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Monster Tickle

Is that a Tickle in Your pocket? Monster hooks up with Tickle, as reported in The Motley Fool:

If the Internet has taught us anything, it’s that leading sites often come with unlikely, yet cleverly branded, domain names. CNet’s Search.com isn’t the world’s most popular search portal. Those bragging rights belong to Yahoo! and Google. Books.com will redirect you to Barnes & Noble’s online store, but former Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Amazon.com rules the roost.

Monster TickleThat’s why you shouldn’t be surprised that the leading career placement site is Monster.com, and that it will acquire the popular Tickle.com online testing site. Beyond the odd pairing of domain names, you don’t need to put yourself through one of Tickle’s intricate quizzes to know that the two are a match made in heaven.

Tickle’s tests will help you find anything from a love match to a community of like-minded souls, but it’s also a provider of career assessment testing. Tickle claims that it has 18 million active members. Just as important, it has been profitable over the past two years.

Even more important, Tickle was named by Igor, so the association with Monster was inevitable.

The Igor Naming Guide PDF

Hot off the virtual press: Everything you’ve always wanted to know about naming companies or products but were afraid to ask. We’ve just completed Building the Perfect Beast: The Igor Naming Guide, a document that combines many pages from the Igor website into one handy guide.

Vanilla: accounting for taste

A new kind of accounting firm launched this week, a company that came to Igor for a fresh take on naming and branding their company in order to immediately differentiate themselves from the hoard of sound-alike accounting firms.

We were naming an accounting firm that also wanted a confrontationally quiet name, a name that was a self-effacing statement about the personality of accountants, yet elegant and dignified at the same time. That is why they chose Vanilla as their new name.

In an excruciatingly subdued celebration of the launch, we have posted an exciting and festive Taxonomy of Accounting and Business Services Names for your quiet enjoyment, as well as a case study about this project.

Abandon all spero

Abbott Laboratories has a new name: Hospira. From the Rocky Mount Telegram:

“This is a very exciting opportunity for us,” said Russ Gall, vice president of Hospira’s Rocky Mount operation. “Our new name is an abstract of the words hospital, spirit and inspire and the Latin word spero, which means hope.”

The company says that the name was chosen via a global vote of employees, which should be a clear warning to us all about the efficacy of this practice. What they are really saying is that the name was chosen for an internal audience, rather than the audience that matters most: potential customers. But spero springs eternal:

“The employee selection of our new company name is an important milestone in creating the identity for what will be one of the leading global manufacturers of hospital products,” said Christopher Begley, who is vice president of hospital products and has been named Hospira chief executive officer, in a written statement. “Based on research with key stakeholders, including customers, we know that Hospira is a name that is easily understood and expressed a tone that is humanistic, confident and inspirational. It signals our strong commitment to creating products that save and sustain patients’ lives.”

The smushing together of three words and then mashing in a fourth, Latinate term (a pinch of gravitas for good measure), having the employees vote on it, followed by the company explaining it and then pronouncing that the name tested favorably smacks of the involvement of a malpracticing naming and branding agency. It’s a familiar process designed not to produce a powerful name, but solely to create corporate consensus — at the expense of marketing and branding.

Godin plenty: a naming architecture emerges

Free Prize InsideSeth Godin’s follow-up to the best selling Purple Cow has hit the bookstores. Free Prize Inside is about how to create soft marketing add-ons for your product or service, like getting frequent flyer miles when you use a credit card or a “free” toy inside a Happy Meal. The names of his two latest books demonstrate a sense of naming much evolved since the release of his Survival Is Not Enough: Zooming, Evolution, and the Future of Your Company.

The name “Free Prize Inside” works on multiple levels, the key to generating powerful audience engagement. Also emerging, whether consciously or not, is a Godin Naming Architecture. A naming architecture is a set of parameters that govern the naming of future products. A naming architecture can be as simple as Ford’s “begins with ‘e’” strategy of naming its SUVs — Escape, Explorer, Expedition, Excursion — Or it can be more evocative, hence more effective, like what seems to be emerging from Godin’s dome.

Classically, you need three like-minded examples in a row to suss out the naming architecture strategy being rolled out. So at this point it is too early to conclude that the rule guiding the titles Purple Cow and Free Prize Inside is: “Could also be names for a Victoria’s Secret underwear line.” If, for instance, the next title is Nut Case, the rule would be “Could also be names for a Victoria’s Secret OR Calvin Klein underwear line.”

Republicans enlisting Pioneers and Power Rangers

Power RangerGee Willikers! From Slate:

So you want to be a “Pioneer”? Raise $100,000 for the Bush juggernaut. Raise $200,000 and you’re a “Ranger;” raise an additional $300,000 for the Republican National Committee and you can rightfully lay claim, and I kid you not, to the esteemed designation “Super Ranger.”

No word yet as to how much you have to contribute to achieve the coveted title of “Captain Underpants.”

Animal House: the Dartmouth alcohol handbook

BelushiSchool’s out: And to celebrate the sporting of the mortars, from the institute of higher learning that was the inspiration for Animal House, we give you the official Dartmouth College Alcohol Handbook.

The guide contains many useful safety tips. For instance, if a student should get drunk and wander off into the woods, he or she is to “stay in one place and yell Vox Clamantis in Deserto every fifteen minutes.”

Double Dutch

When you are in Holland you are always in The Netherlands, but when you are in The Netherlands you are only in Holland about half of the time. Most people use the two names interchangeably, but you can demonstrate your name smarts by being the first on your block to break through this universal naming fog. Besides, using the names incorrectly is considered an insult to the locals, depending on the circumstance, as is clearly explained here:

Calling the Netherlands “Holland” is like calling Great Britain England. Holland is the old name of the western provinces North-Holland, South-Holland and the small province of Utrecht. About half of the Dutch population lives in this region, where you can find the “four big cities” Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.

In summary, Holland is a nether region, not a country. It’s an area within the country of The Netherlands. Next time we’ll let you know where all things Dutch fit into the naming architecture, including, but certainly not limited to:

dutch-elm, dutch-elm beetle, dutch-kentucky syndrome, dutch-process cocoa powder, dutch-processed cocoa, dutch-type, dutch 200, dutch and flemish literature, dutch antique marble, dutch arch, dutch art, dutch auction, dutch auction preferred stock, dutch barn, dutch belted, dutch binding, dutch bob, dutch bond, dutch borneo, dutch boy, dutch cap, dutch capital, dutch case-knife bean, dutch case knife bean, dutch chair, dutch cheese, dutch chile, dutch clinker, dutch clover, dutch cocoa powder, dutch colonial, dutch colonial style, dutch colonization of the americas, dutch comfort, dutch concert, dutch corner, dutch courage, dutch cupboard, dutch curacao, dutch cut, dutch disease, dutch doll, dutch door, dutch door bolt, dutch east india company, dutch east indies, dutch elm, dutch elm beetle, dutch elm disease, dutch elm fungus, dutch euro coins, dutch famine of 1944, dutch flat, dutch florin, dutch foil, dutch football league, dutch football league teams, dutch genever gin, dutch gilt papers, dutch gleek, dutch gold, dutch golden age, dutch government in exile, dutch guiana, dutch harbor, dutch harbor–unalaska, dutch hip hop, dutch hip roof, dutch hoe, dutch iris, dutch island, dutch john, dutch kentucky syndrome, dutch language, dutch lap, dutch leaf, dutch leonard, dutch limburg, dutch liquid, dutch literature, dutch lunch, dutch marble, dutch master, dutch metal, dutch mineral, dutch monarchy, dutch monetary unit, dutch music, dutch myrtle, dutch national flag, dutch nazi party, dutch new guinea, dutch nightingales, dutch oil, dutch oven, dutch oven furnace, dutch paper, dutch parliament, dutch people, dutch pink, dutch politics, dutch process cocoa, dutch process cocoa powder, dutch processed cocoa, dutch pudding, dutch railways, dutch reformed, dutch reformed church, dutch republic, dutch revolt, dutch roll, dutch royal marines, dutch rush, dutch school, dutch schultz, dutch settle, dutch sewing, dutch shepherd dog, dutch terms using, dutch tile, dutch tilt, dutch treat, dutch type, dutch uncle, dutch war, dutch war of independence, dutch wars, dutch west india company, dutch west indies, dutch wife, early dutch renaissance, east india company dutch, fancy dutch marble, first anglo-dutch war, first anglo dutch war, fourth anglo-dutch war, fourth anglo dutch war, german or dutch brass, go dutch, going dutch, high dutch, hope dutch, in dutch, isle of hope-dutch island, isle of hope dutch island, kitchen dutch, klm royal dutch airlines, low dutch, middle dutch, my old dutch, old dutch, old dutch marble, pennsylvania dutch, pennsylvania dutch language, royal dutch shell, second anglo dutch war, south african dutch, the dutch monarchy, third anglo dutch war, united dutch provinces, upsee dutch

Put a fork in it: Klaus’ forklift safety video

Klaus forklift Everybody has probably had the experience at one time or another of nodding off while watching a boring safety video. Such videos typically promote the same messages in the same way, that you had better pay attention to the topic because said topic could kill or maim you yada yada yawn yawn. How do you cut through all that and get employees to pay attention to an important message that could save their lives?

Well, here’s a great example of rebranding a tired old genre, and like much new media these days it comes from Europe: a German forklift safety video (posted on an Icelandic website) that’s intentionally funny and riveting. Fear not, you don’t have to understand German to enjoy and profit from it, though you do need to be patient at the beginning and stick with it for the first few minutes while our hero, Klaus, graduates from forklifter school (or whatever — hey, we don’t speak German) and begins his first day of work piloting a dangerous steed in a giant industrial warehouse. Soon after that, the pace begins to quicken.

We recommend that any company that has safety issues have their employees watch this instead of the usual timid fare. But hang in there until the end to get the full flavor.

UPDATE: It turns out that the reason the video is intentionally funny is that it IS a comedy, a spoof of traditional safety videos, and you can even pick it up on DVD. Thanks to German-speaking Margaret Marks of Transblawg who alerted us via Abnu the Wordlab maniac. We still think corporations around the world should use this video to boost workplace safety.

UPDATE 2: We found the official website of Forklift Driver Klaus - The First Day on the Job, where the film is described as “An homage to industrial safety educational films.”

One big cockup: railroad naming by numbers

Since April Fools’ Day this year, a new operator, National Express, has been running all railway services in the East of England, encompasing four distinctly branded rail services: Anglia, Great Eastern, Stansted Express, and West Anglia. The Guardian reported the railways consolidation into one franchise quoting Phil White, chief executive of National Express, who said,

“This is the consolidation of four distinct services into one. It’s one operator, one terminus, one vision and one unified management team.”

It seemed like a good idea at the time to bring all these operations under one brand, so the company brandsmiths consulted with staff, customers, passenger groups and local authorities. They hired consultants who produced fancy new logos and livery, flashy presentations and well designed explanations, for the one name that got on the fast track as soon as someone too clever by half noticed that “one” is acronymic for Operated by National Express.

But the idea derailed as soon as it pulled into the stations, as the East Anglian Daily Times reported; the one word was so confusing.

A spokeswoman said: “Our customers have told us that they think some of our services are leaving or arriving a minute later than they actually are.

“They think, for example, that the Tannoy is saying ‘The 7.21 service is leaving’, when in fact it is saying ‘The 7.20 One service is leaving’.

“To prevent any further confusion we have decided to drop the company name from station announcements.

“The announcer will now simply say ‘The 7.20 service is leaving’. Customers will then be told when they get on the train ‘Welcome to the One service to wherever’.”

No one appears to be taking credit for this naming and branding cockup, but it reminds one of the work of the British branding outfit that thought Monday would be a good name for PwC Consulting.

Originally posted by Abnu on our sister site, Wordlab.

Naming products and companies: all your base are belong to us

Namebase, a naming and branding agency, uses their unique command of language to create names and taglines for companies and products. Demonstrative of their wordsmithing credentials is the following copy, taken exactly as it appears from their home page:

your name is the base upon which you build your brand. Here at namebase, we believe that your brand name is the base upon which you build your brand. And, we believe that choosing the perfect trade name for your brand might just be the most important marketing decision you’ll ever make. That’s why Namebase is considered to be the leading naming company for product naming. And has become the naming company of naming companies. Namebase naming agency for company and product names is a naming consultant whose mission is to be the branding firm that specializes in naming companies and their products. We position your brand by differentiating it. We develop the perfect name for your brand. We make sure it is available for trademark protection We evaluate cultural and language issues We conduct brand naming market research And with our proprietary namesafe™ pharmaceutical trade naming research we can help determine how patients and doctors will receive your trade name choice. — namebase naming company leader in naming companies and naming products Leading naming company : namebase naming agency has developed hundreds of well-known brands. Namebase has been brand naming companies and naming thier products, creating brand names -product names and names for business as naming consultants since 1995.

Check it out for yourself — we don’t make this stuff up. Go to the Nambase home page and scroll down a couple screens.

And for those of you who’ve blissfully forgotten whose base belongs to whom, you can refresh your memory by watching the All Your Base Are Belong to Us video.

Latin lovers: Redactive vs. Red Active

Nothing communicates an idea better than a dead language that no one speaks. From MediaWeek:

Centurion Publishing Group has revealed why it chose to change its name to Redactive Media Group after almost 24 years in the business.

Chief executive Brian Grant said altering the company name came at a logical point in its history.

He said: “The Latin word ‘redact’ means ‘to prepare for publication’, and combined with a sense of dynamic activity, this name captures the essence of who we are and what we do.”

Get it? “Redact” + “active” = Redactive. “But wait”, you say, “Is there a risk that non-Latin-speaking mortals may pronounce the preternatural pseudonym “Red Active”?

Fear not. Not only have they figured out that “Redact” is a clearer way to say “Publishing” than, say, the word “Publishing”, but also that treating the logo like this –

Redactive

– will help the unitiated to de-emphasize the “Red” in the pronounciation, despite their whole website being red. Besides, “Red Active” is a different company altogether, residing at www.redactive.com where ther logo is presented like this:

Red Active

So next time you think “publishing”, at least one company hopes you’re not actively seeing red.


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