Need I say more?

Ok, maybe just a few quick remarks since I rarely blog. And perhaps now my brand name development colleagues, my naming specialist friends, also in the business of naming products and services and developing taglines for companies, will cut me some slack.

Spotted Dick. Mmmm. Spotted Dick. Can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a healthy portion of that tasty English treat. So spongy, so moist, so….dappled. It’s gotta be 10, 12 years now. Way too long. Way, way too long.

Man, I love my Brit friends, but Mama Pajama, don’t you know what “Dick” means?? Yeah, yeah, I know it means a lot of things, and of course it’s short for “Richard”. In fact, Laura, our Client Manager and Catchword’s newest word surgeon, connected me with some alternative meanings. It can refer to a riding whip, an apron, an abbreviation for dictionary, a policeman, and probably a few other things not connected to testicles. But still. It’s a penis. And in this case, a freckled penis. And, despite a wonderfully rich English history, probably not an appropriate name for a food product. Interestingly, I don’t think it’s the word “Dick” that I find most offensive. It’s the totality of the name – the qualifier, “Spotted” – that evokes the undeniable, vividly clear image of a, well, you know: A FRECKLED PENIS! I read that the recipe, like most recipes, has evolved over the years, since the 19th Century when the pudding was conceived. Suggestion: let it continue to evolve. Please. If it were my kitchen, I’d start by removing the raisins or currants, the ingredients that give it it’s “spots”. Then I’d change the pudding to something like, well, I don’t know, maybe I wouldn’t change the pudding. But I’d call it “PUDDING”, and leave it at that. Heinz Microwavable Sponge Pudding. Mmm…pudding. Now that sounds appetizing.

Posted in Fun stuff, Language use, Product Naming | No Comments

Forget about the hair, the clothes, the bod. Ever consider if your name has sex appeal? According to a study by MIT grad student/cognitive scientist Amy Perfors, beauty may well be in the ears, and not just the eyes, of the beholder. Perfors posted photos of men and women—labeled with fake first names—on the site “Hot or Not,” and viewers rated their attractiveness. The same photos were then reposted with different first names, and voilà—they scored differently. For men, names with constricted vowel sounds (think “Ben”) had more sex appeal than names with fuller vowel sounds. For women, the reverse was true. (As if Angelina didn’t already have it all). The sampling’s small enough to raise questions about the particular lessons drawn (in my mind). But the notion that a first name with the right phonetic structure can generate some sizzle all by itself . . . well, that’s no surprise to those of us who specialize in strategic naming. So while the Teds and Tinas of the world can relax, maybe the Bobs and Beths should consider a little name makeover? For more details, see this summary in New Scientist. And the full story is here, but you’ll have to subscribe to Premium plus to get it.

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No, not really, but Wired is using this pic for their story and I liked it.

A Nevada man pleaded guilty Thursday to his plotting to steal domain names URLs from their legitimate owners by impersonating a California intellectual property lawyer and send threatening letters to domain name owners in hopes of convincing them to turn over the domains to him.
Las Vegas resident David Scali registered the email address trademarkinfringement@netzero.net in 2006 and then, pretending to be a real Califonia lawyer (whose intials are K.Y.C.), threatened domain name owners with $100,000 trademark infringement suits, unless they transferred the domains within 48 hours.

He only hooked one domain owner, fortunately. The lesson, as always, is to beware of email that demands you do something with your domains NOW!, whether it’s turning them over to someone else, renewing with a different registrar, or listing them in a directory. And be especially careful when the email comes from someone with a Netzero email address. Bozo.

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EachDay.com has done a great job compiling the Web 2.0 companies who use the speech bubble in their logos. Trevor Elliott asserts that the speech bubble is now so overused, much like the “iBlank” naming convention, that companies need to stop using it in their graphic identity. As much as I love a few of the bubble logos, I don’t think I realized the extent to which they have been used by the Web 2.0 crowd. So, I have to agree with Trevor here: Stop with the bubbles and stop the insanity!

Posted in Advertising, Company Naming, Fun stuff | No Comments

Following my recent post about televisiphonernetting, Maria forwarded me the following blog post. It appears that Goodby and Perfect Fools are the ones responsible for my new favorite term. They’ve also created a fun, interactive flash experience called TripleSlanguage It turns out televisiphonernetting is only one of many cute and clunky coined names in the new Comcast advertising campaign. My favorite part of the site is the television ads at the end. I especially like the quizjacking tv ad (mostly because I’ve been known to quizjack on occasion!).

Nice job Goodby and Perfect Fools. You’ve given this namer a bunch of fun new terms to play with.

Posted in Branding, Fun stuff | 1 Comment

This morning, I heard on NPR that Mattel had announced yet another toy recall, and even though the size of the recall relatively small, I think they deserve a lot of credit for their proactive and upfront approach to this problem. The topic has caught the attention of Harvard Business School professor John Quelch in a recent HBS blog entry.

Of course in the public eye, their actions are likely to hurt them in the short term (especially with the holiday season around the corner). Nevertheless, I think the competition is sitting on a time bomb by not matching Mattel’s vigor in hunting down poor quality control. Time will tell whether Mattel’s brand will come out on top.  I can’t help but remember the Tylenol/J&J case, and how aggressive the CEO was in handling that scare. That brand survived the immediate hit and still lives on as a trusted, even revered brand. I suspect that Mattel will, eventually, end up on top as a result of their actions.

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I was watching tv the other night and happened to tune in for one of Comcast’s commercials for their TriplePlay service. Most amusing was the coined product name they came up with to jokingly refer to the use of tv, phone, and internet all at the same time: televisiphonernetting. I love it and I’m going to use it as often as possible. I think it’s far more fun than “TriplePlay.” In fact, it’s so popular that the name has already found its way into the Urban Dictionary.

Posted in Fun stuff, Language use | 2 Comments