June 23, 2009
Kodak Takes Away Our Kodachrome Film and Brand Naming
Kodak's Kodachrome color film is being retired after 74 years and there is much nostalgia for the brand name across the blogosphere, not least because of the famous Paul Simon song where he pleads "Mama don't take my Kodachrome away."
I note that despite the film's pedigree as the preferred film for the pro and amateur alike, very few people actually use the stuff anymore - even non digital photographers seem to have switched over to Fuji's Velvia, which may sound like a low-fat butter, but is actually "a contraction of Velvet Media."
Now, there's only one place in America that can even develop the Kodachrome film.
The Business Pundit blog calls this a "necessary but sad" retirement, while Doug Plummer's blog points out that "The film now joins the ranks of the Daguerreotype, Albumen, Kallitype, Palladiotype, Ozobrome, Artigue, Autochrome, Bromoil, and Polaroid," all brand names with great history and nostalgic value, but none which are still in use.
Most of us know Kodachrome not only from the song, but also from the famous 1985 National Geographic picture of the Afghan Girl, which was later updated by photographer Steve McCurry seventeen years later using Kodak Professional Ektachrome Film E100VS.
So what's the big deal?
Well, the name has stuck. It is catchy enough be included in a song lyric and it has been carefully associated with every spectrum of photography in the U.S.
Even though it accounts for less than one percent of Kodak's business, it is easily one of the most recognizable product names they stock - excuse me - used to stock.
Technorati Tags: Kodachrome, Kodachrome Brand Name, Kodak Product Naming, Film Naming, Photography Branding, Fuji Velvia
Posted by William Lozito at 8:06 AM| Comments (0)
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May 14, 2009
Bicycle Product Naming: Would You Ride a Bixi?
I am intrigued by Bixi, the name given to the no-nonsense, practically indestructible bikes that are being offered to citizens of Montreal as an environmentally friendly way to get around.
Bixi has already been named by TIME to be one of the year's 50 best innovations, which may not have happened if Bixi hadn't replaced "Public Bike Sharing System" or PBS.
The name itself is a combination of "bicycle" and "taxi" and the web site proclaims "We are Bixi," prompting the citizens of Montreal to take ownership of the brand.
An annual membership to use one of the 3,000 bicycles available at 300 locations throughout the city is just $78, or citizens can choose to pay the daily rate of $5.
Although, the really interesting twist in the story, at least from a naming and branding perspective, is that this initiative is overshadowed by the Paris Vélib bicycle program of 2007. The Paris Vélib bicycle program has been beset with problems, one being major damage inflicted on the bikes by joy riders.
The name Vélib is another portmanteau, a contraction of velo (cycle) and liberte (freedom). Unfortunately, people have most certainly abused their "freedom" to use the bikes, going so far as to post YouTube videos of "velib extreme" stunts that always end up with the bikes demolished.
Bixi might have an advantage here, as the bikes have GPS chips in them and people have to swipe a credit card before using them.
However, Bixi's success may not be a forgone conclusion.
Bixi was recently outed for creating a false hype about the program through faux blog posts and Facebook pages, which has led to some questions about the authenticity of the brand name.
Technorati Tags: Bixi, Bixi Bikes, Bike Brand Names, Bicycle Product Naming, Montreal Bikes
Posted by William Lozito at 8:39 AM| Comments (0)
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May 11, 2009
Landshark Brand Name Marks New Stadium Naming Era for the Dolphins
You just gotta love Jimmy Buffett, who has managed to get Dolphins Stadium renamed "Landshark Stadium" after the Anheuser-Busch lager sold under his Margaritaville brand.
Buffett's fan club of "Parrot Heads" were on hand to help him ring in the new name, offering fans a "Margaritaville experience" while also celebrating his business partnership with Stephen M. Ross, the Dolphins' owner. He even sang a song entitled "Fins" to honor the Dolphins:
We drive down on Interstate 95,
And up on U.S. 1.
It's game day in Miami town
Where the Dolphins are Number 1 (numero uno)
We play down by the ocean
In the warm South Florida sun
The tailgate's down so gather round
For some pre-game LandShark Fun
It's a great story, but the name doesn't appear to be for the long-haul. There are already reports that the NFL will not allow it to stick around for the 2010 Pro Bowl or the 2010 Super Bowl.
So, the stadium that has been called Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphins Stadium and Joe Robbie Stadium will keep searching for an official naming sponsor, but for right now, the Dolphins don't seem to mind sharing a tank with Landsharks.
Technorati Tags: Landshark, Stadium Naming, Dolphins Stadium, Miami Dolphins, Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville, NFL Names
Posted by William Lozito at 8:42 AM| Comments (0)
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March 16, 2009
Brand Naming March Madness Success
I love 'March Madness'
That's because anything can happen - any team can win. And any fan, with a little luck, can predict the winner.
There is no right or wrong way for picking brackets - through darts or sophisticated algorithms work equally well, but everyone has their own way of doing it.
Now I am going to let you in on my secret method.
For the last few years, my bracket strategy has been based solely on linguistic considerations, primarily including:
- How the team's name flows.
- What the letters in the team name connotes.
- How strong or weak or masculine or feminine the team names are.
For example, it's no surprise that I picked Duke for one of this year's Final Four slots.
Duke is a great name because it's short, memorable, and starts off with a voiced plosive consonant, D, and ends in a plosive K (plosive consonants are highly correlated with speed and dependability).
In the middle of this name is a big strong low back vowel - U - that pulls it all together and tells you something 'big' is going to happen.
Duke, I predict, will make it to the Final Four as follows:
In the first round, Duke will beat Binghamton.
- The Binghamton name is too long, begins with a high tone (feminine) I, and isn't American enough for basketball (My apologies to Naismith).
- With a plosive T in first position and a perfectly balanced cadence, Texas is a strong name.
- However the X in Texas is too complex, scientific and not emotional enough for March Madness.
- Pittsburgh will beat out two feminine team names (Florida and Oklahoma) to make it this far.
- What makes Pittsburgh an especially tough rival is its plosive density - PTTB and G.
- However, this name is longer than Duke and is hindered by its negative sound symbolism with 'the pits'. (A name like Pointsburgh, on the other hand, might even the score).
- Boston: Short, balanced, begins with a friendly and welcoming B, followed by large round O vowel sounds that are both dynamic and magnified.
- Purdue: Also short and balanced, each syllable starts with a powerful plosive. The word has semantic connotation with a strong defense - as in 'pursue.'
- Gonzaga: Even it doesn't sound too appetizing, this name has a definite edge over the higher-toned, more feminine sounding rivals like Oklahoma, North Carolina and Illinois, which are the teams it will have to overcome to reach the finals.
Although Gonzaga appears to have a particularly tough road to the Final Four, its name has several things going for it:
- Two strong plosive G's.
- A dynamic and deep O.
- And an innovative Z.
- So when everyone else zigs, this name seems to zag (pun intended) - making it distinctive and provocative.
Technorati Tags: March Madness, Basketball Brackets, Basketball Brand Names, Linguistics, Duke, Gonzaga
Posted by Diane Prange at 4:05 PM| Comments (0)
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March 2, 2009
Lego Succeeds by Knocking Down, Building Up Brand Naming
Sometimes when you're building a brand, you need to knock it down and start from scratch. Like Lego.
Despite hard times and vicious competition from computer games, Lego is experiencing growth nowadays through constantly revolving licensing deals and by letting go of brand names that just don't work anymore.
This means that the Lego theme parks are out, but Lego Raider's of the Lost Ark is definitely in. In an industry that is seeing a 2% contraction, Lego expects to grow 5%-10% this year.
The name, Lego, actually comes from the Danish "leg godt" or "Play Well," and it seems many of us are willing to play right now, with seven Lego sets sold around the world every second. This makes Lego the fifth largest toy manufacturer worldwide - and they don't outsource to China.
The secret behind their continuing success comes from focusing on their core brands: Lego City, Lego Pirates and Lego Castle (as well as the very popular Star Wars and Bionicle series), while also adding new Lego sets inspired by Disney movies.
In addition, they offer cool gadgets that attract geeky adults like the Lego Cell Phone.
And of course in the spirit of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," they have found a nifty way to get their brand name into the gaming world. With games 
like Lego Star Wars on the XBOX, Playstation, and Nintendo Wii, not to mention Lego Rock Band for Xbox, Lego has successfully broken into the video game industry.
All of this allows the brand to stay fresh and relevant while at the same time remaining true to its roots.
It is interesting to see the Lego of today compared to the Lego of yesteryear, especially considering that they have used other brand names and movie titles to build market presence while also popping up in the video game world.
But there's just something kind of cool about using a joystick to move a Lego Indiana Jones around the screen, and I think A Lego Heavy Metal band is definitely a bit intriguing.
It goes to show that a good brand name and product line can appeal to generation after generation if its willing to deviate from the plans in the box and build something entirely new.
Technorati Tags: Lego, Brand Names, Toy Naming, Lego Brand, Lego Video Games, Product Names, Brand Building, Toys
Posted by William Lozito at 8:47 AM| Comments (0)
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February 20, 2009
Brand Names and Silly Spelling: Is this the End?
Bloggers are up in arms over the misspelling of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd's name on the new Guitar Hero: Metallica box.
The misspelling (Lynyrd Skynrd, minus one "y") was spotted by Rolling Stone and the mistake was quickly fixed - Activision, the game developer and publisher of Guitar Hero, even confirmed that the final box art has rectified the problem.
This is just an example of poor proofing, even Lynyrd Skynyrd admits that the name is hard to spell and pronounce. Their first album was actually "pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd" and the name itself was originally Leonard Skinnerd, after a hated gym teacher that the original band members endured at Robert E Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida.
More interesting is the idea that stress created by the recession is making us all less accepting of poor spelling when it comes to brand names. MSNBC reports that some customers will not patronize Krispy Kreme or restaurants with menus that have been hastily written ("Try our Sweat and Sour Chicken!").
In addition, blogs and web sites that castigate poor spellers are on the rise and Facebook has a group called "I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar." There's even blogs called The Grammar Vandal and the "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks.
This all makes me wonder, when it comes to product naming and branding, has the recession put an end to silly spellings for good?
Dunkin' Donuts... better watch out.
Technorati Tags: Naming, Brand Naming, Silly Spelling, Product Naming, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Guitar Hero, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, Brand Names
Posted by William Lozito at 8:02 AM| Comments (0)
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February 6, 2009
Citigroup Stadium Naming: Savvy or Strikeout?
The controversy over the Citigroup naming of the Mets' new stadium has brought to light how important advertising is to the success of a company.
The question everyone is so anxious about is how can Citigroup have the nerve to dump $400 million into the naming rights of a stadium when it's asking for $45 billion in bailout money?
Well, the simple answer is that a company that does not advertise is a dead company, and stadium naming, according to some experts, offers incredible value in terms of getting your name out there in the public consciousness. $400 million bucks is ultimately not that much given the scale of Citigroup.
The problem is that such a move creates the wrong perception among people who are hyper-sensitive to the excesses of the banking industry.
Fact is, the Mets have a legally binding agreement with Citigroup on this, and are expecting the returns off the naming to cover a great part of the stadium's running costs. Backing out of the deal would not only show bad faith on Citigroup's part, it would underline to everyone the sad state of the US financial world.
Maybe the cost is a little excessive, but it didn't seem that way in 2006 when the deal was done. The US Treasury is looking into this agreement and even they understand that 
marketing expenses are off limits - they are a necessary part of the bank's survival.
But the public sees this as an expenditure akin to the (admittedly ridiculous) $50 billion jet that Citigroup had to nix. This whole deal is wrongly making Citigroup look greedy and frivolous. It is creating what one bystander calls "bad will" instead of "good will."
The only upside? Citigroup may escape what the New York Times calls "the stadium naming jinx" - eg many big banks that have put their names on stadiums have gone bust. "Should Citigroup back out of its naming pact, perhaps it can remain merely beleaguered, rather than, say, liquidated."
Ouch.
Technorati Tags: Citi, Citigroup, Stadium Naming, Naming, Brand Naming, Mets' Stadium, Marketing, Advertising
Posted by William Lozito at 9:58 AM| Comments (0)
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