The last post

Life's got too hectic. So I am closing the tap. You can catch me at my website. Adios.

A very icky name

Dentsu India has launched Iki, a creative boutique. Apparently Iki means chic in Japanese. Funnily, Iki sounds very icky to the English ear. Is anyone at Dentsu listening?

A brand that means the same in Spanish & Tamil

Did you know that Chupa Chups is derived from the Spanish word 'Chupar' that means 'to suck'? I am sure you didn't. Did you also know that the Tamil word 'chuppardhu' means 'to suck'? Funny, ain't it?

Sticky Post

Thought of a nice name today for a possible adhesive brand. Got to find a taker for it. The name has longlasting cues and is suitably controversial. What's more, the dotcom domain is available. The coinage is Glueteus Maximus. Anyone interested?

Fun way to choose brand name

1. Pick your telephone directory.
2. Randomly flip pages.
3. Read out names (street name or person's name) listed aloud.
4. Shortlist 100 names that sound exotic.
5. Check domain name availabity.
6. Filter down the shortlist to one name you like.

The telephone directory technique was used by no less a company than Proctor & Gamble. They arrived at the name Pringles using this interesting procedure. So it's tried & tested. Why not give it a shot?

Love this name

Namewire features the travails of a Michigan restaurant originally named Mother Cluckers. William Lozito of Name Development labels this name as distasteful. I disagree. Mother Cluckers rocks. It's got spice and is suitably controversial. It's an either you like it or hate it kinda name. Unfortunately the owner didn't see the potential in the name. He dropped it for a much watered down Smokin' Chicken. I think the man made a mistake. He lost a hen that could have laid golden eggs.

Which bi-monthly mag is named after this man?

Luerzer's Archive named after Walter Luerzer.

Image courtesy: Adacademy.ro

The logo that changed the brand name

This is a unique case study. I bet you've never read anything like this before. Here's the beef: Fujitsu has a global brand of air conditioners named General. The brand is sold in India through their partner ETA, who never spends a pie doing good advertising. ETA didn't teach its customers to pronounce the brand name right - using radio spots. Instead all they did was to spend money on shop signages & glow signs. So a lot of people got to see the logo, which looks like this:



People saw the logo and confused the reverse 'g' with letter 'o'. As a result of this confusion, they started referring to 'General' as 'Ogeneral'. Seeing the average Joe's mispronunciation, what did the chaps at ETA do? They started calling their global brand OGeneral. They even chose that domain name for their Indian website. What an irony! Why is Fujitsu silent about this?

A game named Trylateral

This post is a shameless plug for my latest game & name. The game is about connecting the unconnected. It's about linking three seemingly unrelated clues to a person, animal, bird or thing. As the game is a celebration of lateral thinking and it involves 3 clues, I've called it Trylateral. To play the game, go here.

No Man's Land - Tamil Brand Names

In our country, people have no qualms about coining names in English, Sanskrit & Latin. But very few namers muster enthu for coinages in other regional languages. Take the Tamil names for instance. I can hardly count 20 popular brands that have opted to use a patchai tamizh peyar. Here's my pattiyal:

1. Dinathanthi (A newspaper name that means 'The Daily Telegraph')
2. Dinamalar (A newspaper name that means 'The Daily Blossom')
3. Dinamani (A newspaper name that means 'The Daily Bell')
4. Kungumam (A mag name that means 'The Vermillion' mark used by women)
5. Kumudam (A mag name that means 'A Flower')
6. Ananda Vikadan (A mag name that means the 'Merry Magazine')
7. Suriyan FM (A radio station name that means 'Sun FM')
8. Murasoli (A newspaper name that means 'The Drumbeat')
9. Makkal TV (A TV channel name that means 'People TV')
10. Mangaiyar Malar (A mag name that means 'Woman's Blossom')
11. Ponvandu (A washing soap name that means 'Golden Bee')
12. Maan Mark Kudaigal (A brand name that means 'Deer Mark Umbrellas')
13. Jamaai (An ice cream brand name that means 'Enjoy')
14. Kutcheribuzz.com (A website name that means 'Concertbuzz.com')
15. Koothuppattarai (A theater group name that means 'Theater factory')
16. Cavin Kare (A cosmetics company name that means 'Beauty Care')
17. Cholayil (A cosmetics company name that means 'In the Garden')
18. Idhayam (An edible oil brand name that means 'Heart')
19. Aachi (A masala brand name that means 'Grandma')
20. Udhavum Karangal (An NGO name that means 'Helping Hands')

Can anyone tell me why people are ashamed to coin names in their own language? Is it because they think it sounds uncool? Or is it because of a preference for anything anniyan.

A brand named 1431 Pyorrhea Palpodi

Any eighties kid who grew up in Tamil Nadu will recognise this name. When I first heard it on a radio spot as a lil boy, I had a classic waddafukwazdat expression on my face. Ever since, I've been trying to figure out what could have been the logic behind the name. I haven't yet found a convincing explanation. But I think I am somewhat there. Let's examine the elements that make up the name. Pyorrhea is a severe gum inflamation disease. Palpodi means tooth powder in Tamil. But what about 1431? This proved to be the tricky bit. Is it a reference to the atomic weights of Nitrogen & Phosphorus? Or a cue for molar tooth # 14 & 31? I did some googling to choose between these two hypotheses. All I got was a third hypothesis. It seems in a standard dentistry course DHYG 1431 refers to pre-clinical dental hygiene treatment. So was it an allusion to that? I dunno. But of the three guessplanations, this seems to be the best. Anyone with a better theory?

Branding Blunders

If not for Namewire, I'd have given this piece a miss. The IBM Grafitti experiment quoted in 'Corporate Branding Oops' is an eye-opener for the creative ilk. Another interesting case study featured is Wal Mart's Metro 7 conundrum.

A brand named The Skinny Cow

A delicious name choice for a low fat ice cream. Some would say, the name sounds similar to Happy Cow. But I would disregard that. This is a gutsy choice. The visualisation of the logo has neutralised any possible negatives associated with the name. For Nestle to have approved this, the brand manager must have been really bold.

The Murphy's Law of Naming

When you present 100 name options, the client asks for the 101st.

Research would have killed this.

"Founded in 1895 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, OshKosh B'Gosh, Inc. has grown from a small-town manufacturer of adult workwear into a global marketer of children's clothing and accessories." If the head honchos of OshKosh had done a research before taking their brand global, they would've discovered that many find their name a tongue twister. A name like Kidorable would have notched up better scores than OshKosh. Thankfully OshKosh didn't press the research button...

A shorter version of his name is now a popular retail brand in America. Identify the brand.

LL Bean - named after its founder Leon Leonwood Bean.

Names of Searchbots

Created by search engines, searchbots are programs that scour the world wide web to get what you want. Every search engine has a different name for its searchbots. Here's my Top 10 selection picked with the brandnama searchbot:

For data search by Purl.org - Kilroy (great choice)
Northern Light - Gulliver
Goodlookingcooking - Muncher
Alta Vista - Scooter
German search engine Nathan - Tarantula
For Ianett.com - ParaSite
Planet Search - Fido
Diggit search engine - Digger
Hotbot - Slurp
Lisa search engine - Voyager

Name change for a cause

This nugget is quite dated. Nevertheless interesting. Christopher Garnett, a PETA volunteer, actually changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, for a short period to turn the spotlight on animal abuse to chickens. Methinks, it's an ingenious tactic. So I wasn't surprised when I read that the campaign did really well.

Which coffee brand is named after this gentleman?

The Italian coffee brand Lavazza. The gentleman is the founder Luigi Lavazza. Brand Lavazza just picked up Barista and Fresh&Honest in India. Picture courtesy: Sovrana.

A galaxy-sized naming scam

There's a company called International Star Registry. For a few dollars, they let you name a star after your mom, girl friend, boss, child or ex-flame. They'll even gift you a certificate for your efforts. The International Astronomical Union has deplored this as a despicable 'act of commercial trickery'. Wikipedia gives us a neat lowdown on ISR here. The success of ISR has probably emboldened others to widen their canvas. A new site now promises to let you name galaxies for free. Wonder what's the catch there.