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About Naming
Vegemite iSnack2.0… Crikey!
- About: Naming
by Mars Riley Can a really bad name for a product actually be a great name for publicity? Ask the Aussies. Last July, Kraft Foods Australia launched an online contest to have Australians and New Zealanders name a new version of the popular Aussie bread-spread called Vegemite. The product, a mix of traditional Vegemite (a…
Beyonce fragrance finds fierce competition
- About: Naming
by Jeffery Racheff International pop star Beyonce has found herself in a smelly situation. The “Halo” singer, who plans to introduce a “Fierce” themed fragrance line next year, is currently being sued by Abercrombie & Fitch for copyright infringement. The clothing retailer already owns a cologne by that name, and they’re claiming her new perfume…
Inc Magazine: The Worst Company Names of All Time
- About: Naming
100M reacts to Inc. Magazine’s list of The Best and Worst Company names of all time. On AirTran: “OK, so they do transportation in the air — I get it. To just say exactly what you do, and say it in the most boring way possible, doesn’t really help anyone involved.”
Keeping a one-hit wonder on life support
- About: Naming
Who Let the Dogs Out? was originally created for Trinidad and Tobago’s Carnival season in 1998. A visiting hairdresser from London apparently recorded it from a float in a parade and brought it back to the U.K. with him where he played it for his producer friend. Soon it was covered by the Baha Men…
Energy drinks: why some names buzz, and others just crash
- About: Naming
by Jeffery Racheff Energy drinks have come a long way since the first drowsy adventurer mixed coffee beans and water. Nowadays the concoctions are brewed in endless varieties, and most are jam-packed with sugar, caffeine and exotic magical herbs like taurine and gingko biloba that make them sound like something you’d get from a witch…
Name your company automatically
- About: Naming
There are a number of services on the web that promise to name your company without any human involvement–you know how messy dealing with people can be. They are typically called automatic name generators and may spew out choices one-by-one or by the hundreds. So I decided to put a few of them through their…
The meerkat problem (it’s simples!)
- About: Naming
Lesson #1: Choose a name for your company that is memorable, especially if your competitors offer the exact same services you do. Using perfunctory names and Google AdWords to position your product will work for a while, but eventually a competitor will make an emotional connection with the public and you’ll be fighting an uphill…
Snow Leopard: Apple and the feline kingdom
- About: Naming
In 2001, Apple let the world know that they were cat people by releasing version 10.0 of their operating system and naming it Cheetah. In the eight years since Cheetah, we’ve seen Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger and Leopard. Now, slated for release this Friday the 28th, is the newest member of the feline operating system…
Arkansas mom sells the naming rights to her unborn son
- About: Naming
by Jeffery Racheff Lavonne Drummond of Smackover, Arkansas, is self-admittedly broke, unemployed and looking for a way to provide for her six-going-on-seven kids. She’s also not really trying to get a job. After all, she says, not many employers are looking to hire women who are eight months pregnant. So as she was thinking recently…
Naming names in Whole Foods
- About: Naming
by Eli Altman and Alex Zavlaris Our office is right down the street from a Whole Foods. Whenever we’re short on time for lunch, we always seem to find ourselves there. Having spent tons of time meandering through their aisles, we’ve seen all sorts of products. So we figured we would take a shot at…