Naming and Branding Agency

Category: taglines

A leaner, more digestable cut of the Igor Naming Guide now available!

As we gleefully pranced and flounced about, celebrating the 250 thousandth download of the Igor Naming Guide; we got a complaint. At 115 pages, the ultimate free, how-to resource for naming companies and products, had gotten too long.

Having nothing better to do, we responded. The naming guide is now available in two different lengths: soul-crushing (115 pages) and moderately-irritating (26 pages).

Either version of the naming guide can be downloaded here.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!

batman-robinClever title, huh? Just Snark Hunting making a lame joke out of a cheesy pun? If only. Incredibly, the title of this post is, verbatim, an actual recent trademark filing by Sony! Here are the Goods & Services listed for this mark on the USPTO:

Video game software; Software for computer games; Optical disc recorded video game software; Optical disc recorded computer game software; Optical disc recorded game programs for hand-held typed electronic games with liquid crystal display

Gizmodo, which alerted us to this strange trademark filing, speculates on what it could mean:

Oh, what could it be? It sounds like it could be a trademark for the EULA or privacy section of DC Universe Online, the Sony-developed DC Comics MMORPG. Or something related to that game. How else is Sony thinking it can register the name Badman in any kind of trademark filing and get away with it?

That’s the gazillion dollar question: how can Sony get a trademark for “Badman” in a tagline that plays off the kind of Batman-speak bandied about in the old Batman TV series? Seems like whoever owns the rights to Batman wouldn’t take too kindly to this. Could this be the Joker’s dark wit? Maybe IP-Caped-Crusader Marty Schwimmer can get to the bottom of this.

Holy slap in the farce: This strange turn of events inspired me to look-up some of those phrases from the old show, and it’s amazing how downright wacky they are. Here is a sample to get your Dada groove on:

Penguin: Here comes the bride, all bagged and tied!

Riddler: Batgirls wilt just as quickly as other women!

Robin: Maybe you can bully an aging mogul, but not me, Catwoman!

Batman: I’m just going to hang around the bar. I don’t want to look conspicuous.

Robin: Holy bill of rights, Batman!

Robin: Holy haberdashery, Batman!

King Tut: If the caped crumb is here, the cowled creep can’t be far behind.

Commissioner Gordon: You know I’m violently opposed to police brutality.

Penguin [Organizing his election]: Plenty of girls and bands and slogans and lots of hoopla, but remember, no politics. Issues confuse people.

Catwoman: I’m not just pussyfooting around this time, Batman!

Robin: The way we get into these scrapes and get out of them, it’s almost as though someone was dreaming up these situations; guiding our destiny.

Robin [Figuring out a riddle]: The opposite of a girl is a boy!

Batman: Poor devil. Forced to live in an air-conditioned suit that keeps his body temperature down to fifty degrees below zero. No wonder his mind is warped.

Batman: Robin, warm up the Bat-spot analyzer while I take a sample of this affected cloth.

Batman: I never touch spirits. Have you some milk?

Chief O’Hara: When it comes to the human brain, we’re not equipped.
Robin: Holy atomic pile, Batman!

King Tut: [to Nefertiti] How many times must I tell you? Queens consume nectars and ambrosia, not hot dogs.

Batman: Just a second while I retrieve my beanie, my hair, my tweezers, and my notes.

Batman: I’ve just perfected an Electronic Hair Bat-Analyzer which may hold the key to this baffling question.

Batman: Oh, Catwoman, Catwoman, will you never learn?

Robin: Under this garb, we’re perfectly ordinary Americans.

Robin: I couldn’t resist. You were taken in by her, but I’m too young for that sort of thing.

Robin: Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods!

Narrator: Horrors! One lemon!

Robin: Holy oleo!

Catwoman: I didn’t know you could yodel!

Egghead: Woe is me, my criminal career is now egg-stinct!

Batman: Yes, citizen, you may return to your harpsichord.

Robin: We’re on official business!

Robin: Gosh, Batman, what are they dressed like *that* for?

Penguin: Well, I hope you have something special cooked up for that caped creep.

Batman: Let’s go, Robin. We’ve set another youth on the road to a brighter tomorrow.

Commissioner Gordon: Tanks in the street, a horse in my outer office… Has the whole world gone batty?

Shame: Your mother wore Army shoes.
Batman: Yes, she did. As I recall, she found them quite comfortable.

Shame: You big sissy, you couldn’t drive nails in a snow bank.
Batman: Why would I want to?

[Dr. Cassandra uses her alvino ray gun on Batman, Robin and Batgirl]
Batgirl: I feel like I’m getting flat!
Cabala: What a pity…

Robin: Gosh Batman, the nobility of the almost-human porpoise.
Batman: True, it was noble of that animal to hurl himself into the path of that final torpedo. He gave his life for ours.

There are a lot of gems here, but my favorite has to be, “Holy priceless collection of Etruscan snoods!” Can it be long until Sony files a trademark for it? [Sources: USPTO, Gizmodo, IMDB]

Free Company and Product Naming

Are your company or product name brainstorming attempts long on storm and short on brains? Igor has over 12,000 brains in stock, ready to help you name whatever needs naming — most have very low milage, are hardly ever driven during the week, and are used only sparingly on weekends to scan refrigerator contents and such. Our collection of brains can be picked through at the Wordlab Wordboard, our free naming and branding brainstorming forum. Jump in and pick the brains!

Tips for picking a brain:

1. Do not pick if the skin is too green–it’s not ripe yet.

2. The brain should be viscous and phlegmatic, yet hold up to a good thumping. Not too firm, not too soft.

3. The end that was twisted from the brain stem should be pliable when you poke your thumb through the outer membrane. If you can’t break the membrane with your fingernail, the brain was picked prematurely.

4. Smell is the most reliable indicator of freshness.

5. Have fun with it, but keep it platonic.

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A Room with a Ewe

The 50 best business names that are puns.

Read more:

Landor: The Art of the Steal

Sometimes imitation is flattery, sometimes it demonstrates a complete lack of originality and / or corporate ethics.

Naming and branding parody site Landor has posted an article which they claim authorship of called “How not to name“, accompanied by a photo of Anthony Shore, head of global naming at Landor. It is posted on a section of their website that they ironically named “Thinking”.

Here is an except (from point 2, paragraph 3):

This “positivity principle” explains why a scandalous name (Virgin), a slur (Banana Republic), and a small, hairy larva (Caterpillar) are perceived positively.

And here is how this thought was written five years earlier, both on the Igor website and in the Igor Naming Guide:

Unless everyone understands the positioning and the correlation between it and an evocative name, this is the type of feedback that evocative names will generate:

Virgin Airlines

  • Says “we’re new at this”
  • Public wants airlines to be experienced, safe and professional
  • Investors won’t take us seriously
  • Religious people will be offended

Caterpillar

  • Tiny, creepy-crawly bug
  • Not macho enough – easy to squash
  • Why not “bull” or “workhorse”?
  • Destroys trees, crops, responsible for famine

Banana Republic

  • Derogatory cultural slur
  • You’ll be picketed by people from small, hot countries

The Landor article “How Not to Name” is written in a format that states popular misconceptions and the debunks them. Here they attack the mistaken idea that focus groups are helpful in choosing company or product names (from point 6, paragraph 1):

As a rule, it’s smart to entrust strategic business decisions to someone who trades an hour of their time for $25 and a few handfuls of M&Ms.

And here is how Steve Manning, co-founder of Igor, expressed the same idea 5 years earlier in an article in Elsevier Food International :

“If you’re trusting the future of your brand to a bunch of people who are willing to give up their time for $45 and a stale sandwich, you’re in trouble.”

Was Mr. Shore of Landor aware of Mr. Maninng’s quote? Of course he was, Mr. Shore was quoted in the very same article as Mr. Manning.

The final insult comes at the end of this “Landor authored” naming article:

© 2007 Landor Associates. All rights reserved.

Reached for comment, Anthony Shore, head of global naming at Landor had this to say.

Related 1 | Related 2

Read more: ,

Top secret Landor process document revealed

landor process

“Insert the proprietary Landor Naming Process Tool into the anal canal and twist until it grabs the membrane. Continue twisting another half turn, then steadily pull the proprietary Landor Naming Process Tool out of the canal. Extract 10 inches of membrane, tie the membrane off and cut.”

As with any process, the only true measure of success is what comes out the other end.

Blandor Says Blandor the Imponderable: “Oh deer! Perhaps I should butt out….No! My auricular has been opened, laid bare for all to observe! This time, no amount of blandiloquence will assuage this insolent corporate sabotage! And furthermore, we use a much larger mammal in our current work”

Politicians as Products: Political Sloganeering Part II

As a follow-up to last week’s post on political sloganeering, we’ve decided to delve a little deeper into the underbelly of American political and commercial life by proposing Politicians as Products. Playing off of previous political figures and their campaign slogans, we’ve corresponded their words with current products or services, highlighting the power and wisdom behind each bold statement.

uncle sam and products

Step right up, and jump right in:

  1. “I Like Ike” Hooked-on-Phonics (Eisenhower)
  2. “Happy Days are Here Again” Zoloft (Roosevelt)
  3. “It’s Morning Again in America” Lunesta (Reagan)
  4. “Don’t Swap Horses in the Middle of the Stream” Ebay (Lincoln)
  5. “Ross for Boss” Monster.com (R. Perot)
  6. “All The Way With LBJ” K-Y (L. Johnson)
  7. “Keep Cool with Coolidge” Crocs (C. Coolidge)
  8. “The Better Man for A Better America” BioTest Creatine (B. Dole)
  9. “No Child Left Behind” Halo 3 (Bush)
  10. “Prosperity for America’s Families” Fanny Mae (Gore)
  11. “Change We Can Believe In” NASDAQ (Obama)
  12. “A Leader We Can Believe In” Skoal (McCain)
  13. “The Strength and Experience to Bring Real Change” Curves (H. Clinton)

These are only a few of many possibilities. If you want to play along at home, here are more profound presidential campaign slogans in need of a good hacking. What product are you voting for?

Political Sloganeering

Change Future Trust Experience Be Do Can Will Hope You We Us Them All

Differentiating campaign slogans, parties, and party leaders today is nothing more than examining the history of their exact words.

Recent articles discuss this year’s political slogans. While one article pins campaign slogans as recycled messaging (McCain Ad Has Familiar Ring), another article extracts the irrelevance of differentiation by implying slogans are all the same hogwash with different spellings (Political Slogans To Vie For).

Being the visual society that we are, it comes down to not what words they are delivering, rather how such words are being delivered. When we see Obama deliver the line “Change We Can Believe In” or Hillary’s delivery of “The Strength and Experience to Bring Real Change”, or John McCain’s “A Leader We Can Believe In”, one must uphold the visual test.

Who is more convincing? Decide for yourself, and may the sloganeering continue.

obama speaking hillary speaking

The Audacity of Hype

Is Obama pandering to Latin voters or possum eaters?

Just above the eagle’s head are the words “Vero Possumus,” roughly translated “Yes we can.” Not exactly E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), the motto on the presidential seal and the dollar bill. Then again, Mr. Obama is not the president.

The ad agency flack who dreamed up this great seal logo and tagline for Obama really should be sent back to his cubicle on Madison Avenue.

83 articles about naming and branding companies and products

83 articles about naming and branding companies and products.