Worst baby name ever
OK people, when naming a baby, if you have a surname that’s also a word in the dictionary of your native tongue, please don’t let something like this happen.
Luxury brand faux pas
The Inn Above Tide, a swanky Sausalito, California hotel, boasts this quote on its website:
“This inn probably has the most amazing views of the Pacific Ocean of any hotel in Northern California.”
–GoNOMAD, San Francisco guide
And indeed the website photos demonstrate a remarkable view. Problem is, Sausalito is on San Francisco and Richardson’s Bay, well inside the Golden Gate. The Pacific Ocean is several miles away, on the other side of a big hill, in the opposite direction. There is no view of the Pacific Ocean from this or any other Sausalito Hotel; it’s a physical impossibility. But then the owners of the hotel know that.
This is a beautiful hotel, where the waves actually pass beneath your balcony. Why would they put their luxury brand at risk with such a crazy statement? Some people are just slippery when wet.
UPDATE 5.23.05: The Inn has fixed the problem, and changed the language of the quote on their site to reflect reality. It now reads,
“This inn probably has the most amazing views of San Francisco Bay of any hotel in Northern California.”
–GoNOMAD, San Francisco guide
Leave it to Beaver
There is a theory in advertising that somehow sex and alcohol are a common real life combination. Virtually every American beer brand has sought to leverage this theoretical connection via television advertising, save one: Sam Adams, long known for eschewing this postulated tippling / titillating combo in favor of plowing the traditional, master brewer’s shtick.
And why not? It makes little sense to dive into the overcrowded orgy of slurping and grinding advertisements of their mass produced rivals. In order to compete with The Twins of family values-based Coors, they’d have to put up nothing less than Triplets mud wrestling post wet t-shirt contest. Now what kind of frat boy would that appeal to?
But that’s not to say that the Puritans at Sam Adams have never given in to temptation, and when they did they went all the way, unbottling years of pent-up frustration. Apparently their first time in the sack was enough to scare them straight. Check it out. [Via Commercial Closet.]
When branding processes collide
Herring Waffleman is one of the more original communications agencies in the business, but their helpful processes diagram seems to merely merge and simplify the processes put forth by Landor and Lexicon.
Posted by Jay on
March 29th, 2005 - 10:51am |
branding + industry insider + naming process |
Comments (0) Subaru going Suburban?
Channel 4 of London reports an interesting naming and brand positioning swerve by Subaru. But it’s not the brand positioning re-alignment the article might lead you to believe:
Latest news on the jointly-developed ‘Saabaru’ Subaru-Saab 4×4/station wagon crossover: the Subaru version is to be called Tribeca (an outlying borough of New York City). Subaru registered this name as a trademark earlier this year - along with the names Montauk (another NYC suburb, on Long Island), Continuum and Halifax for use on other upcoming models - and this name is likely to be used for the car in Europe as well as in the USA.
Lest you think Subaru’s brand image is going suburban, Tribeca is not, “an outlying borough of New York City”. Tribeca is a pricey neighborhood in downtown Manhattan. The five boroughs that make up NYC are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and The Bronx. And of course, Montauk is not, as reported, a suburb of NYC. It is a seaside celebrity playground 120 miles away! (For you Brits, think “London to Nottingham.”) As to Halifax, it’s a city in Canada, so it’s nothing to get excited about.
While Halifax and Continuum are snoozers from a naming perspective, Tribeca and Montauk beg a second look. There are rumors out there that Tribeca is merely a code name, with “B9″ (yup, as in a tumor) to be the official name, but c’mon, let’s just stick with the error-riddled Channel 4 rumor for now. Will the name Montauk seem as cheesy as those earlier car naming attempts that placed an absurdly affluent name on an average auto (Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue)? Only by residents of Montauk, who wouldn’t be caught dead in one. Montauk comfortably continues the latest trend of “me too” outdoorsy upscale place names as names for SUV’s, joining Sonoma, Santa Fe, Sorento, and Tahoe (see Igor’s SUV Name Taxonomy for more).
Tribeca is the most interesting of the lot, and though it sticks within the upscale place name trend, it’s the first to step into urban territory. It’s also a beautiful — if not B9 — name that conjures a very specific attitude and style. Sure, it’s a seven passenger tank that has no business in NYC, but it’s a great name.
Update 3/29: Subaru’s own website just put these rumors to rest. They are going with tumor Tribeca, or in their parlance, “B9 Tribeca“. Why? Somebody probably thinks the implied “benign” helps soften the image of Subaru as they make their first move into the larger, less environmentally friendly segment of the SUV market. Nice try, but way too obvious and linear to be effective. And it just dilutes the perfect balance of masculine / feminine urban upscale sophistication and individuality implicit in Tribeca. They have taken a potentially great name and sillied it down. Boo.
*Full editorial bias disclosure: This blogger once shared a loft in Tribeca with gothic novelist Patrick McGrath, his personal grooming habits inspiring McGrath’s very short story, “The Manky Towel”.
Et EU Brute? New Microsoft product names
Business Week reports that Microsoft, EU agree on new Windows name. The glorious new moniker?
Officials at the U.S. software giant said they had accepted the European Union’s offer to call the European version of Windows sold without Media Player “Windows XP Home Edition N” — with “N” standing for “not with media player.”
Microsoft officials are said to be unhappy with the name, but have agreed to follow European Union antitrust rulings to end their pain. This however sets a dangerous precedent, opening the door to other potential court-appointed truth-in-advertising names for the company’s flagship operating system, such as “Windows XP Home Edition DOA”, “Windows XP Professional Edition NFG”, “Explorer SOL” and “Longhorn MIA”.
Snark Hunting is remodeling
Please pardon our dust: Snark Hunting has just converted to new blogging software and an all new and improved design. Bear with us over the course of the next few days as we work to convert all the old posts to the new system, fix broken links, etc.
RSS NOTE: For those of you reading the RSS feed of this site, please note that the URL for the RSS feed has changed to this:
http://www.snarkhunting.com/blog/feed/
UPDATE: All the old posts seem to be intact, though it will take a few days to get them sorted into the proper categories. All the old posts have been cleaned up and validated. Also, we lost all our old comments, so it’s a blank slate, comment-wise.
Igor updates and new name evaluation tool
Brand new: In a clear sign that the promise of the internet has finally been realized, Igor’s website and Naming Guide have been updated and expanded. The Guide has new name evaluation tools (beginning on p.15), to help you simplify and quantify the process of choosing a new product or company name. The 64-page PDF is free to all and can be downloaded here.
Roomba is the perfect product name
Oompa loompa doompadeedo, Roomba’s the perfect product name it’s true. iRobot has a winning name with Roomba. They get extra points for doing it with a made-up name to boot.
Roomba ranks right up there with Snapple, which is not surprising as the two names follow the exact same strategy and construction. Roomba is a disc-shaped robotic vacuum about twelve inches across and three inches high, which quietly and effectively navigates and vacuums a room all on its own. The mind-bender is that when finished, the Roomba finds its charger and plugs itself in.
We’ve tested two different Roomba models and can tell you that the implied “room dance” in the name is an accurate take on the performance art that takes place when you switch one on. It’s a perfect name: fun, rhythmic, original and relevant, just like Snapple.
