# Naming convention — Real estate

The naming convention with three segments an agency needs: the listing or development reference, the stage of the sale a campaign runs at, and which office or agent the spend belongs to.

Everything else is the general convention, unchanged. One row per segment, fixed positions, a closed list of values with an owner, one separator and a change rule that does not break reporting history.

## How to use it

1. Copy this file, or the CSV version if you would rather work in a sheet.
2. Decide the separator first, and pick one that cannot appear inside a value.
3. Fix the positions before the values, so a name can be split by position.
4. List the allowed values for every position, and give each list an owner.
5. Put optional segments at the end, never in the middle.
6. Write one full example name for every level, and check it splits correctly.
7. Agree the change rule before anybody renames anything that is already running.

## The columns

**Level** (Text). Which object this segment belongs to: campaign, ad set, ad, creative file, or the tracking parameters. The listing reference belongs in every one of them, which is the whole discipline here.

**Position** (Integer). Where the segment sits, counting from the left. The listing reference goes early, because it is the position that has to survive truncation and it is the one every vendor report filters on.

**Token** (Text). The short code as it appears: a prefixed listing reference, a stage value, an office code. Short, because property names carry more positions than most and the surfaces truncate.

**Meaning** (Text). What the token stands for, in the agency system's own words, so a coordinator can read a campaign name from six months ago and find the property in the register.

**Allowed values** (Text). The complete list this position may hold, or the rule that generates it. Stage and office have closed lists; the listing reference has a rule, because the agency system issues a new one per listing.

**Example** (Text). A real value written as it will appear, taken from a current listing rather than one that has settled.

**Required** (Text). Whether the segment must appear. The listing reference is required on every campaign, and the office's own presence campaigns carry an explicit value saying so rather than an empty position.

**Separator** (Text). The character between segments, and never one that appears inside a suburb or office name. Corridor names with hyphens are the usual collision in this category.

**Case rule** (Text). Lower case throughout, including listing references that the agency system issues in capitals. The reference is a key, and a key with two cases is two keys.

**Where it appears** (Text). Every place this has to be repeated: the campaign name, the tracking parameters, the creative files, the brochure and the portal listing, so a vendor report assembles itself from the names.

**Maintained by** (Text). Who owns the list of values. Stage and office values belong to whoever runs marketing for the office; the listing reference belongs to the agency system and is never invented by hand.

**Change rule** (Text). What happens when this has to change. A relisting is a new campaign with a new reference, because the guide, the method of sale and the audience have all moved.

**Notes** (Text). What the next person needs: the reference format the agency system changed to, the stage value retired, the surface that truncates before the office position.

## The naming convention

| Level | Position | Token | Meaning | Allowed values | Example | Required | Separator | Case rule | Where it appears | Maintained by | Change rule | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
|   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |

## Before you commit it

- One separator is used everywhere, and it never appears inside a value.
- Every campaign name carries the listing reference from the agency system.
- The stage of sale position has a closed list with a named owner.
- Office presence campaigns are distinguishable from vendor-funded ones.
- Every level has one full example name that splits correctly.
- A relisting is a new campaign with a new reference, never a rename.
- Retired office and stage values are recorded rather than deleted.