Ambient Muzak

LGMp3The march of the penguins continues as yet another monochromatically positioned, branded and named “iPod killer” enters the waters. From CNET’s Crave:

Let’s go back to school. LG, take a seat and listen. First off, you’ve called this MP3 player the MFJM53. Who in their right mind will recall that name? You can imagine the scenario. A kid, who for the purposes of this demonstration we will call Timmy, walks into Dixons. Timmy is well excited. Timmy is going to buy himself an MP3 player. He’s seen the LG MFJM53 online and this is the player he wants. Now we join Timmy in the shop:

“Hello, I would like the LG MFX9… er, LG MFJE… er, the LG MFJ8… argghhh! Give me an iPod.”

Timmy is plainly too distressed to recall LG’s ambiguous product naming conventions. The iPod has won, and we haven’t even got to the specs yet. The marketing strategy of these iPod rivals is staggering. It’s as if they don’t even want to play the game.

It’s that they don’t know how to play the game. Given the lessons of both iPod and Razr, you’d think handheld electronics manufacturers would understand the power of a name that works in concert with the form, function and positioning of a product. Their continued use of alphanumerics in lieu of brand names demonstrates otherwise.

The only alpha that’s not a dog is Motorola’s Q.

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