http://pollywoginc.com/blog Sun, 23 Nov 2008 07:55:50 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en If you like inside baseball stories about branding (and what brand geek doesn't?), check out CIO's slideshow: How 10 Famous Technology Products Got Their Names Brands include iPod, Blackberry, Firefox, Twitter and the Macintosh "big cat" naming convention. Interesting stuff. http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/11/12/the-inside-scoop-on-10-tech-brand-names/ The more I hear about Windows 7, the curiouser it gets. In this interview, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is unable to articulate a "major feature" that would entice people to buy it. He alludes to better performance, "cleanup" of the user interface, multi-touch technology, and better information management tools—summing it ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/10/29/windows-7-curiouser-and-curiouser/ The tech blogs may be praising Microsoft's name for its new operating system, but here in branding land we're underwhelmed. "Windows 7" is a retreat into safe, bland territory a la "Windows 2" and "Windows 3.1." And while Microsoft claims "Windows 7" reflects a return to "simplicity" and is not a ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/10/15/running-from-vista-in-the-wrong-direction/ Google has unveiled its new browser, and instead of sticking with its branded-house naming convention (Google Mail, Google Docs, Google Maps, etc.), they've chosen to give this offering a bit more kick:  Google Chrome. Web developers have long used the term "chrome" to refer to the browser frame surrounding the content—the ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/09/04/chrome-wheels-into-the-race/ I'm not a big fan of naming rights for sports stadiums. From a branding perspective, the name of the venue ought to be about the team, or at least the community. It ought not be about which corporation ponied up the most money so that its brand can intrude on ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/08/26/drinking-the-pepsi-kool-aid/ 1. The Electric Fetus - This Minneapolis record store has been around for almost 40 years, which makes the boldness of the name all the more impressive. As is common for provocative brand names, the Electric Fetus name has been roundly criticized. National Lampoon, among others, called it the ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/08/02/pollywogs-top-ten-best-brand-names-in-minnesota/ An object lesson in one minute and 13 seconds. http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/07/07/how-not-to-name-a-product/ Some good news out of Paris last week. Internet regulators convened to discuss opening up top-level domains to companies, organizations and governments who can afford to buy them. For a price tag ranging from about $40,000 to $400,000, you can buy your very own customized dot-name. New York City, for example, ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/06/23/my-own-private-idaho/ The reliably clear-thinking Laura Ries goes off on a tear in her blog today over the positioning and naming blunders of the company that makes her favorite athletic shoe. MBT shoes are a classic example of a marketing myopia. It's a condition found in clients who are far too close ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/05/22/love-hurts/ The UK's Daily Mail reports "More parents using txt language to make their child's name gr8." Abbreviated versions of traditional Christian names are appearing on birth certificates along with "original" ways of spelling which even include punctuation marks. Anne has been changed to An, Connor to Conna and Laura to Lora. There ... http://pollywoginc.com/blog/2008/03/30/gr8-baby-names-ugtbk/