Being responsible – economically, environmentally, socially – is not news. It’s expected. It should be a part of every brand’s business. But how should responsibility be reflected in your brand voice?
How a brand speaks about responsibility, and how it is embedded into its very personality, is more than just a great way to talk about what your brand promises – it elevates responsibility to be an integral part of your brand.
Take PUMA, for instance. Its vision – or PUMAVision™ – promises to be Fair, Honest, Positive and Creative. Great words. But how is PUMA living up to this promise?
Look no further than the Clever Little Bag. PUMA worked with industrial designer Yves Behar, and turned packaging on its head to create “the smartest shoe box ever.” The box became a bag.
According to the video, the statistics on the positive impact this will have on the environment are astounding. And further, Brandweek notes “the sneaker brand may also take its claim as a green innovator in the category and woo some consumers for whom sustainability is a major purchase consideration.”
But it’s how PUMA is talking about the Clever Little Bag that’s really caught our attention. More...
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If there's an app for that, there's a name for that
The 25th anniversary of the advent of Wi-fi got us thinking about names and technology. At the recent Fuse conference, noted inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil talked about the phenomenal leaps in human progress driven by the breakneck speed of evolution in technology.
Kurzweil’s main point to brand managers and marketers: When it comes to technology, don’t underestimate the importance of brand. Because brands – and brand names – help us make sense of the world around us.
This is particularly true of new technology, because one minute it doesn’t exist and the next it does – so we don’t have terms at hand to help us integrate it into our world. It’s why – to the horror of trademark lawyers everywhere (think genericide) – brand names come to be used as part of our everyday language. We Google ourselves, we Bing results, we TiVo that show, we Tweet the latest, we’re Wi-Fi enabled and there’s an app for that. And the list goes on.
And technology naming doesn’t just change our vocabulary, it challenges regulations. Like URLs before them, apps have created a veritable wild west in the area of trademarks. As developers push the boundaries of what’s possible, and companies of every ilk rush to create them, we’re watching a race for names with little heed for traditional claims of ownership. For now, that is, because global trademark infringement rules still apply (see our tip in App-tly Named: Five Tips for Naming Your Mobile App).
Technology changes the way we do things. Brands show us how. Names make it personal.
Paola Norambuena
Head of Verbal Identity
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    Copyright © 2010 Interbrand. All rights reserved.
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It’s ubiquitous, expected – its name synonymous with a kind of freedom we are not-so-gradually taking for granted. Sometimes it’s an unexpected relief to be without it, and we realize we could, occasionally, use a little less connection. For some it’s a basic human right we fight to provide, to aid in education and progress. Its recent availability on flights came, certainly, with mixed feelings. (A blessing when you’re on that deadline, a curse when all you want to do is settle in with that book you’ve been dying to read on your Kindle or iPad).
But this much is certain: 25 years after the FCC okayed unlicensed access to radio spectrum for communications a world without Wi-Fi and all it has enabled would be, frankly, unimaginable.
That FCC decision paved the way for Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies – but its name, for some 14 years after this, remained code. More...
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The meaning of value: Quality and the basics
No matter how much evidence of bounceback there is, the confidence-shaking economic fallout is having a lingering effect on the way we buy – and name – brands. Our optimism may have been tested, but our values have become more solid than ever.
People may be shopping for deals, but that doesn’t mean they’re looking to skimp on quality – they’ll just go out of their way to find it. Some brands are making it easier with digital savings tools – from featuring downloadable coupons on their sites, to mobile apps like yowza!! – that, surprisingly, are used most often by affluent metro dwellers.
But value is not a short-term trend, so such tools are only part of the equation. It’s something we’ve come to expect as a critical part of all the brands we love.
So, what does this mean for naming?
Quality for all
Brand names used to separate the in-crowd from everyone else. Then they became a signal for every individual to create a signature style. Now names need to communicate quality, regardless of price point. It’s an expectation, no matter who you are.
Back to basics
It used to be that brand names could invoke (or invent) a heritage. Then consumers began demanding more transparency, so brands began flaunting any element (new or historic) to prove authenticity. Now, we’re increasingly falling back on the basics – no additives in ingredients or stories – just what we know and trust.
Value is not about price, it’s about benefit. What better way to communicate this than through your brand’s name.
Paola Norambuena
Head of Verbal Identity
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More on Terra Firma
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    Copyright © 2010 Interbrand. All rights reserved.
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Tags: etymology, madewell, five, terra firma, yowza!!, trademarks, value, verbal identity |
Categories: Etymology, Naming News, Verbal Identity, Verbal Identity News
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is spreading. It covers the news. It stains brands like BP. And it sullies our image of government. As we grapple with the catastrophe’s impact on brands—and more importantly on people and our environment—it’s worth noting that a common reaction to scandal and disaster, has often been, simply, a name change.
And so the U.S. Minerals and Management Service (MMS) announced that, it is making an official name change as part of its restructuring. The new moniker: the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement—or the Bureau of Ocean Energy, for short. According to Michael Bromwich, who’s tapped to lead the restructuring “We will move quickly and responsibly on our reforms.”
As a professional namer, I will be the first to say that a new name can do a lot to help change perception. But this in itself is not enough. What it can do is signal your intent. It tells people you’re willing to make a deeper change. It gets their attention.
But a name change cannot be a change in name only. If not carefully done, it can infuriate people who think you are simply trying to paper over the problem. People aren’t stupid—and they will be skeptical, suspecting coverup. More...
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etymology: your verbal identity source
We all work with words every day, from the simplest task to the most complex of communications. We understand the power of words, and we try to channel their quicksilver power. When we get it right, our words help create brands that evolve at the speed of our world. And they change the vocabulary.
That’s why we’re bringing etymology to you.
In every issue of our newsletter we’ll trace the arc of that evolution, and we’ll seek out the source – the point of creation where brand and word meet and catch lightning in a bottle.
We’ll look specifically at cultural, market and industry trends – but most importantly we’ll discuss how language is evolving to meet them. We’ll break down the information, and highlight what to look for as we name and write our brands every day.
Etymology is your source for all things naming and verbal identity.
Here, in our first issue, we start with a look at our tried-and-true 10 Most Common Naming Mistakes. When it comes to brands, the name is critical – it’s often the first thing your customers get to know about you, and from there it becomes the single most used identifier to represent your brand.
However, many organizations often take a very haphazard approach to naming. Want to know why? Take a look at the most common mistakes made when creating or choosing a name – and some tips to avoid them.
Looking forward to exchanging words,
Paola Norambuena
Head of Verbal Identity
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    Copyright © 2010 Interbrand. All rights reserved.
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It seems that the popular photo sharing site Flickr has finally acquired what it’s been missing most – a vowel.
Following an announcement by Tech Crunch, it appears that, in tracking WHOIS domain moves, the ownership of the fully spelled out domain has transferred to Yahoo!
“As one of the most popular social sites on the planet, Flickr is also undoubtedly one of the most popular misspelled domains. Pronounced ‘Flicker’ Flickr decided to be all Web 2.0-cutesy with its name back in the day. That’s fine, except when someone else owns the Flicker.com domain.”
Flickr has long been a great example of a dotcom name that’s both a standout and a cautionary tale. While a hardcore of web-savvy early adopters may not need the “e,” as popularity grows beyond this group, spelling can become an issue – particularly with newbies to the site. The owners of Flicker.com chose to highlight this, perhaps to teach a lesson: the non-Flickr page had boldface stats trumpeting its 3.6 million unique visitors a year, with 95 percent direct hits – the implication being, millions of people looking for flickr wound up at its vowel-endowed counterpart. More...
It was no surprise to hear terms like social media, technology and crowdsourcing thrown around at FUSE. But we were pleased to hear John Winsor's talk on the factors driving areas like crowdsourcing.
Winsor, who co-authored the book Baked In with Alex Bogusky, claims we've entered an age of the co-creator. The evidence for this includes:
1. Transparency: it's flattening organizations and making walls porous.
2. Independence is freedom: the rising digital workforce that has access to the latest creative tools and can work from anywhere at any time.
3. The rise of the curator class: a new generation of social and creative directors and editors.
4. The death of the middleman: accelerated by the changes in the economy.
Another speaker at Fuse, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil (check out Kurweil's Ramona chatterbot feature) described co-creators as people who seek collaborative problem solving. This ranges from more outspoken responses to service, to arriving at a physicians office with thoroughly researched conclusions (or hypotheses). Even if a co-creator is wrong, they expect to be heard and they expect to solve issues in collaboration with another.
What are your thoughts on co-creators? What are the immediate implications in your business or industry?
The start of the Oscars began, for me, with a little song lyric running through my brain: I’m everywoman. This is after spotting the ad spot for Poise.
But I doubt Whoopi Goldberg’s latest comedic turn in advertising (and rewriting history) was what Chaka Kahn (or Whitney Houston) had in mind when she belted the anthem. Nor did the artists behind iconic female figures like the Mona Lisa and the Statue of Liberty, or historic women like Joan of Arc and Lady Godiva.
Yet the campaign took a lighthearted and unexpected approach for a product that targets a more sensitive issue for women. Particularly for a product brand with a name that’s a fine example of a well-intentioned, euphemism that for a time marked most “feminine” products–and has been a trademark of Kimberly-Clark since 1945. More...
Tired of associating toilet paper with quilting ladies and layers? Or the warm-and-fuzzies of bears and puppies?
Well, Cottonelle has seen to that by bringing the popular vote to a very familiar idiosyncrasy. Cottonelle’s The Great Debate asks: do you roll over or under? More...
Tags: verbal identity, verbal identity news, cottonelle, nielsen, oscars, design, creative, brand voice, diesel, be stupid |
Categories: Design, General, Verbal Identity, Verbal Identity News
