Naming and Branding Agency

Posts from: September 2006

Naming in Web 2.0

The names of Web 2.0 companies are just as well conceived as the businesses. From today’s London Times.

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There is no “t” in element

product naming company namesBut there is a “u” in stupid. And you know who you are. Starwood Hotels has announced that “Element” is the name of their new upscale extended-stay brand, and that the letter “t” has become too hot to handle. From USA Today:

There’s a long list of naming don’ts, says Starwood spokeswoman KC Kavanagh. You can’t use one that doesn’t play well overseas (the “T” in ELEMENT has to be curved, or else it could be perceived as a cross, which wouldn’t go over in Muslim countries).
You don’t want a name that’s
“too flaky, too feminine.”

Will the branding nimrod who thinks we now have to change the alphabet because people can’t distinguish between a letter of the alphabet and a Christian symbol please step forward? Does this affect all temporary lodging literature, or just signage? How will hotels, motels and resorts address the notions of atriums, room rates, banquets, baths, buffets, check out times, reservations, continental breakfasts, guest relations, hospitality, valet services, late arrival policies, package tours, porters, room rates, pillow top mattresses, suites, twin beds, and vacant rooms?

Stupidity is viral, and especially potent when backed by research and a PowerPoint, so it will be interesting to see if Marriot, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental and Madarin Oriental follow suit.

But just in case, we were up all night curving all the “t”s on this blog.

Don’t laugh, “x”s, you’re little more than leaning crosses. Or as we like to say, a dead letter walking.

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Drink Cocaine

THIS REVIEW JUST IN: Liquid Cocaine: Cayenne You Say Nasty?

Upon first can-cracking, it smells like cherries, and when poured, resembles clown piss. While it has been described as tasting “like a Jolly Rancher”, we had a different take. Our reactions evolved from “Oh God, it burns” to “(hysterical coughing)” to “I can’t… I can’t feel my chest… it’s on fire!”

The buzz was all about a new drink, Cocaine, introduced at runway parties and clubs in the United States last week. The New York Post ran with the story about this new Cocaine drink, which is advertised as “the legal alternative.”

The drink’s maker maintains that “doing Cocaine” – the beverage, that is – gives you a bigger and better high without the crash that other energy drinks cause.

They say a high hits you within five minutes, followed by a caffeine boost 15 minutes later. But hold on – the ride lasts five hours and the concoction is “350 percent stronger than Red Bull,” they claim.

They argue that the effect is part chemical – this drink uses “simple” sugars that don’t need to be broken down by the body to create a sugar buzz, and a much larger dose of vitamin B12 – and part psychological.

“When a person sees the name of the drink, some psychological effect happens and the person is already experiencing the energy buzz before they even open the can,” speculates Cocaine inventor Jamey Kirby, whose company, Redux Beverages, is based in Las Vegas.

Who’s got her panties in a bunch over the name? Tabloid Whore.

All my life i’ve been the good girl. No smoking, drugging or getting too loose with the boys. I now have a shameful addiction. I am a tabloid whore.

Energy Fiend has the straight dope. According to a chart on the Energy Fiend blog, an 8.4 ounce can of Cocaine Energy Drink contains 280 milligrams of caffeine. This compares with 160 mg in a can of Rockstar Juiced, 80 mg in a can of Red Bull, and 40 mg in a can of Coca-Cola Classic.

Meanwhile, things are going better in Afghanistan, with Coca-Cola opening a new plant as part of the reconstruction. Things go better with Coke.

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Spread the Wordlab

Do you know someone who’s got a new idea and needs a great name for a product or company?

Have they heard about Wordlab’s Naming and Branding Forum, where thousands of people get together on the internet daily to share ideas about naming and branding for new ventures and products?

This is really quite a unique community of naming and branding enthusiasts, as noted recently by a business owner who wrote:

I must admit, I actually didn’t even know a forum of this nature existed until I overheard a colleague of mine raving about this site and these forums. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

It’s interesting to see the names that are suggested for new products and concepts when creative people from around the world freely brainstorm about naming and branding. Take a look, and see for yourself why over 5,000 smart people have registered to give and get free advice.

Shalom Y’all

The Hard Lox Cafe has been forced to change the name of its festival.

For 17 years thousands have gathered every fall in Forsyth Park to be served corned beef and plenty of other Jewish delicacies at the Hard Lox Cafe.

But this year it’s the organizers that are being served with a cease and desist order for their fundraiser. Why?

Something about the likelihood of confusion with the trademark of Hard Rock Cafe.

Happy New Year to our Jewish friends.

One time airline

No, it’s not about Song.

It’s the television commercial from South African airline 1time.

That went wherever I did go

An email we received yesterday, published here with the author’s permission:

aloha,

just a quick question from a small independent game-dev house competing against the ones like EA, Ubisoft or MS.

what’s your first impression of ‘Stoked Rider’ as the franchise name for a series of video-games in outdoor-sports.
like Stoked Rider: Big Mountain Snowboarding
and then followed by like Stoked Rider: Downhill MTB, SR: Extreme Freeriding etc..

2002 Stoked Rider – freeware game ( more than 1.5mill units downloaded worldwide)
2006 Stoked Rider ft. Tommy Brunner ( first commercial game in this franchise, released in march but the name giving pro-boarder Tommy Brunner died in an avalanche 2 weeks after the game’s release)

2006 Stoked Rider: Big Mountain Snowboarding (to be released this winter season while still thinking of either keeping the name or dropping it)

thanks for the help in getting the best name for our venture
greetings from austria,

Michael Putz
mike@bongfish.com
Bongfish Interactive Entertainment
http://www.bongfish.com

Jump in and give Mr. Putz your thoughts on his name.

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Lethal Wrecker

Is the towing company name, Lethal Wrecker, a total write-off?

An anonymous tipster suggested that the Hook investigate Lethal’s upcoming name change– from Lethal Wrecker, the caller said, to the kinder, gentler “After Five Towing.” When a reporter called Lethal Wrecker and asked for “After Five Towing,” a female voice at Lethal replied, “That’s us– we’re changing our name in a couple of weeks.”

This cover story wrote its own headline for the Hook.

Product Names Trifecta

A system of betting in which the bettor must pick the first three winners in the correct sequence is called a trifecta. Okay, we’ve got to work on fixing the sequencing of the three best websites for product names, but you have to admit that Google picked the winners.

Help Your Friends Find Love

TechCrunch, written by Michael Arrington, profiles the companies, products and events that are defining and transforming the new web. It’s a really interesting blog to follow if you want to keep up with all the new names and faces. For example, there’s an interesting post pointing us to a creative aggregation of the names and logos of Web 2.0 companies on a flashy new Go2Web2.0 website.

Thinking of great names for companies in the Web 2.0 social networking space brings to mind Tickle, which was gobbled up by Monster soon after it was renamed, and now Tickle is part of the Monster family.

Isn’t it crazy? How is it that in this age of cell phones, email, and online dating sites, there are still so many great people who can’t find love? What is going on here?

We tried to make a difference. We started Tickle Matchmaking in 2002. It was like most other dating sites, plus it offered fun, PhD-certified personality tests. It kind of worked. But it wasn’t changing the world. What we realized is that dating sites are lonely places where you go in alone and try and meet strangers. No wonder our single friends weren’t finding love.

So we got together with our friends-single and married-and set out to create a place we believe will change the world. In June 2005 we started LoveHappens, a living, growing community where everyone helps everyone find love. It’s not a dating site. It’s a community and a whole new way to meet and introduce people. We’re all building the network because we all believe we can create a lot more love in this world than there is today.

Love Happens.