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October 9, 2001

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What's in a name? Plenty

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Naseem Javed
Naseem Javed

Stories
Dot-com or go home
August 13, 2001


By Naseem Javed
Special to the Tribune
Published July 9, 2001

Cyber-branding is not dead, but silly cyber-branding is. And good riddance.

Many professionals are finally coming to their senses -- which explains why ping-pong tables have been thrown out of boardrooms. Let's hope the lala-land approach to naming businesses that has plagued many new-economy start-ups is tossed to the curb as well.

Thousands of name branding failures should have taught us a few lessons. Among them:

  • Cute names are often self-destructive. Names like Boo Boo, Foo Foo and Blah Blah were all idiotic names for businesses, and they died quickly after extraordinary promotional costs. Ditto for ClickMango, PurpleFrog and PinkRhino. Unless a business is actually selling those things, cutesy names such as those look nice only in promotional material or television commercials. In the minds of consumers, they mean nothing.

  • Most of the time, money doesn't buy branding success. Unless you have $175 million like Andersen Consulting to promote "Accenture" and the energy to hope it becomes the next hot icon, don't touch weird names with a 10-foot pole. Spend money to build the business, not the business' name.

  • Brilliant technical minds should do only brilliant, technical things. While naming a business doesn't need to cost a fortune, it does deserve special treatment. Leave the marketing studies to people who understand marketing. Take it from the technologists who thought it was a good idea to name their businesses hard-to-remember combinations of alphanumeric names.

  • Naming is a black-and-white exercise. It should never be confused with graphic, colors, design and packaging. Because developing a good name requires an understanding of alpha-structures, alpha-dynamics, languages, phonetics, connotation, trademark and registration domain laws, don't expect to accomplish your mission in a large focus group or with some off-the-wall naming contest.

  • Remember the three golden rules of naming: Do not copy others. Do not get too creative, and select only names that have global appeal. Big marketing agencies would love to have you think there is a shortage of globally appealing names so that they can dance you right on down the path to lala-land. Don't let them. If you can't pronounce, remember or easily understand a suggested name, you'll never achieve market domination.

    Most business' names will die because most new businesses do, but don't let a bad name hasten the downfall. Take it from the folks who brought you Kozmo.

    Naseem Javed founded ABC Namebank, a consultancy specializing only in corporate nomenclature, 21 years ago. He can be reached at nj@njabc.com.

    Copyright © 2001, Chicago Tribune


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    At ABC Namebank, what we have done so far:

     

    Firstly, we have created names like TELUS, CELESTICA, INTRIA, GENNUM, VINCOR, DUPLIUM, AGRICORE, POLLARA and recently ZARLINK. We have also helped clients like IBM, General Motors, Texaco, Honeywell, Bell Canada, KPMG, Bell South, RBH, GENTRA, CENTERPOST, OMNI-TV, Royal Bank, Sasktel, Johnson & Johnson, Air Canada, Radio Shack, Merck, BBDO, Petro Canada, ROGERS and COMPORIUM.
     
    For about a quarter of a century ABC Namebank has solely & exclusively worked on naming projects. Therefore, we bring cutting edge strategies for merged entities, consolidation of names, competitive name analysis and solutions for international trademark concerns and positioning of global domain names. This experience of hundreds of projects over a quarter century helped us write books on the science of naming and also be invited to lecture at major conferences worldwide.

     

    Here, It is very systematic, very methodical and very tactical. It's all about applying The Master Rules of Naming with full knowledge, confidence, and a successful track record. We open dialogue, which covers every aspects of global naming under the sun, all in the same boardroom, all at the same time. It is live and not sub-contracted out for later dates. It is about opening the doors to knowledge and leading a game plan guided by solid experience. This ensures smooth transition with names to win, names to last with proper global ownership. Everyone is happy. We handle global projects or even small naming projects all with the same care and efficiency. We routinely charge 10k to 100k for complete turnkey solutions...satisfaction is always guaranteed.

     

    2004 Forecasts and Naming Trends

    Forecasts on new naming trends in 2004 would also include the role of new terminologies which erupt every now and then like LASER, DIGITAL, CELLULAR or ELECTROKINETIC. Among other things, Naming Rules, demand a comprehensive understanding of such big issues when naming new identities. There is a major research document in the works on 2004 which forecasts on styles and trends of corporate naming, product name identity and global branding. 

     

     

    Call us for a confidential discussion on any corporate or a product name issue of any type or size…

    info@abcnamebank.com   212-697-7700 New York   905-794-0055 Toronto  
    www.abcnamebank.com

     

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