Comments on: Best and Worst Brand Names of 2008 http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/12/04/best-and-worst-brand-names-of-2008/ Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:28:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Devon http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/12/04/best-and-worst-brand-names-of-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-297 Devon Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:11:02 +0000 http://pollywoginc.com/blog/?p=55#comment-297 Yes, I think the new TLDs will open up a lot more opportunity for naming, and eventually the shine will come off the .com extension as it loses its de rigeur status. (Although, we don't necessarily believe that companies need to have the prima facie dot com addresses these days, as most people aren't using direct URL input for navigation anymore. Now it's all about the power of the brand. Create a distinctive, memorable brand name, optimize your site, and customers will find you, even if your URL is a slight variation of your brand name.) Yes, I think the new TLDs will open up a lot more opportunity for naming, and eventually the shine will come off the .com extension as it loses its de rigeur status. (Although, we don’t necessarily believe that companies need to have the prima facie dot com addresses these days, as most people aren’t using direct URL input for navigation anymore. Now it’s all about the power of the brand. Create a distinctive, memorable brand name, optimize your site, and customers will find you, even if your URL is a slight variation of your brand name.)

]]> By: Laurel Sutton http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/12/04/best-and-worst-brand-names-of-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-296 Laurel Sutton Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:00:25 +0000 http://pollywoginc.com/blog/?p=55#comment-296 Totally agree about Wii, Devon - it succeeds on all levels, and is an awesome product too. I guess Second LIfe takes me to "double life", which is a pretty common expression, and for me resonates more with the concept of spending a lot of time at the computer in the virtual world. Consider me a focus group of one. Real word names are great, but of course the big problem is availability! This was definitely a constraint on the Vivaty project, where the client had to have the exact .com domain. Even though domains don't command the prices they used to, real word domains - even combinations of real words, like Second Life - are beyond the budgets of most start ups. Do you think the opening of new TLDs, including vanity domains, is going to make any difference at all in the naming world? I still think .com is king, but I could be convinced otherwise. Totally agree about Wii, Devon – it succeeds on all levels, and is an awesome product too. I guess Second LIfe takes me to “double life”, which is a pretty common expression, and for me resonates more with the concept of spending a lot of time at the computer in the virtual world. Consider me a focus group of one.

Real word names are great, but of course the big problem is availability! This was definitely a constraint on the Vivaty project, where the client had to have the exact .com domain. Even though domains don’t command the prices they used to, real word domains – even combinations of real words, like Second Life – are beyond the budgets of most start ups. Do you think the opening of new TLDs, including vanity domains, is going to make any difference at all in the naming world? I still think .com is king, but I could be convinced otherwise.

]]> By: Devon http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/12/04/best-and-worst-brand-names-of-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-295 Devon Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:57:41 +0000 http://pollywoginc.com/blog/?p=55#comment-295 Hi, Laurel! Thanks for posting, and welcome to the blog! While it's not the best name ever, Second Life is intriguing to us because of the idea inherent in it. Generally, I think people consider life a one-time opportunity (think "you only live once" and the soap, "One Life to Live"). So a name like "Second Life" provokes interest by challenging that common notion and creating a mystery that compels people to learn more. We don't have a bias against coined names per se. In fact, "Wii" topped our list of best names from last year. We do, however, believe that brand names ought to connect to ideas that already exist in the mind of the audience. As a homonym of "we" and "whee!", "Wii" nicely connotes the brand promise of playing together and having fun. So if there are more natural words on our Best list, it's because we felt that these names do a better job of instantly communicating a brand promise by evoking ideas and emotions that are already a part of someone's mindset. Hi, Laurel! Thanks for posting, and welcome to the blog!

While it’s not the best name ever, Second Life is intriguing to us because of the idea inherent in it. Generally, I think people consider life a one-time opportunity (think “you only live once” and the soap, “One Life to Live”). So a name like “Second Life” provokes interest by challenging that common notion and creating a mystery that compels people to learn more.

We don’t have a bias against coined names per se. In fact, “Wii” topped our list of best names from last year. We do, however, believe that brand names ought to connect to ideas that already exist in the mind of the audience. As a homonym of “we” and “whee!”, “Wii” nicely connotes the brand promise of playing together and having fun.

So if there are more natural words on our Best list, it’s because we felt that these names do a better job of instantly communicating a brand promise by evoking ideas and emotions that are already a part of someone’s mindset.

]]> By: Laurel Sutton http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/12/04/best-and-worst-brand-names-of-2008/comment-page-1/#comment-294 Laurel Sutton Wed, 10 Dec 2008 23:16:53 +0000 http://pollywoginc.com/blog/?p=55#comment-294 Great list! And nice to see two of the names my company, Catchword, created (Dash and Vivaty), even if one of them is on the Worst Brand Names list. From our point of of view, Second Life is itself a logical name - it's clear and descriptive, and therefore not particularly intriguing. We also felt the "-aty" ending gave Vivaty a boost of energy. It's a tough comparison, because Second Life has a popular and well-executed brand, and Vivaty doesn't yet - they're just getting started (still in beta). I notice that the Best names were almost all real words, and the Worst names list had quite a few coined names on it - do I detect a bias against coined names? I agree that Yatt’it is horrible. Great list! And nice to see two of the names my company, Catchword, created (Dash and Vivaty), even if one of them is on the Worst Brand Names list. From our point of of view, Second Life is itself a logical name – it’s clear and descriptive, and therefore not particularly intriguing. We also felt the “-aty” ending gave Vivaty a boost of energy. It’s a tough comparison, because Second Life has a popular and well-executed brand, and Vivaty doesn’t yet – they’re just getting started (still in beta). I notice that the Best names were almost all real words, and the Worst names list had quite a few coined names on it – do I detect a bias against coined names? I agree that Yatt’it is horrible.

]]>