Igor East’s Managing Director John Clutterbuck (left) poses with our new Massachusetts crew on on May 5, opening day:
Remember, “It’s Igor East for all of your naming and sintered metal needs.”
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 |
Igor + branding + company names + logo/identity + name changes + naming process + powerful names + product names Behold the companies in our very own industry, naming company names in the company of the names of other naming company names.
Are we biased in our opinion? Absolutely. We believe strongly that the name a naming company names itself is a clue to the kinds of company names they believe in. And if a naming company cannot manage to give itself a distinctive, memorable name that sets itself apart from the slew of competitors you see here, a company name that can evolve into a strong brand within the industry and come to represent more than just the goods and services being offered, how can they possibly convince others that what they fail to do in their own company name they can somehow magically do for their clients?
So a call to arms is in order: Namers, name thyself well! Because you’ve got company.
Monday, May 5th, 2008 |
company names + name changes + naming process + powerful names + product names Apparently, there is a country called “Croatia”. Why they exist is a mystery. But we are big there.
From “The Land of The Grudge” (with pics of some Igor staffers):
Jay Jurisich radi u San Franciscu i među najboljim je stručnjacima za brendove. Jutarnjem je otkrio što je danas presudno za poslovni uspjeh te zašto će neke hrvatske tvrtke uvijek ostati samo regionalneSve je u imenu. Za jedan brend ništa nije toliko važno kao ime”, poslovna je filozofija Jaya Jurisicha koji je s tom krilaticom prije šest godina s kolegom Steveom Manningom u San Franciscu osnovao kompaniju Igor koja se bavi vjerojatno najzabavnijim, ali prilično unosnim poslom u svijetu biznisa.
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 |
Igor + advertising + branding + company names + industry insider + language + logo/identity + luxury brands + name changes + naming process + pop culture + powerful names + product names + taglines + trademark issues This just in from the Associated Press: California brewer ordered to stop using ‘Legal Weed’ bottle caps.
WEED, Calif. — Vaune Dillmann thought the wording on his bottle caps was just a clever play on the name of the northern California town where he brews his beer.
Federal alcohol regulators thought differently. They have ordered Dillmann to stop selling beer bottles with caps that say “Try Legal Weed.” The agency, which regulates the brewing industry, said the wording could “mislead consumers about the characteristics of the alcoholic beverage.”
Dillmann scoffs at the notion that his label has anything to do with smoking pot. “I’ve never tried marijuana in my life,” he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I don’t advocate that. It’s just our town’s name.”
Monday, April 28th, 2008 |
naming process + pop culture + powerful names + product names + what the...? One joke over the line: The space cowboys over at the NewYork Times have diluted the brand equity of their Sunday “Style” section by quoting Igor’s creative director, Jay Jurisich:
April 20, 2008
On the Internet, It’s All About ‘My’
By DAVID BROWNEIT’S not you, it’s me. Actually, on the Internet, it’s “my.”
The Web is awash in sites that begin with that most personal of pronouns, and not simply MySpace. A few quick clicks will connect you to MyCoke, My IBM, My Subaru, MyAOL — even MyClick, a mobile-phone marketing company. Collectively, they amount to a new world of Web sites designed to imply a one-on-one connection with a corporation or large business.
Last month, as part of a nationwide effort to reinvent itself, Starbucks started My Starbucks Idea to solicit consumer feedback on its stores, products and image problems. If the ’70s were dubbed the Me Decade, this era could well be the My Decade.
The rise of sites with the “my” prefix is an outgrowth of an increasingly customized world of technology, such as the iPod and TiVo. “Marketing says, ‘We all want to be individuals and this brand will help you express your individuality,’ ” said Nick Bartle, a director of behavioral planning at the advertising agency BBDO. “These ‘my’ Web sites are the logical extension of that strategy.”
But they illustrate how corporations are striving to show that they can be as intimately connected to their customers as in-vogue social networking sites. They’re not just impersonal businesses; they are your close, intimate friends.
“Companies are trying to connect with consumers in more meaningful ways,” said Pete Blackshaw, a vice president at Nielsen Online Strategic Services, which monitors Web activity. “They’re trying to emulate consumer behavior. Everyone’s trying to be more authentic and connect with consumers on their terms. They can look more real, sincere and authentic.”
The “my” trend is even a factor in the presidential election, particularly the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania on April 22. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Web site now includes a section called “My Pennsylvania,” where supporters are asked to contribute ideas on how she should campaign in that state. The site contrasts with Senator Barack Obama’s repeated use of the word “you” in speeches.
“He’s a ‘you’ guy, empowering the people,” said Jay Jurisich, the creative director of Igor, a naming and branding company in San Francisco. “With Hillary, it’s ‘I’m entitled to this. It’s all about me.’ It really is the ‘you’ candidate vs. the ‘my’ candidate.”
In one way or another, many “my” sites aim to emulate homegrown Web sites or trends. The My Starbucks Idea site is devoted to chat rooms that have the unfussy look of homemade blogs; there, Starbucks loyalists can grouse about the chairs in stores or the lack of free Wi-Fi connections. The www.MyCoke.com site links to a Second Life-style virtual environment, where customers can roam and create avatars — a “subtly branded experience,” in the words of Doug Rollins, group director of digital platforms at Coca-Cola.
The “my” prefix has become an easy and increasingly popular shorthand for suggesting that bond between consumers and corporations. Matthew Zook of ZookNIC, a business that analyzes domain names, said domains that start with “my” more than tripled between 2005 and 2008, to 712,000 from 217,000. According to the government’s Patent and Trademark Office, the number of trademark applications to register marks that include the word “my” increased to 1,943 last year from 382 in 1998. Through March of this year, the number of applications has soared to 530.
“My” is the latest in a line of prefixes that have ebbed and flowed on the Web. A decade ago, everything was “e” — from eTrade to eBay — and “i,” as in iPod or iPhone, has become synonymous with all things Apple.
Among the earliest known “my” entries is the comparison-shopping site www.MySimon.com, which filed for trademark in 1998. Mr. Jurisich said that Microsoft may have inadvertently played a role in this trend. “In the ’90s, all these people were trying to find domain names and staring at their Windows computers, which had ‘my documents’ and ‘my music,’ ” he said. “Everyone thought, ‘Let’s try “my.” ’ It was very natural.” (Of course, the success of MySpace, taking off in 2004, may have increased the barrage.)
For all its ubiquity, the concept of corporations trying to get up close with consumers is sometimes greeted warily by even those in the marketing community. “It’s a cold, calculated and impersonal attempt to be personal,” said Mr. Jurisich, who says his firm shuns “my” URLs. “It’s about making Big Brother into little brother. No one in their right mind should think, oh, the corporate entity really cares about me personally. But I can only assume that enough people fall for it that companies don’t ditch it.” (In a recent survey conducted by OTX, a consumer market research firm, one-third of respondents agreed that a Web site with a “my” function meant “the company cares about me.”)
Another major benefit for companies behind those Web pages is the personal data, including e-mail addresses and preferences, that customers provide when registering at one of the sites. “It’s all about the database and getting that personal information,” said Shelley Zalis, the founder of OTX. “That’s what everyone wants.”
At www.MyCokeRewards.com, Mr. Rollins of Coca-Cola said, the company seeks to “collect data through survey questions and through categories and passions.” Then, he said, the company creates new content and offers new rewards (redeemed through the purchase of Coca-Cola products) based “on what was created by you.” Although Mr. Rollins declined to cite numbers for the site, he said MyCokeRewards is one of the company’s “most robust return-investment models.”
According to Alexandra Wheeler, director of digital strategies for Starbucks, the 150,000 customers who have posted responses at My Starbucks Idea since March have led to tangible results at stores, like the introduction of a “splash stick” to prevent spillage from coffee cups.
Yet people in marketing and business also agree that the “my” prefix could have a limited shelf life if it is overused. Already, the phenomenon is spreading beyond the Web: Two years ago, when Fox Broadcasting began a new television network from stations left over from the WB-UPN merger, it named this creation MyNetworkTV. “People have been very quick to grab it,” said Dean Crutchfield, an executive at Wolff Olins, a branding agency. “I’m concerned it will get bastardized, and the uniqueness and sense of purpose it has will be lost in a sea of copycats.”
“It’s the word today,” said Ms. Zalis of OTX. “But I don’t know how long today will last.”
Few in the industry are sure what the next word or prefix will be. Mr. Jurisich said he had toyed with “exo,” as in “outside,” but said no client went for it. Said Ms. Zalis, “In the very near future, it’s not going to be about ‘my.’ It’ll be ‘we.’ It’ll be the collective ‘me,’ whatever that is.”
“In our research, values like participation now vastly outrank self-interest,” said Mr. Bartle of BBDO. “People want to be connected and part of a community.”
Mr. Crutchfield agreed, but said that coming up with the appropriate prefix to convey those values will be tricky. “I see a trend back to the ‘we’ state,” he said. “But it can’t be ‘We Business.’ ”
For now, Mr. Crutchfield said, he hopes the “my” prefix will hang on a bit longer. His next Web project, intended for 2012 and being created in tandem with the International Olympics Committee, is My Olympics.
Monday, April 21st, 2008 |
Igor + advertising + branding + company names + language + logo/identity + luxury brands + name changes + naming process + pop culture + powerful names + product names + taglines The only relevance that this video has to our blog topic, even tangentially, is that the song contains a reference to a corporate team building exercise. Close enough and WTF, it’s business time:
.. but they still can’t name to save their ass.
However, that is a nice pic of Anthony Shore on the hompage. And as hard as it is to believe ladies, he is straight and available (Post-ops considered).
Anth’s interests include phlebotomy, Harry Potter and calf massages (we forgot to ask which definition of “calf” he intended).
If in a vulnerable moment you do find yourself in bed with Landor on your next naming project, be safe, use a mental dam.
Should you wake up and realize you’ve been badly screwed by a "full service agency”, there is always Plan B or Plan B.
But for those looking for a really spectacular hump, there is no substitute for Plan A.
Saturday, March 15th, 2008 |
branding + company names + language + logo/identity + luxury brands + name changes + naming process + powerful names + product names + taglines Via today’s New York Times:
The Web’s last unconquered frontier – the airplane – is about to be invaded yet again.
This spring, Aircell, a 16-year-old company that sells air to ground telecommunications equipment to airlines, will launch a broadband wireless service for twitchy airplane passengers who need their Internet fix at 40,000 feet.
Two years ago, Aircell, based in Itasca, Ill., and Louisville, Colo., paid $31 million to the federal government for a batch of air-to-ground spectrum that was originally used for in-flight seat-back phones –- an expensive service that passengers largely ignored.
Aircell has since built 92 EVDO cell sites across the United States and pointed them at the sky, where they will bring 3.1-megabit-per-second Internet access to airplanes traveling thousands of feet above the ground at hundreds of miles per hour. The company’s on-board technology will magnify that signal and split it into separate Wi-Fi streams, offering speeds equivalent to a home D.S.L. connection to any passenger who wants to log on with his or her wireless device.
Aircell will start the service, called GoGo, with American Airlines this spring and then expand it with Virgin America over the summer.
If GoGo gets off the ground, it will fulfill the long-held promise of bringing Internet access to airplane passengers. Boeing tried it, somewhat disastrously, earlier this decade with its Connexion in-flight satellite service. Boeing signed up carriers such as Lufthansa, Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines but the effort was eventually undone by belt-tightening after 9/11. The aircraft maker had to write off $320 million on what was widely reported to be a $1 billion investment.
Jack Blumenstein, Aircell’s chief executive, said GoGo is different in several ways. Airplanes can be retrofitted with the technology overnight, and the in-flight servers and antennas weigh less than 50 pounds, considerably less than Boeing’s bulky satellite receivers. Broadband wireless technology is now faster overall as well, while the array of Wi-Fi equipped consumer devices — from iPhones to laptops — has blossomed.
GoGo’s pricing plans will vary, but access during a cross-country flight should cost around $13. GoGo will also serve up-on-demand television and films from on-board, TiVo-like servers.
Mr. Blumenstein expects other airlines to come on board quickly. “Passengers want freedom and the ability to get back in control of their life and be productive,” he said. “All the data suggests passengers will change planes if one airline offers it and another doesn’t. The airlines will fight to the death over a 1 percent market share shift,” he said.
Readers, please discuss. This is clearly inevitable. Is anyone bothered that the last environment for unwired thinking and old-media-reading is about to be tethered to the grid? I’m ambivalent. Of course, I’ll also be among the first to log on.
Did we mention Gogo was named by Igor? Right, that’s what is most important here.
[ More posts about Aircell | More blogs about Aircell ] [ More posts about Gogo | More blogs about Gogo ]
The misnamed “From on High” website makes fun of my friend Sue Daniels’, who was a peace activist and advocate for the poor, and who had been murdered shortly before the asshat that “writes” FOH posted this:
I have been following the story of the murder of Sue Daniels since it hit the local papers in November. The titillating story surrounding her relationship with the man who stalked and killed her, Niklan Jones-Lezama (who subsequently committed suicide himself), was only part of the saga that attracted me to her. Sue Daniels was a political activist. She was also a research associate at Virginia Tech, working on a PHD in biology.
I would categorize her political activities as being on the far left; as far left as one can recede before picking up a weapon and calling for the revolution of the proletariat. The “power to the people” kind of crowd. Here is what was written about her “activism” prior to her reporting to federal prison in November after having been found guilty of trespassing on government property (at Ft. Benning) during a protest of America’s involvement in Central and South America…
Sue and I lived together for four amazing years. There’s more, if you can stomach it, here.
