March 21, 2008
Soccer Naming Gets Tough in Seattle
There seems to be some unhappiness in Seattle about the possible name of that city's major league soccer team.
The names that the soccer fans of Seattle have to choose from are: Seattle Alliance, Seattle Republic and Seattle FC, leading Seattle PI to report that sports fans were asking "Is it a phrase from a "Star Trek" convention? The name of an Eastern bloc country? Did focus groups consisting of a bunch of youth soccer coaches come up with some new moniker?"
Apparently, there had been a chance the name would be Emerald City says the WV Hooligan, who favors Seattle FC.
It seems like the folks in the Pacific Northwest have a pension for unusual names.
- Seattle's tourist slogan is "metronatural." Need I say more. Of course it reminds one of metrosexual, perhaps not the most positive association.
- Wisely, the state of Washington had the wisdom to drop its most recent state slogan "SayWA!"
Don't worry, Seattle, you may not be crazy about your soccer team's new name, but at least your team will not be called the PA Stoners, the name that came about in Pennsylvania for its NPSL (National Premier Soccer League) team from "Pennsylvania’s nickname: the Keystone State." Ouch!
Technorati Tags: Soccer, Seattle, Naming, NPSL, PA Stoners, Metronatural, Pennsylvania, Keystone State
Posted by William Lozito at 7:48 AM
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February 22, 2008
El Porto No Mas: Legendary Beach Gets Posh Naming
The news story that the scraggly, but hip, LA Beach El Porto, is getting a naming change to North Manhattan Beach in a bid to shed its seedy, but soulful past and adopt a more posh image, which has led to some consternation among residents.
One surf shop has changed its name to El Porto Surfboards in protest. El Porto, once the favorite destination of those who wanted to let it all hang out, has cleaned up its image, possibly at some cost to its own spirit.
Bloggers at Manhattan Beach Confidential would have preferred El Norte. Not bad, guys.
Technorati Tags: Beach, El Porto, North Manhattan Beach, Surfing, Naming
Posted by William Lozito at 8:26 AM
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February 1, 2008
NY Leatherstocking Region Looks For Less Literary Brand Naming
The Chenango-Delaware-Otsego region of New York state has been referred to as the Central Leatherstocking Region since the famous I Love NY marketing blitz was launched 31 years ago.
The name is in honor of the James Fennimore Cooper novels that are set in the region (The Leatherstocking Tales that include "Last of the Mohicans" and "The Deerslayer").
Now, the entire I Love NY campaign is getting a shot in the arm and the somewhat obscure naming for this region is looking at a revamp.
I am familiar with this area but the fact is that the average traveler is unlikely to understand the highly literary allusion.
This is an exceptionally beautiful and historic part of New York that boasts the Baseball Hall of Fame 
and the fabulous Glimmerglass Opera (both in Cooperstown).
It also has the best tagline I have ever heard for apple pie and cheddar cheese, a favorite dessert combo for upstate New Yorkers: "An apple pie without the cheese is like a kiss without the squeeze.”
I will be watching how events develop in this region with great interest.
Technorati tags: Leatherstocking Tales, I Love NY, New York, Brand Naming, Hall of Fame, Baseball, Opera, Cooperstown, Glimmerglass, Apple Pie, Last of the Mohicans, The Deerslayer
Posted by William Lozito at 7:32 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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January 30, 2008
Schrager’s Edition Naming and Branding Already a Classic
It’s official, contrary to a recent article in the NY Post, Ian Schrager will not be naming his new line of boutique hotels after himself.
Instead, the new name for the upscale chain he is creating with Bill Marriott will be Edition and is set to offer serious competition for Starwood’s W brand, currently the lead in boutique hotel space.
Look for hotels in Paris, Madrid, Costa Rica, Miami, Washington, Chicago and Scottsdale, as well as two in LA.
Andrew Calvo calls the new name genius. Each hotel will have a Town Edition, so travelers will see them as LA Edition, Costa Rica Edition and so forth.
New York seems to be in the cards and the chain should grow to 100 Editions worldwide. I think this is interesting brand naming and melds the idea of upscale hotels with the boutique concept, which until now has targeted the business traveler looking for something special.
No word yet on the logo or tagline, but from what I see so far, you can already book me a room!
Technorati Tags: Edition Hotels, Schrager, Marriot, Starwood, Branding, Naming
Posted by William Lozito at 7:35 AM
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December 21, 2007
Fairmont Lends Its Brand Name to Legendary Norfolk Hotel
Some people are not pleased that the legendary 103-year old Norfolk Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya - where Teddy Roosevelt stayed before his famous safari and favorite of Karen Blixen of Out of Africa fame - is being renamed Fairmont The Norfolk after a multi-million dollar renovation.
Fairmont Raffles International has made no secret of its intention to spread its branding through Africa and the East. People often get upset when iconic hotels change their names, such as when Boston's Ritz-Carlton was renamed after being acquired by the Taj hotel chain.
The Fairmont name is well-known worldwide, unlike the name "Norfolk Hotel," which is only known by people who are into Africana or are intimately familiar with Kenya.
Kenya's drive to bring in new tourists will be greatly helped by the Fairmont name, which allows people to book with confidence.
Technorati Tags: Kenya, Norfolk Hotel, Fairmont Raffles International, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Taj Hotel
Posted by William Lozito at 9:35 AM
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December 12, 2007
Map Naming: 1507 Waldseemuller Map
I have been following with interest the story of the 1507 Waldseemuller map, which will soon be on permanent display at the Library of Congress. This is the first map to use the name "America" and a reference of a vast ocean that would only later be discovered and named The Pacific.
Check out a wonderful book entitled "From Squaw Tit to Whorehouse Meadow: How Maps Name, Claim, and Inflame" by Mark Monmonier, which not only tells us such interesting facts as why Hawaiian place names have inverted commas, how to achieve "toponymic immortality," or to get a place to be named after you.
Technorati Tags: Maps, Waldseemuller, Library of Congress, Pacific Ocean
Posted by William Lozito at 7:58 AM
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December 6, 2007
Brand Name Evaluation - The Importance of Context
As naming professionals, we are always surprised with associations that people make with the name candidates we present.
I feel it tells us as much about the person and their view of the world as it does their opinion on the name candidate.
One very common response we hear is "That name reminds me of x."
Our response is "You really have to evaluate the name candidates in context." Take the name American Eagle, for example.
- American Eagle is the regional carrier for American Airlines.
- American Eagle is also a retail clothing chain that is located in many shopping malls.
So, if our assignment were to name a clothing chain and we recommended American Eagle, it's very typical for client to say "It reminds me of an airline" and dismiss it for that reason.
We say, "Wait a minute." How about the Ford Fusion and the Gillette Fusion razor and the V8 Fusion juice?
As you can see, the same name can co-exist in multiple categories and not be confusing since all of these brand names are presented in context.
When I go to a store to buy Gillette Fusion razors, I don't think automobiles or juice.
Technorati Tags: American Eagle, American Airline, Ford Fusion, Gillette Fusion, V8 Fusion
Posted by William Lozito at 1:51 PM
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November 20, 2007
New Slogan for Great Britain?
Great Britain is looking for a national slogan, a move which is being received with an expected dose of cynicism by the British public. Recent suggestions include "Get blotto, play the lotto, that's our motto" and "Dipso, fatso, bingo, ASBO, Tesco." Another amusing one is "Americans Who Missed the Boat" have posted yet more.
The UK has never had an official slogan. Even the Spice Girls' era "Cool Britannia" was more of a proposed and failed media tagline. This may be due to the fact that England "did not have the same grand cataclysmic moment of creation that other countries did" and thus a rallying cry was not really necessary. And as one student says, "We're British; we don't do slogans."
The Yahoo! News article on the subject quotes Shakespeare's "Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful" as a possible slogan, but I would suggest that if you are looking to the Bard for inspiration, why not "The Sceptred Isle?"
I guess "God Save the Queen" has served them well for some time now and few people will understand the meaning of "sceptred."
The whole debate has prompted at least one blogger to post suggestions for a Canadian slogan. My favorite is "North America's very own Belgium."
Technorati Tags: Great Britain, UK, Cool Britannia, Spice Girls, Slogan, Tagline
Posted by William Lozito at 9:41 AM
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November 19, 2007
ANdAZ Hotels: Starting a New Spelling Trend?
Hyatt chose a name meaning "personal style" for its new chain of "unpretentious, eco-friendly" hotels -- and may be starting a new trend in alternative spelling by rendering "Andaz" as "ANdAZ." That's right: instead of mid-word capitals, a trend we're all familiar with by now, there's a mid-word lower-case letter.
Fortunately for our autocorrect options, the hotel chain seems happy to use the spelling "Andaz." One presumes the designer was aiming for hip, trendy, and attention getting, rather than puzzling, but the effect is to slow down the reader's eye in ways contrary to the naturally quick flow of the syllables.
What, one wonders, looking at "ANdAZ," are "AN" and "AZ" and how does the "d" connect them? Is this one word or two? Either way, it misses the opportunity for a play on "dazzle," though one could argue that Hyatt's Flash animation intro is meant to do just that.
The Red Hot Curry blog points out that the Andaz name reverses another trend: whereas once Indian hotel owners used English names, now an Anglo chain believes an Indian name will attract the right clientele. "Andaz" is Hindi, or Urdu, or both -- difficult for anyone not familiar with either the Nastaliq or Devanagari scripts to see whether "personal style" is a correct translation.
In a way, it hardly matters, except to Urdu speakers who might be annoyed by a misuse of the word.
The name is short, phonetic, easy to pronounce, and has a Z in it connoting innovation, as our proprietary consonant study revealed.
Technorati Tags: Hyatt, ANdAZ, Hotel Naming
Posted by Diane Prange at 10:23 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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October 25, 2007
Daimler Shareholders Benzed out of Shape over Company Name Change
Many Daimler shareholders are complaining about the company's name change from DaimlerChrysler to Daimler AG.
There's certainly nothing inspiring about the "AG" appellation, but Daimler and Chrysler never struck me as belonging together in the first place. The Daimler name evokes Lord Peter Wimsey: upper class, upscale, luxury cars with a good turn of speed (and perhaps a whiff of the turn of the previous century). Chrysler, on the other hand, is Lee Iacocca and the tough neighborhood that is Detroit (no longer really Motor City). 
So I sympathize less with those who object to a change than with those who would prefer to see the Mercedes-Benz name brought back in. Daimler was always a better fit with Mercedes than with Chrysler, and a return to the previous "Daimler-Benz" would doubtless have been preferable to many people, especially, of course, the heirs of Carl Benz. But that wasn't an option, according to CEO Dieter Zetsche.
One advantage the new company name does have is that the company is unlikely to need to change it again to reflect future acquisitions or sell-offs.
Technorati Tags: Daimler, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Company Naming, Automobiles
Posted by William Lozito at 8:14 AM
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October 12, 2007
Airport Naming Is All About Location
I have been following the stories about re-naming airports for some time now and recently came across an article just about that in the Modesto Bee.
The Castle Air Force Base in Yosemite, California wants to go from being named after a heroic airman to a georgraphical name. Soon it will be called either Central California Yosemite Airport or Merced County Yosemite Airport.
The similar situation is in Hartford Bradley Airport that was named after a pilot killed in a training accident during times when the airport was a military field. The new name alternatives considered are "Bradley New England International Airport" or "New England International Airport" since the airport is now an international destination.
On the other hand, well-known airports like Johannesburg International, are changing their names into OR Tambo Airport named after the former president of the ANC.
Here are a few more examples of airports that were named after people:
It seems to me that naming an airport is just as big of a task as naming a town. After all, it is the front gate into the city.
Technorati Tags: Airport, Air Force, JFK, John Lennon
http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2007/10/fame-at-last.html
Posted by Diane Prange at 8:38 AM
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October 10, 2007
Femmoto Lifts Lid on Female Bike Naming
I was fascinated to read in the LA Times about the "Femmoto" motorcycling event in Las Vegas that was aimed at women, who now make up 10% of the motorcyclists in the U.S.
The name of the event itself is clearly meant to attract females, but it struck me that the brand names of certain bikes on display there also appeal to women. Names that caught my eye were Suzuiki Burgman, Kawasaki Versys, and Kymco Velox.
Aprilla USA has a confidently feminine sounding name, and their product names seem very female friendly: the Tuono, the Caponord, and the Mojito. Italians with their beautiful, sexy language, seem to have a real advantage over everyone else from a brand naming perspective, not least because women are buying more scooters. There is something alluring about a woman on a Vespa, for instance, or on a Ducati (a company that has a wonderful women's racing race team.
These names are so much more refined than those offered by one of the other big sponsors of the event: Harley-Davidson, is a revered name in the industry but is also trying to sell women the "Night Rod."
Fact is, those of us in the naming business had better start being aware that even traditionally masculine brand names like the Kawasaki Ninja appeal to women (it is in fact a favorite among women because it is so light).
A great article on Cycle Trader breaks down women's favorite bike brands, and the results are interesting: Harley's Sportser is the top bike for that company name, while the Honda Shadow is ridden by more women than the goddess Valkyrie (who would have thought?) by a factor of six.
Harley has a tremendous amount of women riders, but names like "Softail" and "Fat Boy" and "Shovelhead" must at least make some women buyers pause.
Technorati Tags: Femmoto, Motorcycles, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Kymco, Vespa, Harley-Davidson, Ducati, Honda
Posted by Diane Prange at 11:40 AM
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October 9, 2007
Alpine, Legend in Automotive and Technology Naming, To Ride Again
Car lovers will be pleased to learn that French automaker Renault plans on reintroducing its Alpine brand name on a line of cars coming at the end of the decade that promises to include a "radical sports car."
While Renault plans on introducing 26 new models by the end of 2009, including a new Laguna as well as updated versions of the Vel Satis and Avantime lines, there can be no doubt that true aficionados will be eagerly awaiting new Alpine. The legendary Alpine A110 led the team to victory in the 1973 World Rally Championship, which was something pretty special.
This car that put a serious fire under the Porsche 911, can be found on eBay and aimed right at the classic car demographic. Owning a 1977 Alpine A310 would make you a "member of a much more exclusive club than is available to mere 911 drivers."
I have to wonder, however, how this brand name will work alongside another brand name: Alpine car stereos. It's a brand that appeared in 1978, years after the Renault Alpine was made legend, but is still very much sui generis.
Of course, Alpine the car stereo company, no longer makes car stereos, they make "mobile media solutions," but it’s still a fearsome and coveted brand name.
I think a new, "radical" Renault Alpine 2010 loaded with the latest Alpine sound system would be si bon.
Technorati Tags: eBay, World Rally, Renault, Alpine, Automobiles
Posted by Diane Prange at 10:38 AM
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September 26, 2007
Nike's Air Native N7 Brand Naming for Native Americans
Nike's new Air Native N7 is the new sneaker brand name designed especially for Native Americans. This is the first time Nike has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. With a "culturally specific look" and a wider, higher design, it is meant to cater to the specific foot needs of Native Americans. The design sounds pretty cool: there are feathers inside and stars on the sole to represent the night sky. These are referred to as "heritage callouts," and are accompanied by "sunrise to sunset to sunrise patterns on the tongue and heel of the shoe."
The N7 name is a direct reference to the "seventh generation theory" which some tribes ascribe to, looking three generations behind them for wisdom and three generations ahead of them for legacy.
While alphanumeric naming is nothing new, particularly in the auto industry, this product reminds me of Wrigley's "5" gum brand, which depends heavily on the associations derived from the number itself (in this case the 5 senses), unlike the Milky Way 2 to Go bar.
I also must say that Nike has made a good move by addressing the needs of a small, niche market like that presented by Native Americans. It shows a kinder, gentler side of the company and underlines the interesting "core" of the brand name: "If you have a body you are an athlete."
Technorati Tags: Nike, Air Native N7, Milky Way, Athletic Shoes
Posted by William Lozito at 2:10 PM
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August 9, 2007
Virgin America: Brand Naming of Desire
If you think brand naming doesn't count in the cutthroat airline industry, watch Virgin America, the biggest new airline company name to take to our skies in a long, long time.
Put aside for a moment the fact that almost everyone who flies knows the Virgin name and take a look at how carefully the company infuses brand naming throughout the entire customer experience.
For starters, they don't just have a cool in-flight entertainment system. Nope. They have "Red," named after the color of the airplanes' tails.
They even have mood lighting inside the cabins.
And they name their planes. With cool names. Names like Mach Daddy, Virgin & Tonic, An Airplane Named Desire, Jane (as in Plane Jane, nice) and Unicorn Chaser.
Hear that really loud slapping sound? That's a thousand airline execs whacking their foreheads in unison and saying "doh" upon seeing all the free publicity Virgin has gotten from these names.
Plus, they named their inaugural flight out of LAX "California Dreaming."
Every passenger also gets a username when you take your seat so you can chat (and flirt) with other passengers.
This is all just first class product naming. Book me a ticket on Unicorn Chaser. Good luck, guys.
Technorati Tags: Virgin America, Red, Mach Daddy, Virgin & Tonic, An Airplane Named Desire, Jane, Unicorn Chaser, California Dreaming, Brand Naming.
Posted by William Lozito at 9:22 AM
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July 9, 2007
Boeing's Dreamliner is Wonderfully Soporific Product Naming
The news that Boeing has unveiled the new 787 Dreamliner yesterday Sunday, July 8th, has me thinking that this product name is helping Boeing take on rival Airbus, whose competing, mammoth A350 XB has been beset with problems.
There are two reasons why I think Dreamliner is a good name:
- First of all, this may be the first passenger jet brand name that we all can remember, aside from the 747. The Dreamliner name sets it apart immediately from the instantly forgettable Airbus 350 brand name.
- Second, the Dreamliner brand name speaks to what every economy class passenger wants more than in-seat entertainment or pretzels: to sleep, perchance to dream (to quote Hamlet).
Ay, there's the rub. A name like Dreamliner gives me, a long haul traveler, pause. It sounds like I can sleep on a Dreamliner.
And I know I can't sleep on a bus... even if it's an Airbus.
Passengers on the Dreamliner will experience less turbulence via the aptly named "smooth-ride technology." They will experience better humidification, bigger bathrooms, bigger bins and bigger windows... as well as bigger seats and aisles. These things induce peaceful sleep.
I think that the whole point of the rivalry between Airbus and Boeing is to wind up in a place where passengers choose an airline because of what type of plane the airline is flying.
Dreamliner is easy to remember and the name promises sweet dreams. I also think we may be seeing the launch of another airplane name that will stick, and companies that can say they fly Dreamliners may be able to reach for the clouds, starting with the Japanese airline, All Nippon Airways, the first to fly the dreamliner.
Good brand naming, Boeing.
Technorati Tags: Boeing, Airbus, Dreamliner, 787, Airline, All Nippon Airways
Posted by William Lozito at 9:34 AM
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June 25, 2007
Brand Name Oxymorons: Confusing, Contradictory, or Clever?
Oxymorons (or, more properly, oxymora) are one of the better-known and more popular figures of speech. It doesn't take a degree in literature to see that there's something funny about phrases like "jumbo shrimp" and "advanced beginner."
As a naming strategy, oxymorons are something of a two-edged sword. If you decided to call your company "Crash Airlines," you might drive customers away, or you might attract people who want to fly with someone who has a sense of humor. Most companies prefer not to take the risk, but a few have jumped right in:
- The Fluke Corporation manufactures testing and measuring equipment. Customers don't seem to worry that the results they get might be a fluke.
- Jeep manufactured an SUV called the Cherokee Pioneer from the 1980s to the early 2000s. In American history, at least, the Cherokee were settled natives whom European pioneers displaced.
- Some Krispy Kreme doughnuts may be both crispy and creamy, but cream itself is anything but crispy.
In politics, interest groups often choose names that are not merely ironic but downright misleading. Phillip Morris Tobacco bankrolled "Californians for Statewide Smoking Restriction," which sponsored an initiative to weaken smoking ordinances.
Most often, however, it's consumers who decide that a particular product name is a contradiction in terms. (The top candidate in this category is probably "Microsoft Works.") Rob Hof of BusinessWeek argues that the iPhone is not a phone, but a computer. The Los Angeles Business Journal called Hollywood Park, Inc. "the most misnamed company in town" after it sold Hollywood Park to Churchill Downs. And there's a certain irony in ordering your laser toner from the Ink Jet Superstore.
It may not be possible to avoid having your brand name used against you, but it's a good idea to plan for the possibility and to make your product live up to its name. It's much better to catch people's attention with a deliberately incongruous name than to have dissatisfied customers conclude that your product has been misnamed.
Technorati Tags: Oxymoron, Jeep Cherokee, Krispy Kreme, Phillip Morris, iPhone
Posted by Diane Prange at 8:17 AM
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June 14, 2007
Product Names Backwards and Forwards
A palindrome is a word, phrase, or sentence which reads the same backwards and forwards. Most English speakers are familiar with the palindromes "Madam, I'm Adam" and "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama."
Wikipedia has an interesting list of palindromic place-names, but most of those names seem to be natural palindromes, not names which were made up or chosen because you could read them in either direction.
One examining attorney in a trademark application case argued that palindromes make stronger marks, and the fact that two similar names were both palindromes increased the likelihood of confusion between them, but John L. Welch of the TTAB Blog isn't buying it.
The two names in question, Niccin and Nicocin, are indeed both palindromes, but, as with anagrams, you have to be looking for a palindrome in order to notice it.
Nicocin isn't the only palindrome in the trademark register. There's the Rotavator, the Honda Civic, the Intel Viiv, and the drug Xanax, among others.
But if palindromes really made such great brand names, you'd expect to find more of them, particularly among coined names.
Natural palindromes are fairly rare in English; if they were more common, they'd be less interesting.
The name "Palindrome," on the other hand, seems to be quite popular. Fourteen companies have applied to trademark the term "Palindrome," but the only currently registered Palindrome marks are for clothing and for computer consulting.
Technorati Tags: Palindromes, Anagrams, Names, Trademarks
Posted by William Lozito at 8:14 AM
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May 30, 2007
Brand Naming: A Naming Company's Best Friend
Alex Beam has a great column up in The Boston Globe entitled "It's a re-brand new world" that takes a hard look at the prodigious amount of renaming that's going on lately.
He looks at the very intelligent rebranding of Boston University as "Boston's University," a nice step up from "the third great University on the Charles."
He then takes a swipe at the Cingular/AT&T company name change, and goes on to to say: "Boston Scientific just rebranded its troubled Guidant brand of heart devices out of existence. Healthone Care System has rebranded itself as Atrius Health because of a name conflict with a Denver hospital network. Citigroup, Delta Air Lines, and even the Iraq war are all said to be in various stages of rebranding."
And while renaming and repositioning cemeteries, cities, and, indeed, countries (he has fun with Canada's new slogan "Keep Exploring," which I think is pretty good) may seem odd to the casual observer, we do it because naming matters. Slogans matter and even mascots matter.
I'd love to see a debate between Seth Godin and Mr. Beam. Seth just posted a great piece entitled "Naming: Of Renamed Brands and Previous Names." Seth says that in general, use an existing name with a great deal of recognition (think AT&T and Cingular), but change your product name or company name only grudgingly for three reasons:
- A merger makes is a necessity
- You need to simplify your brand architecture
- Your current name has too much negative baggage.
Once you implement the change however, make a clean break with the old name and market the new name aggressively.
Technorati Tags: Boston University, Cingular, AT&T, Seth Godin, Delta Air Lines, Branding, Company Naming
Posted by Diane Prange at 10:39 AM
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May 17, 2007
Crumpler Wants To Be A Naming Company
If voters compare candidates like boxes of cornflakes, do photographers shop for camera bags the way they’d buy real estate?
Crumpler seems to think so, given the fact that they produce a “Million Dollar Home” line of camera bags. These range from the 1 Million Dollar Home to the 7 Million Dollar Home—and there’s a Brazillion Dollar Home, as well.
As with homes, the higher numbers reflect greater square footage. The Brazillion Dollar home holds two SLR cameras and a laptop, with straps for your tripod. The Sherpa required to carry all of that is not included in the $280 price, however.
As a recent review of the 4 Million Dollar Home points out, Crumpler is known for its unique product naming schemes. And rightly so. “Crumpler” is a counter-intuitive name for a company that manufactures bags for fragile equipment. The last thing you want your camera or laptop to under