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Will You Add? - The Name Game: Part 1
Retail shops are nearly always teeming with people. They come in a large number and on a busy day, during peak hours, it might become almost impossible to deal with so many customers. The task of managing accounts in such a situation can be really tough due to the sheer variety of the products people buy.Therefore, for a retail shop owner it is very important that he knows what has been sold for how much and when so as to keep his business profitable. It is to assist such business owners that the computer programming wizards have come up with a number of retail business accounting software that have made accounting far easier than ever it was.The software is made keeping in mind the necessity of a s
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at th
Who is a netprenuer? Actually the word netpreneur brings images to mind of a young geek. A person in his early twenties who has the courage to break the conventional rules to build up an online business from scratch is our netpreneur. There was a time when netpreneurs were thought to be some kind of mythical creatures. They came from nowhere and made millions in the market. And that image is still itched out into the minds of many but to be honest these are just images. The reality is very different.The majority of netpreneur are still young but they are not some kind of eccentric genius. Anyone can be a netprenuer these days. That is the result of easy access to internet and the desire of people to take s
Done well, corporate naming can be one of the most powerful assets in a company’s branding arsenal. A great company name can support, energize and leverage your brand. The right name will also create strong competitive separation while at the same time establishing a bond of trust and loyalty with your target market(s).
Given the critical importance of selecting a great company name I’m always amazed at the haphazard approach that many organizations use in their methodology (or lack thereof) when creating a name. There are basically two paths a company can travel when creating a name, they can create it internally or they can collaborate with a service provider. Both options are assessed below:
1. The Do it Yourself Approach: In all but the rarest of circumstances companies that attempt to develop a name internally usually do themselves a disservice. Names should not be developed in a vacuum. I have seen pride of authorship create many a naming train wreck. Just because it is your idea doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good name.
Naming is a competency that spans mediums, cultures and geographies. Naming is equal parts art, science, linguistics, strategy, competitive positioning, research, business intelligence, marketing, branding, creative, intellectual property and above all else talent and experience. If you can’t honestly say that your company possesses all the aforementioned capabilities then you should not organically pursue naming.
Even if your organization possesses the aforementioned abilities you may still want to think twice when you consider the fact that companies like Disney, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Time Warner, ABC, MTV, Apple and many others outsource naming to experts. There is something to be said for third party objectivity.
What about cost you say? If you think you can’t afford a professional naming firm think about all the money you’ll spend down the road trying to breath life into a bad name, the future cost of a rebranding initiative, the legal fees you’ll spend defending an intellectual property infringement claim when it turns out that you’re using someone else’s name, or the fact that you can’t do business in foreign market because the name you’ve chosen happens to be an expletive. It just pays to get it right the first time.
2. Select a Third Party Naming Expert: Your second option is to outsource naming. For all the reasons noted above the undisputed best practices approach to naming is to hire a third party expert. The tricky part associated with this method is determining what it is that actually constitutes an expert. For if you select the wrong firm all the negative aspects of the do it yourself approach referenced above will also apply here.
Let’s start by defining who does not qualify as a naming expert. While there are clearly exceptions to any rule of thumb, generally speaking graphic designers, printers, PR firms, logo shops and yes even many advertising agencies don’t qualify as naming experts. They may dabble in the practice, but you’ll find that it is rarely a competency.
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at the
The main objective is to create an ROI calculator that helps the sales professionals in your company sell a lot more of your product or service. The ROI calculator will only be valuable to your sales professionals if it is deemed meaningful by prospective customers. These prospective customers must be able to quickly specify and change variables that are important to them. The best way to accomplish this is to use several dynamic sliders to change variables that should be measured, such as:- Number of records processed. This is a practical measure of productivity.- Number of sales made, a practical measure for increased sales effectiveness.- Length of customer support calls, a practical mea
1. The Do it Yourself Approach: In all but the rarest of circumstances companies that attempt to develop a name internally usually do themselves a disservice. Names should not be developed in a vacuum. I have seen pride of authorship create many a naming train wreck. Just because it is your idea doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good name.
Naming is a competency that spans mediums, cultures and geographies. Naming is equal parts art, science, linguistics, strategy, competitive positioning, research, business intelligence, marketing, branding, creative, intellectual property and above all else talent and experience. If you can’t honestly say that your company possesses all the aforementioned capabilities then you should not organically pursue naming.
Even if your organization possesses the aforementioned abilities you may still want to think twice when you consider the fact that companies like Disney, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Time Warner, ABC, MTV, Apple and many others outsource naming to experts. There is something to be said for third party objectivity.
What about cost you say? If you think you can’t afford a professional naming firm think about all the money you’ll spend down the road trying to breath life into a bad name, the future cost of a rebranding initiative, the legal fees you’ll spend defending an intellectual property infringement claim when it turns out that you’re using someone else’s name, or the fact that you can’t do business in foreign market because the name you’ve chosen happens to be an expletive. It just pays to get it right the first time.
2. Select a Third Party Naming Expert: Your second option is to outsource naming. For all the reasons noted above the undisputed best practices approach to naming is to hire a third party expert. The tricky part associated with this method is determining what it is that actually constitutes an expert. For if you select the wrong firm all the negative aspects of the do it yourself approach referenced above will also apply here.
Let’s start by defining who does not qualify as a naming expert. While there are clearly exceptions to any rule of thumb, generally speaking graphic designers, printers, PR firms, logo shops and yes even many advertising agencies don’t qualify as naming experts. They may dabble in the practice, but you’ll find that it is rarely a competency.
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at th
Sourcing your products from the China wholesale markets means margins you can't find elsewhere, margins which will skyrocket your profits and allow you to dominate your market.China has been described as the world's factory.It might well be re-named China Wholesale Inc.The phenomenal economic growth in China, typified by the rise of Shanghai - now the world's biggest city, in the world's biggest country - will have an ever-increasing effect on world trade, and on the world of re-selling on the Internet.China manufactures for the world, and anyone looking to source products just has to start their search in the China wholesale markets. And that means me, and probably you as well.
Even if your organization possesses the aforementioned abilities you may still want to think twice when you consider the fact that companies like Disney, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Time Warner, ABC, MTV, Apple and many others outsource naming to experts. There is something to be said for third party objectivity.
What about cost you say? If you think you can’t afford a professional naming firm think about all the money you’ll spend down the road trying to breath life into a bad name, the future cost of a rebranding initiative, the legal fees you’ll spend defending an intellectual property infringement claim when it turns out that you’re using someone else’s name, or the fact that you can’t do business in foreign market because the name you’ve chosen happens to be an expletive. It just pays to get it right the first time.
2. Select a Third Party Naming Expert: Your second option is to outsource naming. For all the reasons noted above the undisputed best practices approach to naming is to hire a third party expert. The tricky part associated with this method is determining what it is that actually constitutes an expert. For if you select the wrong firm all the negative aspects of the do it yourself approach referenced above will also apply here.
Let’s start by defining who does not qualify as a naming expert. While there are clearly exceptions to any rule of thumb, generally speaking graphic designers, printers, PR firms, logo shops and yes even many advertising agencies don’t qualify as naming experts. They may dabble in the practice, but you’ll find that it is rarely a competency.
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at th
So you really want some business cards – you think it’s going to make people take you seriously and get in touch with you. What you have to realise, though, is that a badly designed business card is much, much worse than none at all, and will actually lose you business. Before you go ahead and make business cards on that spiffy machine that does them for pocket change, take a little time to consider exactly what you’re going to put on the card and where.The first, and most important, thing you should put on is your name! Don’t be modest – make it big and bold, so people can spot your card in a pile. It might feel a little egotistical, but remember that you’re doing it to help them find you, not because you
2. Select a Third Party Naming Expert: Your second option is to outsource naming. For all the reasons noted above the undisputed best practices approach to naming is to hire a third party expert. The tricky part associated with this method is determining what it is that actually constitutes an expert. For if you select the wrong firm all the negative aspects of the do it yourself approach referenced above will also apply here.
Let’s start by defining who does not qualify as a naming expert. While there are clearly exceptions to any rule of thumb, generally speaking graphic designers, printers, PR firms, logo shops and yes even many advertising agencies don’t qualify as naming experts. They may dabble in the practice, but you’ll find that it is rarely a competency.
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at th
ISO 9000 is an enormously successful international quality management system set by the international standards organization. Apart from helping in designing a quality assurance system, ISO 9000 also imposes many liabilities and responsibilities on the part of business organizations.ISO certification can guard organizations against corporate vicarious liability. Vicarious liability refers to the legal responsibility (accountability) of an employer for the actions, crime or injury done by one of his employees in the course of discharging duties. Crimes that come under the purview of vicarious liability include fraud and theft, defamation, breach of confidence and data protection, and discrimination based on
Complicating matters even further is that many firms who profess a competency in naming are simply not very good at it…Just for kicks and giggles let’s put some naming companies under the magnifying glass and see what they’ve done for themselves…
The Avant-garde firms: Avant-garde is defined as way out or ahead of its time. Firms that fall into this category tend to confuse off the wall and ridiculous with being creative…Trust me when I tell you there is a big difference. Point in case: The first thing that comes to mind when I see “A Hundred Monkeys” is what were these guys smoking when they came up with that name? A Hundred Monkeys is a naming firm that created the name “Alfalfa” for a tax and financial planning firm; Go figure…Firms that try so hard to be cool at the expense of all the other critical factors that go into creating great names should be avoided.
The Completely Predictable and Boring Firms: Firms such as “The Naming Firm” clearly understand relevant association, but there is a certain lack of creativity in this name, don’t you think? Firms that have no sense of flair should be eliminated from the search as well. There is no need to make sacrifices when it comes to selecting the right name. It is possible to be relevant, associative, creative, memorable, and distinctive.
The trick to selecting a great naming firm is to avoid the extremes represented by the firms mentioned above. There are two main factors to focus on when selecting a naming firm. The first is to find a firm who has a portfolio that is really good. Their work should reflect a variety of styles that demonstrate relevancy to the industry they were created for. This type of diversity of work history will give you a better chance of ending-up with a style that is compatible with what you are trying to accomplish. The second is to find a firm that is very collaborative. They should spend time getting to know your company, your industry, your competitive value propositions and your vision. Great naming firms achieve success based upon their ability to align their talent with the client’s vision.
Now that you are armed with what to look for in a naming firm, Part 2 of this series will discuss the elements contained in great names.
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