April 22, 2008
Brandz Ranks the Value of Brand Names Globally
Millward Brown's Top 100 Most Powerful Brandz report is a major undertaking, congratulations to MB.
However, you may call me a cynic, but I always question huge percentage changes in data over a one year period.
For instance, are we to believe that during 2007
- Apple's brand value increased by 123%?
- Blackberry's brand value increased by 390%?
What it tells me more than anything is that the Millward Brown Brandz methodology, at least in some instances, is overly sensitive to input.
Having said that, the broad findings of the most powerful brands are most likely valid, but I wouldn't put a lot of stock in the yearly percent change in brand value.
The study ranks Google #1 in brand value worldwide. Maybe that's true. Maybe it's not.
Could Google's ranking, be in part, because the name is ubiquitous as both a noun and a verb or is it vice-versa?
It would be interesting to see what a buyer would pay to acquire Google, which consists primarily of intellectual property or intangible assets versus the #2 brand, GE, which consists primarily of physical assets.
David Goldstein quoted a Millward Brown exec that stated that “strong brands continue to outperform weak ones in terms of market share and share price during recessions.”
Again, I don't think so.
I'm not aware of a recession in the U.S. or worldwide during 2007, the study period. My understanding of economics is that a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP.
Again, am I being overly picky? You decide.
Finally, Millward Brown is to be congratulated on this major brand study, even with its perceived shortcomings by a sample of one.
Technorati Tags: Google, Blackberry, Apple, Brand Value, Global Brand, Market Share, Share Price
Posted by William Lozito at 10:33 AM
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April 18, 2008
A Product Code Name Worth Watching
Remember when tubular was a term of approbation? Okay, maybe not.
Nokia’s code name for its proposed “iPhone killer” is Tube.
The mobile giant isn’t big on giving its products real names; Symbian Freak speculates that the Tube is part of the S60 line. For the general public, however, Tube is easier to remember.
Engadget describes the Tube as “grossly codenamed," and I have to agree that tube is not an especially sexy word, and in one meaning, conveys entirely the wrong shape for a mobile phone.
But there is logic to the name. The dominant feature of the Nokia Tube, like the Apple iPhone, is its screen. It’s a phone for watching video on. Back in the day, everyone referred to the television as the tube.
These days, not even televisions have vacuum tubes in them any more, but language can be slow to catch up with technology. We still talk about rewinding digital audio and video files. Although it may be that a more typical alphanumeric Nokia designation will actually sound more modern.
Besides, the example of pace Microsoft, the real name is supposed to be cooler than the code name.
Technorati Tags: Nokia Tube, Apple iPhone, Apple, Inc, Nokia, Cell Phone, iPhone Killer, Microsoft
Posted by Diane Prange at 8:05 AM
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April 4, 2008
Steinway Lyngdorf Sweet Sounding Brand Naming
Here is an example of a completely new brand name that can immediately grab huge market share from established competitors. The Steinway Lyngdorf brand for high end audio products is just irresistible.
Many of us who do not even play the piano know and revere the Steinway name. Extending it to an audio system means that non-pianists can grab some of that Steinway allure.
The secret here is that both brand names are leaders in their fields and they both have tremendous recognition in the marketplace.
The combination has acted as a “catapult,” sending the brand name to the top 5 of luxury
audio brand names according to the Luxury Institute Survey.
I’d add that the name Lyngdorf sounds German, just like Steinway does, and a German brand name connotes precision and high fidelity to most consumers in the audio field.
Nordic European naming seems to attract the audiophile with really deep pockets. Just ask Bang & Olufsen, Bose, Harman Kardon, or Klipsch.
Technorati Tags: Steinway Lyngdorf, Audio, Stereo, Luxury, German, Bose, Bang & Olufson, Harmon Kardon, Klipsch, Piano
Posted by William Lozito at 8:05 AM
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March 27, 2008
Motorola Brand Chief Asset of Recent Breakup
The Daily Herald has a good story up about the value of the Motorola name. The right move, they say, would be for one entity of the recently divided company to continue using the name, probably the Mobile Devices business.
That’s interesting, because as the Herald correctly points out, usually in similar cases the company name is scrapped altogether. That still could happen, not least because some people feel that offering investors the ailing handset business (the one most customers associate the Motorola name with) is, as Extra Tech so eloquently puts it, like “putting lipstick on a pig.”
The rot started in earnest, says GigaOm, when the RAZR (another well loved brand name in the Motorola stable) “stopped being the next new thing.” Ironically, the new MOTORZR truncates that name even further, while offering what looks like the same old thing.
Extra Tech says that “right now, Motorola is simply a brand,” but one that could be very attractive to Chinese manufacturers who have little, to no brand name recognition in the United States.
It's interesting to see the fortunes of a company (or senior executive for that matter) change so quickly. A year or two ago Ed Zander, Chairman of the Board for Motorola, was poking fun at Samsung's naming, calling them "Same Sung."
I agree. The Motorola name has simply too much equity to be tossed.
Technorati Tags: Motorola, Brand Name, RAZR, MOTORZR, Mobile Devices, Phones
Posted by William Lozito at 11:59 AM
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March 3, 2008
Intel Atom: Processor Product Naming for Your PC, Fridge or Mirror
Intel, long known for their confusing naming strategies, has selected the name Atom for its new chip line that could find itself in all kinds of new devices, including many that “haven’t had a serious processor before,” like, say, your refrigerator, toaster or even your bathroom mirror.
The Atom naming replaces the Silverthorne code name and also will be used in the Centrino Atom brand name for those products (mostly mobile Internet devices) that carry only Intel processors.
The name also does away with the Diamondville code name processors for desktops and notebooks.
This naming launch has focused some bloggers on the (pretty vague) difference between notebooks and netbooks. As Tech-Ex says, “Great, more terminology.”
Intel's sub branding nomenclature is doing a nice job of balancing the emphasis of its master brand and new sub brands.
Technorati Tags:Atom, Intel, PC, Silverthorne, Centrino Atom, Diamondville, Naming
Posted by William Lozito at 8:04 AM
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February 28, 2008
Sony Product Naming Getting Too Complicated For Blogosphere?
A recent exasperated post on Wired by Rob Beschizza has me smiling.
It seems that Sony has swamped the poor man with alphanumeric names like the ICF-C1iPMK2 for a clock radio.
We just recently got used to the new Sony Ericsson product naming nomenclature. The company still seems to struggle with differentiating its camera product names from Minolta's former efforts.
Yet some bloggers have been irritated by the Xperia, calling the name “cutesy.” Maybe so, but I think I agree with Joshua Weinberg, who points out that “Too many companies find that the product naming process is not fast or easy, so they resort to using model numbers in place of real names.”
I’ll take Xperia over ICF-C1iPMK2 any day.
Technorati Tags: Xperia, Naming, Ericsson, Sony, Minolta
Posted by William Lozito at 7:52 AM
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January 31, 2008
Finnair Scores with “EarlyJack” Name
When Southwest announced “miniskirt fares” in the wake of an incident involving a scantily-clad passenger, the airline received some harsh criticism.
Finnair, on the other hand, chose to embarrass a fictional character rather than a real one with “Early Jack,” an advergame (video game used to advertise) to introduce new flights between Europe and Asia.
As Adverblog suggests, this is an advantageous name for the fare as well as the game. “Early Jack” tells you right away what Finnair has that its competitors don’t: fares that get you to your destination first.
Technorati Tags: Finnair, Southwest Airlines, Advergame, Early Jack, Naming
Posted by William Lozito at 1:24 PM
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Sony’s Buzz! Brand Naming Gets Buzztime Buzzing
The buzz in the blogosphere is that Sony is being sued by US based Buzztime Entertainment over the buzz naming in its Buzz! trivia game.
Buzztime does not (and probably cannot) trademark the word buzz but it is interesting to note that we are talking about two electronic games. Buzztime claims that Sony is capitalizing on its brand name and calls the trespass “"malicious, fraudulent, knowing, willful, and deliberate."
Joystiq.com wonders if the smart move would be for Sony to buy Buzztime outright to avoid a legal wrangle that it probably will lose: the two competing brand names are in a similar market and easily confused.
That said, the argument in Sony’s favor would be that buzzers and buzzing and indeed the word buzz is clearly associated with trivia games and its fair game for anyone, but I would imagine that Sony is in trouble here. They want to trademark Buzz! as well as two other versions of the word for use in the electronic trivia game field and that puts them head to head with Buzztime.
In addition, Buzztime has been around since 1985 and is pretty popular. I find it hard to believe that Sony isn’t aware that the word buzz has a certain automatic, built in association.
Technorati Tags: Sony, Buzztime, Buzz, Playstation, Trivia, Brand Naming, Trademarking
Posted by William Lozito at 7:29 AM
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January 22, 2008
Nike and Apple Take to the Air in Brand Naming
I have been mulling over Apple’s new MacBook Air brand name, which was announced last week at Macworld.
And here are a number of points that come to mind:
- Mac lovers knew the name was coming (and Apple may have helped them figure it out with their “There’s something in the air posters)
- David Pogue of the the New York Times writes that “the name ‘Air’ is particularly apt. It describes not only the laptop’s aerodynamic shape, but also its nearly complete inability to connect to cables.” I agree.
- Some people wonder if the folks over at Nike aren't going to think this is some kind of move on their turf, with one wag asking “So when the MacBook Jordans coming out?."
Or maybe that’s not a joke: in the very same week that Jobs announced the brand naming of his new computer, Nike let it slip that their 23rd Air Jordan was set for release.
Yes, “Air” is Nike territory, but I’d add that Apple and Nike are selling to an overlapping target market. By the way, I wonder if Apple minds the recently introduced Tata Nano auto, manufactured by Tata Motors in India.
Technorati Tags: Macbook Air, Nike Air, Brand Naming, Air Jordan, Apple
Posted by William Lozito at 7:33 AM
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January 14, 2008
Embracing English Naming Trend, Panasonic Drops Matsushita’s from Brand Name
The news that Panasonic is dropping “Matsushita” from its brand naming has been applauded across the blogosphere. As Thomas Ricker at Engadget points out, it might be hard to lose the founder’s name, but the “dual-naming scheme hurt both brands and created confusion in the global marketplace.” Lee Distad, however, notes that Panasonic’s well regarded Technics brand name is still going strong.
An article in The Daily Yomiuri Online takes a good look at the naming strategy that Panasonic is embracing, and the belief that a single, congruent brand name is the means through which Panasonic will re-energize its brand and initiate a “second phase in the company’s history.”
More than that, there is a definite trend towards English-sounding names and abbreviations happening in Japanese company naming. Two notable examples are:- until 2002 Pentax was officially Asahi Kogaku Kogyo
- until 1983 popular tape brand TDK was officially Tokyo Denki Kagaku Kogyo.
This move towards English sounding names will only accelerate since the Justice Minister, in 2002, ruled that Japanese companies can use Roman characters in their name.
Technorati Tags: Panasonic, Pentax, Matsushita, English Naming Trend
Posted by William Lozito at 10:29 AM
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January 10, 2008
Branding: New Xerox Brand Identity
Xerox has refreshed its brand identity in order to get a little distance from simply being perceived as a copier company.
The revised Xerox "wordmark," just like Google, has seen its name used as a noun and a verb and has struggled with “genericide.”
Gone are the imposing high capital letters, replaced by a friendlier rounded lowercase font treatment with a globe icon beside it.
Let’s hope the new logo will help to “disrupt the mental model of Xerox as just a copier company.”
Some have observed, however, that the X on the globe of Xerox logo is surprisingly similar to Microsoft's Xbox logo.
Technorati Tags: Xerox, Brand Identity, Wordmark, Google
Posted by William Lozito at 7:52 AM
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January 4, 2008
Product Naming: Identity Crisis for “Ego”?
Mike Himowitz at the Baltimore Sun plans to use his ego to help keep his New Year’s Resolutions — or rather, to use his eGo, an external hard drive from Iomega.
No doubt the “Go” in “eGo” is meant to emphasize the drive’s portability, but plays on the name are appropriate as well as inevitable. 
(You can fit your whole ego into something that small? Really?) Our identities are closely bound up with our data these days, and ego is merely Latin for “I.”
Nevertheless, the eGo drive seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Mike at the My Tech Talk blog claims that the drive looks like a hip flask, which in fact it does, but that’s not the real issue. If you type “ego drive” into Technorati, what do you find? The Raytel EGO Drive GPS system on display at CES right now.
What’s more, “eGo” is already trademarked for digital media kiosks. In fact, a trademark search brings up 63 entries for “ego” in the electronics class alone.
Talk about egomania in naming!
Technorati Tags: Iomega, Hard Drive, eGo, Technology Brand
Posted by William Lozito at 8:42 AM
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January 3, 2008
Technology Brand Naming Men's Health Article
You may have seen the special edition of Men's Health Tech Guide 2008.
There are a lot of cool gadgets covered in this issue:
- Sierra Designs Echo Sleeping Bag
- Yamaha 2008 FXSHO Personal Watercraft
- Saeco Primea Cappuccino Touch Plus
Men's Health invited me to write an article on technology brand naming.
Technorati Tags: Men's Health, Technology Brands, Yamaha, Saeco
Posted by William Lozito at 8:01 AM
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December 18, 2007
Good Brand Name Awareness
A new study by the CMO Council suggests that good brand name awareness in the tech sector is not a guarantee of higher sales because customers are looking for "competence, quality service and support."
Some of the biggest tech brand names like HP, Dell and IBM take a back seat in terms of brand recognizability by people in the industry to lesser known names like NetApp, Juniper, InterSystems, Polycom and Synnex.
Wired has a great post up today that asks "Whatever Happened to the Other iPhone," a perfectly respectable Linksys product with a very recognizable name that people basically do not know about.
Building a good name means embracing every aspect of brand naming, which means, of course, backing up your marketing claims and making sure you satisfy customer needs once your name has attracted them.
Technorati Tags: HP, IBM, iPhone, Linksys, Polycom, Dell
Posted by William Lozito at 12:00 PM
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December 13, 2007
New Product Promotion Trend?
I came across an interesting study conducted by an MIT professor who has discovered that shoppers will go for comparatively lower priced items if they are given an idea about what to do with the saved money.
Professor Shane Frederick discovered that he purchased a less expensive stereo system after it was made clear to him that he could buy 30 CDs with his savings over another brand.
As a result, IKEA is putting out ads for its furniture that show cabinets filled with the shoes one could buy from the savings.
I just can see the tagline: "IKEA Cabinets: Shoes Included."
Technorati Tags: Shopping, MIT, IKEA
Posted by William Lozito at 9:56 AM
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November 26, 2007
Kindle Kinda Not Good Brand Naming
We have known that Kindle, Amazon's eBook reader, was coming for some time now, but last week we saw Newsweek's Steve Levy raving about it as the "iPod of reading."
There are two interesting naming developments here:
- For one, Kindle is not naming a gizmo or a device as is often the case with cell phones, but it's naming a service that will act as an extension of the Amazon store.
- The Kindle name is a verb, not a noun. Where have all the good nouns gone? In almost any category they are taken.
I also have to wonder if the name Kindle was well chosen as ParisLemon has a picture of kindling burning on its blog and there are sure to be many "up in smoke" jokes cracked if this particular gadget, I mean service, gets burned in the marketplace.
This seems possible after Scoble's review and other iffy reviews from the book set.
I also think that the Amazon brand name appeals to people who love books, and eBook readers are meant to help, not hurt, those people.
A product name like Kindle might be meant to refer to "kindling excitement" but it also reminds me of book burning. Also, as Laura Freberg points out, "I surely don't want my "book" to ignite in my lap" like some computer gizmos have in the past.
Technorati Tags: Amazon, Kindle, eBook, Sony Reader, iPod
Posted by William Lozito at 8:23 AM
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November 14, 2007
Product Naming: Penryn Processors Anything but Obscure
A quick look at Engadget confirms that Intel's new Penryn processors are getting plenty of buzz, particularly now that they're already shipping. And back since the buzz began, people have been asking "What's a Penryn when it's at home?"
"Pennrynn" is Cornish for "promontory" and is the name of a town in (you guessed it) Cornwall. That Penryn is presumably the namesake of Penryn, California, after which the processors are named.
Yes, descriptive names have their place. Intel chooses its product code names from among lists of obscure place-names proposed by the design team. According to Dileep Bhandarkar of the Technology@Intel blog, Penryn, CA is near one of the development sites for the processors. He adds, "The project started originally in Israel under the name Hagar, but one quick look at the comic section of the paper convinced us that that was a Horrible name!"
I quite like the name Penryn, though I have to admit that "Core 2 Extreme" does a better job of explaining the product's features and benefits.
Technorati Tags: Engadget, Penryn, Cornwall, Intel
Posted by William Lozito at 8:03 AM
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November 12, 2007
One vs. Wood, The Quest for a Cool PC Product Name
The news that Gateway's "One," a tricked out PC that is meant to rival with iMac in sleekness and form, shares a product name with Dell XPS One makes one wonder how this could happen. By the way, the Dell XPS One will be launched on November 19.
There are might be two "One" computer brands, but there is only one "Wood".
What's wrong with the brand name "Wood Computer?" You tell me, but regardless it makes me curious to learn more about the brand.
Technorati Tags: Gateway, Dell, iMac, XPS One, Wood Computer
Posted by William Lozito at 8:40 AM
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November 9, 2007
Company Name Changes: Working Assets Believes It(')s CREDO
Working Assets, the telephone company whose unique selling proposition is the donations it makes to progressive causes, has just announced a name change, despite the fact that it hasn't been bought out or acquired any new subsidiaries.
Now, "Working Assets" wasn't a bad name: it conveyed that the company was putting its (and your) assets to work - if not necessarily what they were working for. But the new name, CREDO, focuses attention on the "paycheck of the heart" that the connected generation demands.
In a letter addressed to its customers, CREDO answers the question "Why are you changing your name?" this way:
- Because we want our name to tell the world what we're all about, so we can continue to grow our business an our movement for progressive change. Because "credo" means belief and belief is at the heart of everything we do. The belief we can make the world a better place through great phone service. As CREDO, we'll be reaching more people and working even harder for progressive change.
They could easily have added, "because the new name gives us an entry point into the social media revolution," because that's what the "What's Your Credo" project does for them. CREDO is inviting people - whether or not they're customers - to upload videos of themselves saying what they believe.
The word credo itself is Latin for "I believe" and is the root of the English word "creed," though it has also come into the English language as "credo," which actually means a system of principles or beliefs.
Those interested in trying the service will be happy to know that the bribe for signing up is still the same as before: free Ben & Jerry's ice cream.
Technorati Tags: Working Assets, Credo, Ben & Jerry
Posted by William Lozito at 8:17 AM
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November 6, 2007
Brand Naming: Google’s Android is Pretty Frightening
Google's launch of the new Android mobile software finally puts to rest the rumors of a gPhone. In fact, the new free software will not even feature the Google logo but, as Dana Gardner points out, this move will "threaten no less than the personal computer itself" by basically making any new cell phone a Gphone.
Extra Tech has sighed in relief over the fact that the Gphone name, "which stopped being cute awhile ago in the fine tradition of J-Lo, A-Rod, and K-Fed" can go away now, hopefully forever.
Still, the Gphone name will be around for some time, as even the guys at Google like to talk about it. Google's idea of omitting the Google brand name on the phones is a smart move and "part of Google's multilayered strategy to win over the wireless search and advertising industries."
The Android brand name reminds me of a '50s Sci-Fi flick "Androids & Cyborgs." Given Google's aggressive entry into the market, calling the new mobile software Android is little bit frightening given this free, stand alone piece of software will essentially enslave your phone to Google, making it Gphone in all but name.
Technorati Tags: Google, Android, Mobile Software
Posted by William Lozito at 11:09 AM
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November 1, 2007
Coined Brand Names: Findability vs. Brand Dilution
We've talked before about the trend toward funky names and alternative spellings among Web 2.0 companies. Many of them even have similar logos, making them even harder to tell apart.
Some domain name specialists argue that if you don't choose a generic name, one that describes the nature of your business, for an Internet-based company, you are leaving money on the table.
The basic reasoning behind this argument is that when people are looking for something online, they're likely to try typing a generic name into the address bar. So, if they wanted to find books, they might type "books.com." And if you call your online bookstore "Books.com," people will find you online even if you don't do a lot of advertising.
Just about everyone now online knows that if you want to find books, what you actually type is "Amazon.com." But that's only because Amazon has done good job marketing itself, to the point where people associate Amazon with books in much the way they associate Kleenex with facial tissues and Xerox with photocopying.
Owning a generic domain name can certainly be useful. If you type "books.com," you get redirected to Barnes & Noble, which wasn't about to change its very recognizable name just to get a website, but had clever enough SEO advisors to take this step to associate its name with its product.
But the last thing a company trying to build a lasting brand wants is to commit genericide and have everyone else's knock-offs confused with their quality product - even if such genericization is a sign that your product is the one with the most market mind-share.
It's true that companies with physical presences and products have an easier time associating a coined or fanciful name with a particular thing - we see the Kleenex boxes on the shelves of the supermarket, after all. But even those companies have to spend time, energy, and money on advertising and marketing before they become household names.
A company with a descriptive or generic name still has to promote itself. Flicker.com only gets 150,000 visitors a month because Flickr is so popular. Even though the folks at Flickr would do well to buy flicker.com (if they can) and any other possible spellings, the "generic" name is only valuable because of what the specific name means to people.
Technorati Tags: Amazon, Kleenex, Flickr, Barnes & Noble, Xerox
Posted by Diane Prange at 11:24 AM
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October 22, 2007
Brand Naming: Cingular Name Haunts AT&T?
As you know, I have been following the AT&T's efforts to re-brand Cingular and today I came across an article in Advertising Age suggesting that it has been a "failure of epic proportions."
Many feel that AT&T is "struggling" to convey the "seamless" blend of Cingular and AT&T, despite the fact that AT&T's brand name is so high in global awareness rankings.
I realize that many people miss the Cingular brand, but as I mentioned before, I think AT&T made the right move in scrapping the Cingular name. The share price is increasing and the AT&T brand name has broader and deeper recognition.
Just give it some time. Be patient.
Technorati Tags: AT&T, Cingular, Global Brand
Posted by William Lozito at 9:08 AM
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October 17, 2007
APWagner Looking For Oldest Appliance: What Brand Name Will Win?
APWagner, an appliance parts company, is running a contest to find America's oldest appliance.
The Absolute Overall Oldest Appliance owner will get three new Whirlpool appliances plus $1000 cash, while the "Craziest Video Entry" winner will get three new GE appliances.
It seems APWagner figured the Whirlpool brand name would appeal to people who want longevity out of their appliances, while GE would appeal to creative people. In my opinion, however, all of these brands have qualities built into their names.
If you still wonder how old your appliance has to be in order to win a contest, the Old House Web has a list up:
- Dishwashers should give you from 5-12 years of usage
- Washers and dryers 8-12 years
- Fridges and stoves 15-20 years
Now we have to wait and see which appliance brand name will beat these numbers.
Technorati Tags: GE, Whirlpool, Appliances
Posted by Diane Prange at 3:14 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack