In marketing, we all know the power of a name. It gives meaning, captures attention, and sticks in your head. But too often, strategy is left nameless — reduced to vague intentions or generic goals like “grow market share” or “improve productivity.”
Verne Harnish, in his short but powerful video on the importance of naming your strategy, reminds us: if you want your people to remember your strategy — and more importantly, execute it — give it a name. Watch the video here »
A name makes strategy easier to talk about
I believe the best strategy is the one that gets done — the one so well understood it can’t be ignored. A strategy that’s easy to talk about and needs little explanation. It’s far easier to keep strategic focus front of mind when you’re not fumbling to explain an abstract concept. A strategy with a name is shorthand. It invites curiosity and it aligns the team. It becomes part of your internal language.
Think of how these companies have used naming to make strategy part of the culture:
- Domino’s “Hungry for More” strategy was all about growth — more stores, more customers, more profits, and more disciplined execution.
- Southwest’s “Wheels Up” became their defining turnaround strategy when they rallied their entire company behind the cry for maximising aircraft efficiency and minimising time on the tarmac.
- Meta’s 2024 strategy was “All in on AI”, a succinct and undeniable message to everyone about what the strategic focus was.
Let’s be clear — this isn’t about slogans or PR spin. It’s about internal branding for internal alignment. When you name your strategy, you create a focal point. It becomes something your people can align to, talk about, and execute against. Just like a campaign, your strategy needs internal cut-through.
That’s why at Focus HR, we name our strategies, too.
This year, our strategic theme is “Tweaking our Trimtab.” It’s a nod to 2025 being a year of refinement rather than reinvention. We’re not chasing seismic growth or major initiatives — we’re focused on small, deliberate improvements. The 1% changes that help us work smarter, operate more smoothly, and deliver better quality with less grind.
It’s easy to reference in our meetings. It helps us filter decisions. And most importantly, it keeps our focus front of mind.
Try this: Name your 90-day plan
We work with clients every quarter to review and reset strategy through our 90-day cadence. A simple but powerful tip for the next quarter? Give your 90-day plan a name. You’ll be amazed at how that small action creates energy, clarity, and accountability.
Need some examples? These are some of our previous strategy theme names:
- “Nail it, before we scale it” – for setting systems in place before scaling
- “Smooth-Operator” – for stabilisation after a busy growth phase
- “Ctrl+Alt+Del” – for a quarter focused on a reboot, recovery or generating discipline
Whatever you choose, make it meaningful to your team. Make it sticky. And make it yours.
If your strategy doesn’t have a name, chances are it’s not being talked about often enough. And if it’s not being talked about, it’s probably not being executed.
So here’s your challenge for Q3: name your strategy. Whether it’s a quarter-long sprint or your annual direction, find the phrase that will help bring it to life inside your business.
You don’t need to share it with the world — but you do need to share it with your team.