How Did You Come Up With the Name?

Posted on by Jessica Scanlon

This is the number one frequently asked question:

How did we come up with such a silly and easy-to-remember name?

I had the idea for this company in 2008 – having recently been laid off and taking on freelance work to support myself, I spent a lot of time at home with someone. Iggy was a rescue dog I had adopted in 2006. Who knew he would be such an influence on my life?

Iggy and I spent hours together working on the idea of a company that would help businesses with branding. I naturally named the company after him, my furry co-founder. My husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, thought it was kind of a dumb name, but here we are 11 years later.

Iggy is the co-founder of Hot Dog Marketing.

Iggy sat under my plastic $50 IKEA desk or on the guest bed looking out the window while I worked on client projects. Out of necessity, I took a job with a large corporation to money flowing again, and I worked on Hot Dog Marketing projects at night and on weekends with Iggy by my side.

Iggy looking out the window in Hot Dog Marketing’s first home office.

In 2012, when I left that corporate job to commit to Hot Dog Marketing full-time, Iggy was my only full-time co-worker until Hot Dog Marketing hired our Creative Director, Brandon, in 2013. After I started to build a team around me to support Hot Dog Marketing, he retired and became a frequent-office-visitor.

  • wiener dog wearing a tie sitting at desk

Last year, we moved into our new building on Main Street. We purchased a giant stuffed animal version of logo for a Round Rock social media campaign to celebrate our new space. The team decided to name the logo after Iggy. We took the stuffed animal around town, took photos of him and hung lost dog flyers in the neighborhood. We had the citizens of our town help us track Iggy down on social media.

The last time he was in the office, he did what he normally would do: pee pretty much wherever he felt like; beg people for a bite of their lunch but ignore them if they wanted to pet him. He liked to knock over my trash can when he was ready to go home. That was on July 2nd.

Iggy passed away July 5th at 17 years old.

He left behind quite a legacy. Not just with the business, but with his community service. He volunteered in two Austin Humane Society gala fashion shows and was featured in a charity book about puppy mill survivors. He’s why Hot Dog Marketing and my family donate so much time to animal welfare organizations like Texas Humane Heroes.

He was an incredible dog. I will miss him every day when I come to work.

When people ask me, “How did you come up with the name?” I’ll say with a smile, “I named it after my best friend.”