job inquiries
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
