In a recent newspaper article (ow.ly/901Cl) the local sports editor presented some unusual team mascots that exist in our area and across the country. For example, in the Greater Pittsburgh area we have Big Macs (Canon-McMillan), Talbots (Hampton), Planets (Mars Area), Maples (Mapletown), Mighty Mikes (Carmichaels) and Hillers (Trinity). The Big Macs of Canon-McMillan were not named after the iconic McDonald’s sandwich, despite the fact that the McDonald’s Big Mac was invented in Western Pennsylvania (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20423294/ns/business-retail/t/big-mac-gets-its-own-museum/#.TzaBLLR7SSo).

But some schools have crazier names, including the Yuma High School (Arizona) "Criminals," the Laurel Hill High (Florida) "Hoboes," and the Frankfort High (Indiana) "Hot Dogs."

So what’s up with the crazy mascot names? Continue reading →

At the North American International Auto Show, Dodge unveiled the 2013 Dodge Dart. This is not the first time Dodge has returned to a historic nameplate rather than introduce a new name. A few years ago Dodge reintroduced the muscle car, Challenger.

The new Dodge Dart sounds like a great car. It reflects its Fiat connection by using the mechanical platform of a vehicle by Alfa Romeo, a Fiat-owned brand in Europe. This is the first Chrysler vehicle to be built using Fiat architecture under an arrangement that had been expected to yield such benefits when Fiat accepted what was left of Chrysler from the U.S. government in 2009. This Dart is loaded with technology and attention to detail that is not normally found in a compact car.

So why didn’t Dodge use that same level of detail in selecting a name? Continue reading →

As a build on my earlier post on Samsung’s smartphone naming structure, I discovered a website that the manufacturers of Android Smartphones can use to develop names.  The amusing part is that it really does generate names that are similar to “real” names given to smartphones. Here it is: Continue reading →

Last year Samsung announced that it was establishing a new naming structure for its Galaxy smartphone product line.  This was so that people could better understand the phone they were buying by reading the letter in the name. The new naming architecture grouped its devices into five classes, each identified by a single alphabetical letter. Sounds simple, right? Well, as they say, the devil is in the details. Continue reading →

Technorati will need to verify that you are an author of the blog by looking for a unique code. Please put the following short code ZWD9VZBERWWV within a new blog post and publish it.

The New Year started out with a flurry of “How to Name Your Business” articles. I think that’s terrific! More PR for naming is always a good thing. But several articles were focused on very specific issues, such as “SEO Strategies You Must Take into Account When Naming Your Business.”

I’m all for keeping SEO in mind, but you should not feel as if you MUST keep SEO at the top of your list. The reality is that you need a great name for your business, and while SEO is certainly a factor in the success of your business, it is not the driver!

There is a better way to develop a great name. Continue reading →

You may think it would be easy to pick the “Worst Brand Name of 2011,” but actually there are many strong candidates for this award. Someone launched a cereal in Canada called “Holy Crap” (OK, technically the launch was Q4 2010 but they did not much US exposure until 2011). Range Rover thinks Evoque is a good name for its crossover SUV. Toyota launched a new version of Prius and called it V. Heck, even Google got in the game by launching Google + (and I ask, “Plus what?”).  All these names are potential disasters, but the winner is (drum roll, please)… Continue reading →

In my NameFlash™ name development business, I usually present 30 – 50 names for a company’s product/service, so picking a great name from the assortment of terrific names we present is often a challenge.  Smaller companies usually pick a name and run with it while larger clients often have a series of Management/Board of Director reviews, and sometimes they do consumer research in order to get additional input.

Continue reading →

I have a confession: I love code names! One of the pleasures in my 25+ year marketing career was how I often got to choose the official code name for projects. But instead of sticking with the pseudo-science approach where one picks a scientific term such as “Project Fusion,” I preferred to create “families” of code names that reflected the nature of the innovations. As an example, I once used the names of the Seven Dwarfs as code names for the new items of a line of cold remedy products. Most of them were logical, such as Sleepy for the non-drowsy variant and Doc for the multi-symptom product, but the president of the company got mad when I named his pet project Dopey (it was a really stupid idea). A few weeks later he issued an internal memorandum on the development of code names and introduced the new requirement for top management approval of code names prior to project launch. So much for my code name fun!

Continue reading →

I just discovered the name for the new Prius wagon: v

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/driveon/post/2011/06/toyota-prius-name-change-fouled-up-v-confusion/1#uslPageRetur

C’mon you can do better than that.

Continue reading →