If I read one more article about product naming called “What’s in a Name?“, I will scream. Curse you, Bill Shakespeare!
That is all.
Archive for June, 2007
I was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal about the subject of baby naming (“The Baby-Name Business” 6/22/07). It’s a great article about the challenges new parents face when coming up with names for their kids. Imagine the pressure for us namers!
I thought the article was very well written, but the reporter left out my three golden rules for baby naming. Figured this was as good a venue as any to relay those rules to the public. (BTW, these rules generally apply for company naming and product naming as well, with slightly modified language.)
Rule #1: Keep your candidates to yourself during pregnancy. When you sample names with friends and family before the baby is born, there is a strong tendency to receive more negative feedback. *AFTER* the baby is born, you’ll get nothing but positive feedback. Flippant comments from friends (”I used to date a woman with that name … she was awful” or “I had a dog named that as a kid”) can spoil perfectly appropriate baby names for no good reason.
Rule #2: Wait to meet the baby before you name it. Every human being has personality (good, bad or otherwise). Names need to fit the item being named (this is one of those rules that applies to product naming or company naming). How can you gauge fit if you haven’t met the personality? I recommend selecting your top 2-3 candidates in the final weeks, then picking the final name after the little one shows his or her style. (For those of you who already have kids, you know this personality demonstration only takes a few hours.)
Rule #3: Don’t name the baby what you wish you were named. Names have a time and a place. Your baby’s name should be appropriate for his or her time and place. This doesn’t mean you have to select the most popular name of the day, but you should be wary of selecting names that just won’t sound right to tomorrow’s generation. For those of you naming a company or a product, remember to think about names that are appropriate for your target audience. It’s not about what *you* like, it’s about what your target likes.
As with most rules, none of these are absolute. People often test names with consumers before launch (with great success). And I’ll be the first one to admit that names don’t make or break the success of what is being named (be it baby, company or product), regardless of whether the name is appropriate.
Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me how similar the process is for naming a company and naming a baby. Just another parallel between the world of business and the world of family.
Two of my favorite social networks both have somewhat risky brand names. Yelp is a great tool to share opinions on almost any consumer experience (restaurants, hair salons, car sharing services, etc.). Flickr is the hottest way to store, share, and print digital photos. The word “yelp” means a sharp high-pitched cry. “Flicker” is the uncomfortable fluttering of a monitor when it’s refresh rate is set too low, or even “someone who flicks things.”
There are positive connotations to the words too. Flickr evokes the idea of moving images, like in a reel-to-reel movie projector. Yelp conveys immediacy and an easy way to make your voice heard.
Despite the negative meanings of these two words, both companies took risks and launched wildly successful Web 2.0 brand names. Perhaps the negative connotations even proved helpful. A product name with a negative or edgy meaning can often make the name more memorable and distinctive, especially in the Web 2.0 world. When introduced in a positive context, these brand names appear fresh, hip, and outside-the-box.
Samsung is launching a new phone that some are referring to as the “anti-phone.” This new phone will only have the ability to send and receive calls and check voicemail. It won’t come laden with confusing and fancy features like text messaging, camera, or internet. The phone will largely be targeted at consumers who just want a phone and nothing more, namely the elderly market. For this reason the new phone name Jitterbug is a great example of an evocative product name. The name is cute and friendly and hearkens back to a day when phones were just phones (specifically the 1940s, when the Jitterbug was hot on the dance floor). Samsung doesn’t create new product names very often. Out of 100+ models Samsung currently has six product names for their phones: Blackjack, Upstage, Sync, Stripe, Siren, and Black Carbon. Jitterbug makes a great addition to Samsung’s product name portfolio.
Business 2.0 ran a great article in their most recent issue about dot-com moguls. They may call themselves “moguls,” but those of us in the naming industry just call them a royal pain in the butt.
These guys buy up and squat on hundreds of thousands of valuable domain names. Usually they have no interest in selling any of the domains in their portfolio. This becomes a sticky situation when trying to come up with company names for clients that require the exact dot-com URL. We have bumped into the Frank Schilling’s Cayman Islands company a few times in the past. We quickly learned that his domains are not for sale, and not to recommend any name for which he owns the URL.
In some ways you kind of respect these folks for having the insight to buy up domains and turn their portfolios into a lucrative business model. Most of the time though, you just feel helplessly annoyed that you can’t have the perfect domain for your perfect name.
Click here for a pdf of the article.
We’ll hold off on talking about it for now. But isn’t that a cool logo?
It seems we misnamed Atkins’ new Simply Good nutrition bars. Hey, it takes a big naming firm to admit that, okay?
Yes, the product name conveys simple, wholesome, all-natural goodness in a nice, direct way. But having now sampled (and re-sampled) all three varieties, we clearly should have gone with Insanely Delicious. They really are. Try the Honey & Oat, especially.
The New York Times recently ran a great piece on Vudu (click here for a pdf of the article). We had a lot of fun working with the Vudu team. The folks at Vudu allowed us to explore a wide array of fun, edgy naming directions. One of our challenges was to come up with a name that could work for both as a company name and a product name, while conveying the exciting nature of their technology. All this and a short, memorable name to boot! We’re looking forward to Vudu’s launch. Oh, and we can’t wait to buy one — this product is awesome!
Catchword recently helped Magellan create a product name for their new automotive GPS brand. Our goal was to create a name that conveys the premium nature of the voice-operated GPS navigation device.
Maestro has been making a big splash lately and getting some great press coverage. The New York Times had a brief review (click for here for a pdf of the article). It also got a good review a little closer to home, in the San Jose Mercury.
In this podcast of Social Innovation Conversations, Tom Tierney of the Bridgespan Group explores the findings of the Bridgespan study about the leadership deficit situation that prevails in the US nonprofit sector. Tom comments that the two causes of concern wherefrom emanates the dearth of leadership are succession problems and turnover.
Nonprofit outfits’ executive directors retire every few years, posing a perennial problem to find a replacement given the low compensation, the intense work styles, and a totally different, intense culture from the corporate world. The new person has to be aligned with the organization’s mission. Tierney highlights that the most significant barrier to the growth of the nonprofit sector has been its inability in finding correct replacements in the leadership chain. This, given that the demand for leadership in this sector is expanding faster than the contraction in supply. Over the next few years, the demand for leadership is expected to double by a factor of two and a half. On the supply side, the situation isn’t very bright; management graduates are apathetic towards avenues that do not offer promising compensation.
Tierney generously shares insights from the results of research conducted in order to address the problem, segueing from the politics of donorship and management boards in deterring the growth of this sector, to the perverse attitude to overheads that pervade them. In conclusion, he offers hope and optimism by suggesting ways to resolve the problem.
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We loved working with the Bridgespan team; one of the perks of running a naming company is that you get to name nonprofits and other socially responsible organizations. Not only do you get to create a great name, but you get to give something back to the community, too.
