What’s In A Name?
Product Marketing 101: Choosing a name.
Last week we introduced our newest client: Exouza, a health-tech company that’s using AI to tackle the crisis of national prescription drug pricing. Let’s take a deeper dive into phase 1: Product Marketing. Specifically, names, brands, and sub-brands.
Step 1: Decode the Current Architecture
Exouza had two sub-brands:
ExouzaRx - Their Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) platform
ExouzaMax - An impressive list of programs that can be automatically applied to any prescription drug plan (everything from dynamic price indexing, to concierge patient support, to prescription auctions, to specialty drug programs).
This was a totally logical product architecture. The prescription purchasing, Rx, and the big suite of comprehensive programs, Max. But did these names deeply resonate with us in terms of the innovative culture of this company? If we’re being honest, no.
Step 2: Read the “Secret Sauce” Recipe
What was Exouza really bringing to the market that was unique? What was their secret sauce? If we could reverse-engineer their recipe for transformation, then maybe we could tap into the right energy for their product marketing.
Yes they’re innovative. Yes they’re using AI. Yes they’re patient-centric. But when you talk to their leadership, there’s a determination and passion there that doesn’t quite come across in these overused industry buzzwords.
Why did they start this company in the first place?
Step 3: Epiphany
What actually worked was coming at if from the opposite angle. What keeps Exouza’s founders up at night? What’s wrong with the current status quo?
One word kept coming up: closed.
PBM’s are a completely closed market. No transparency in pricing. No explanation given for why one person is approved for a drug and another denied. A closed web of backdoor discounts, rebates, and formularies that seem to benefit everyone but the patient.
Exouza is the opposite of that. They’re trying to open the door. They want to put more options in the hands of doctors, pharmacists, and patients. Open the system to benefit the real stakeholders.
Once we stopped thinking about products and started thinking about principles, the answer was obvious.
Step 4: The Reveal
Exouza wasn’t just building another PBM — they were breaking one open.
For decades, PBMs have been a black box: hidden fees, vague rebates, and formularies that feel like riddles. The whole system runs on secrecy, and patients are the ones left guessing.
Exouza flipped that script. Their technology doesn’t close the loop, it opens it. It gives doctors, pharmacists, insurers, and patients a clear view of pricing and programs in real time.
That’s when the name appeared almost on its own:
Step 5: The Payoff
A good name doesn’t just sound right, it feels right. It makes everything else easier.
Once OpenPBM.ai took shape, the rest of the story fell into alignment. We used it as a guide to the visuals, the messaging, even the way the team talked to prospective customers. It all pointed in the same direction. Suddenly, every conversation came back to the same simple idea: open the system, open the opportunity, open the future of healthcare.
That’s the moment you know the strategy is working. When the name becomes shorthand for the mission.
👉 Stay tuned, we’ll be sharing more of our creative process in future posts.
👉 Book a free consultation and start building your Product Strategy today!