To borrow an old gag from Mike Myers, be careful not to put the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble.

When we founded Catchword 10 years ago, we struggled with what we would call our new company. After putting ourselves through the same rigorous naming process we now subject our clients to, we settled on a short list of finalists. One of those names still stands out in my memory: Namesake. It was ultimately rejected because all three of the founders kept jokingly pronouncing it “Nam-eh-SAH-kay” (instead of the desired “NAYM-saik”). It became a running gag.

A few years later, I chuckled when I saw the new name for Palm printed in The New York Times as “palmone”. I couldn’t help but think of it as “palm-OHN-ay” (the company has since changed back to the much more appropriate “Palm, Inc.”). A short while later, I read about Experts Exchange, an online collaboration network, which launched using the domain “expertsexchange.com”. It only takes a moment to misread their domain name as “expert sex change”! Ouch. How does one avoid these awkward and embarrassing mispronunciations or misinterpretations?

The secret lies in understanding the phonetic rules of English. The stress pattern changes with the number of syllables in the word. If the brain misinterprets the number of syllables, it will subsequently misinterpret the appropriate stress pattern. This is made worse when there is confusion about where one word begins and another ends, as in a domain name, when there are no spaces or intercap letters. And once you start reading a word the wrong way, it’s almost impossible to go back to the right way. No one at Catchword can see “namesake” as “someone who has the same name” anymore. Rice wine, anyone?

Since this misinterpretation of stress patterns is unpredictable, the only way to avoid the rice wine branding company is to subject name candidates to a linguistic test. When conducting this test, it is imperative that respondents are not offered any cues for how to pronounce the name.  Remember: when your brand is printed in The New York Times, they don’t include the logo or wordmark. Test the name in all caps, or all lower case (as it would be in a domain name), to gauge the importance of an intercap letter. And always test the name with an equal mix of native English speakers and non-native English speakers to see how accents affect pronunciation and perception.

Of course, and as usual, your friends at Catchword would be happy to help evaluate your brand name, or to come up with a new brand name that doesn’t suffer from this affliction.

Tags: naming, Palm, phonetics, syllables
Posted in Brand Naming, Catchword, Company Naming, Domain names, Fun stuff, Language use | No Comments

Recently, I promised to answer the question most asked by our clients: What does it mean for a trademark to be confusingly similar to another trademark? Well, I lied. The question that’s really most asked by our clients is, “It’s gonna cost me how much to name this thing?!”

But the likelihood-of-confusion question is interesting, too. In making that determination, the Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) employs the Polaroid Test (named after the famous case of Polaroid Corp v. Polarad Electronics Corp.), which looks at such factors as:

* Degree of similarity between the marks (visually, phonetically). Think Starbucks vs. Starbuxx. A difference in spelling is not enough to avoid confusion if the marks are phonetically identical.

* Marketplace proximity. Suave Shampoo and Suave Dating Service could happily co-exist, but Oscar Mayer Bacon and Oscar Fryer Bacon would be a problem.

* Likelihood that the prior owner will “bridge the gap” and enter the market of the subsequent owner (or vice-versa) — though this is not always easy to predict. Consider that Apple Computer is now being sued yet again by the Beatles’ label, Apple Records. I wonder if that has anything to do with the success of iTunes!

* Actual confusion between the marks. Have consumers already been misled? Proven confusion is of course a good indication of likelihood of confusion!

* Strength of the prior mark in question (the more distinctive the mark, the stronger it is). You’re safer using a mark that is similar to an existing weak mark than an existing strong mark. So, if you’re going to start an online bookstore, call it “Books, Books, and More Books,” rather than “L’Amazon.”

* Sophistication of the buyers. A really interesting criterion. Consider car buyers and potato-chip buyers. Because of the time and investment involved in buying a car, buyers are much more likely to make an educated, deliberate purchase, and less likely to be confused by similar brand names, than their chip-buying counterparts. Or so they say. If you’re anything like me, you’re pretty particular about your snacks.

Like most intellectual-property law, likelihood of confusion isn’t black and white. But, if you remember these criteria, you’re in much better shape than most. Good luck, and happy naming!

Tags: naming, Trademark
Posted in Brand Naming, Branding, Trademark | No Comments

My first paycheck as an English teacher in Caracas, Venezuela was a manila envelope stuffed with over a million bolívares. It was July of 2004 and I was a millionaire. I felt rich for a moment and then very nervous about carrying all that cash on the metro ride home. Only the next day did it sink in that my millionaire status was only the equivalent of about 400 US dollars. Café con leche down the street from my work was about 3,000 bolívares.

This year Venezuela’s government did some strategic naming of the bolívar. As of January 2008 the “bolívar fuerte” (strong bolívar) was introduced which redenominated the old bolívar at 1000 to 1. The Bank of Venezuela announced its hopes that the new currency would help lift the country out of rapid inflation and a tumultuous economy with the slogan, “a strong economy, a strong bolívar, a strong country.”

The new name (and denomination) seems to have had a minor effect on the nation’s economy (still growing due to high oil prices). The official, fixed exchange rate is about 2.15 to the dollar while the black market rate values the bolívar at less than half that: 5.2 bolívares to the dollar. Yet without economic reforms that often accompany the currency re-naming, it’s unlikely that the name itself will fulfill the high expectations of Venezuela’s leaders.

So it’s yet to be seen if a new name can save the day. Venezuela’s foray into naming underlines some crucial points in our business of brand name creation. A great name isn’t going to save a bad product (and a bad name probably won’t sink a really great product). But if the product can live up to its name you’ve got a winning combination, and in Venezuela, a paycheck that will fit into your purse.

Tags: Branding, naming
Posted in Brand Naming, Branding, In-the-News | No Comments

The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center is in the market for a new name after being affectionately and famously known as SLAC for 46 years. The Energy Department, which funds SLAC, wants a name that can be trademarked (and which will better reflect its new emphasis on particle astrophysics and photon science) — but Stanford University won’t allow the use of its name in the trademark.

Some critics of the change compare it to a “major mid-life crisis,” and even wonder if SLAC will soon be referred to as the “center formerly known as SLAC.” Researchers are worried that a new name will be less attractive to prospective scientific talent and confuse the general public that has grown accustomed to the name for the huge facility. Others say there hasn’t been any accelerator activity there for years, and it’s about time for a name change.

What to do? SLAC’s staff members have been asked to contribute suggestions for the new name, which must be approved by Stanford’s president and the Department of Energy. One of the most obvious solutions is to replace the word “Stanford” with another word that starts with an “S” (such as nearby “Sand” Hill Road), thereby retaining the acronym SLAC. Or, simply eliminate the expanded form of the acronym altogether, as in the case of SRI International (the former Stanford Research Institute).

Getting a professional naming firm in on the action probably wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But you can also submit your name change suggestions to the SLAC community here.

Tags: name change, naming
Posted in Brand Naming, Fun stuff, In-the-News | No Comments

Not long ago, it would have been far-fetched to consider a Safeway brand synonymous with “certified organic.” But the last few years have seen a mainstreaming of organic products across the board, and in-store brands are finally getting a little panache – right down to brand name creation.

Two of Safeway’s store brands, O Organics and Eating Right, found immediate success from their debut. These product brands speak to people who are looking for healthier foods that are still good deal. (And who isn’t these days?) O Organics sales reached $150 million when it launched in 2005 and increased to $400 million in 2008 while Eating Right is expected to bring in $200 million this year. In a highly unusual move, these brands soon will be showing up in competitive supermarkets, as well, in the hopes that Safeway can further expand revenues.

In-store brands are generally cheaper than outside food brands, because of lower marketing overhead. But in this case, a little added branding focus has gone a long way. O Organics, for example, is an excellent product brand name. The O, like the numeral for zero, is a transparent communication of purity, telegraphing natural, unprocessed food. Eating Right is also effective in its straightforwardness. We all know that we’re supposed to be “eating right” and the name for this line of products communicates an easy way to follow this common advice.

It will be interesting to see if other grocery stores follow in Safeway’s footsteps — increasing their naming and branding efforts, more effectively competing against national brands, and then broadening their sales scope to include other grocery chains.

Tags: Advertising, Brand Naming, Food Branding, naming
Posted in Advertising, Brand Naming, Branding, In-the-News, Product Naming | No Comments

As the Beijing Olympics draw closer China is back in the forefront of the world’s consciousness. Western companies have been drawn to the promise of China’s enormous market potential for decades but there are complicated issues to consider when launching your brand in this incredible country. Checking in with some naming experts will definitely wade through language and cultural obstacles. Here’s a piece published recently about the nuances of brand naming in China by our very own Burt Alper. Click here to read Burt’s article.

Tags: Beijing Olymics, Brand Naming, Branding, China, international naming, naming
Posted in Brand Naming, Branding, Language use | No Comments