Now that you’re hot to go, prepare yourself for this major re-naming news:
Blue Sky Logistics Changes Name To Blue Sky Technologies
June 2, 2008
Blue Sky Logistics, Inc., a real-time supply chain visibility software provider, has changed its name to Blue Sky Technologies, Inc. The name change is expected to help shippers better identify the company’s role in the supply chain marketplace.
“With the word ‘logistics’ as part of our name, we found ourselves often being confused with being a third-party logistics provider or 3PL”, explains Steve Hensley, president, Blue Sky Technologies, Inc. “We would get phone calls for moving truckloads from point A to point B or we would get asked to manage a warehouse for a potential client. These are not our core competencies. Since our role is to help customers though visibility dashboard technology to better leverage their existing investments in supply chain infrastructure, changing the name seemed like the logical thing to do.”
It’s always nice when ditching the name “Logistics” is seen as the “logical” thing to do, and in this case a belated admission that the name “Logistics” is illogical, which is the only logical conclusion. And we couldn’t agree more that it is soooooo annoying to get calls for moving truckloads from point A to point B, as we have long-since moved to a Points L, Y and N moving strategy. Such are the logistics of the naming racket.
A bold, risky move this name change. So how has it played out in the marketplace?
“The reaction from our customers to the name change has been very favorable,” added Hensley, “They agreed that the new name better describes the solutions that we offer in bringing dashboard methodology to supply chain visibility. For these customers, we have helped them get additional value from current investments in their supply chain rather than scrapping what they had and start over. Our objective is to always help clients find fresh use of the assets they already have in place.”
We too are always working to help our clients find fresh use of their assets, so we couldn’t agree more.
For those of you keeping score at home, here is a synopsis of this breaking news: A non third-party real-time supply chain logistics solutions technologies provider with core competencies of leveraging visibility dashboard technology to bring dashboard methodology to supply chain visibility has logically jettisoned “Logistics” from its name to avoid being confused with third-party 3PLs. Got it?
Thanks to Logistics Online, “A VertMarkets Marketplace for Industry Professionals”, for bringing us the Blue Sky press release. I bet you didn’t even know there was a “VertMarkets Marketplace” out there, did you?
However, that is a nice pic of Anthony Shore on the hompage. And as hard as it is to believe ladies, he is straight and available (Post-ops considered).
Anth’s interests include phlebotomy, Harry Potter and calf massages (we forgot to ask which definition of “calf” he intended).
If in a vulnerable moment you do find yourself in bed with Landor on your next naming project, be safe, use a mental dam.
Should you wake up and realize you’ve been badly screwed by a “full service
agency”, there is always Plan B or Plan B.
…with dead mollusk secretions. How do you improve on the taste of Bud? Easy, just add clam sweat, tomato juice and lime. If you’ve ever wondered what carbonated turtle blood tastes like, wonder no more.
Funny bit is, it’s not really a brand dilution. The taste of this swill is pretty much in keeping with Budweiser’s established sensibilities.
It’s been dubbed “Chelada”, and for calorie conscious bottom dwellers, it comes in “light” as well.
Igor created the new name for Court TV, which is…truTV. This excerpt from Variety tells the story:
Turner Entertainment Networks is rebranding Court TV as truTV, a moniker reflecting its ongoing conversion to an entertainment network heavy on reality shows and true crime.
“This gives us a focused brand and a wide playing field,” said Turner prexy Steve Koonin. “We felt the Court TV name was limiting us in defining what we are and what we are delivering.”
The name change marks another step in the channel’s conversion to an entertainment-focused web targeted at a demo the network refers to as “real engagers,” or those interested in true stories, widely defined as news, true crime, reality shows or nonfiction entertainment.
In fact, they have already flipped the switch on their website.
Many tech companies tend to follow two naming strategies these days, says Anthony Shore, global director of naming and writing at Landor Associates, a San Francisco design company: the “nonsense” name (Joost) and names that use familiar-but-misspelled words (Flickr).
Shore, for one, likes neither strategy: “It just feels like they’re throwing in the towel. It’s easy to find an existing word and drop out a letter. It’s easy to come up with arbitrary sounds, or to just add an ‘oo.’ It’s far more difficult to come up with names with real words that have meanings and connections with people.”
Yup, that’s Landor, as in the creators of names like Uniqa and Solutia. I write this post with a heavy heart, as Anthony Shore is a good friend of mine. All right, was a good friend of mine. And okay, I have no heart.
Dick Corp. restructuring brings new name, new owner into fold [sic]
Dick Corp., the region’s largest construction company, is planning a restructuring that will bring a new name to the family-owned firm and give a nonfamily member an ownership stake.
Instead of carrying the last name of co-chairmen David and Douglas Dick, whose family has owned Dick Corp. for more than 80 years, the firm is expected to introduce a new name, DCK Worldwide LLC, within the next few weeks, according to Nadine Lee, Dick Corp.’s marketing manager.
DCK stands for “Diversified Construction Knowledge,” according to an e-mail sent by a Dick Corp. executive to members of the local construction community. The e-mail also included an attachment with a new company logo. [entire article]
Nice spin, but “It’s a shorter Dick” would have sufficed.
Today, at the Web 2.0 Summit, Radar Networks is announcing an invitation-only beta test of its new “semantic web” application, Twine. The press release says:
Twine provides a smarter way for people to leverage and contribute to the combined brainpower of their relationships. “We call this ‘knowledge networking,’” said Radar Networks Founder and CEO Nova Spivack. “It’s the next evolution of collective intelligence on the Web. Unlike social networking and community tools, Twine is not just about who you know, it’s about what you know. Twine is the ultimate tool for gathering and sharing knowledge on the Web.”
It’s being touted as a The Start of Web 3.0 which is almost annoying enough to make me ignore it. However, Richard MacManus at Read/Write Web says “while the app isn’t ready yet for the public, I was impressed with what I saw in Nova’s demo.” He says:
The aim of Twine is to enable people to share knowledge and information. At first glance it is very much like Wikipedia, but there is a whole lot more smarts to the system. Spivack described it to me as “knowledge networking” — ie it aims to connect people with each “for a purpose”. It’s not based around socializing, but to share and organize information you’re interested in. Using Twine, you can add content via wiki functionality (there are many post types), you can email content into the system, and “collect” something (as an object, eg a book object).
