08.28.07
Posted in Future Names at 10:06 am by Athol
A week or so ago, Sun Microsystems changed their stock exchange name to Java in an attempt to perk up their corporate listing. But Sun has always been an interesting name because (a) it is such a common word, (b) the founders claimed it was short for Stanford University Network originally, and (c) it is such a difficult name to own and protect.
Even when Sun was founded, there was already a Sun Moon Star computers in Los Angeles. And many other Sun names especially in Asia. So even the State of California had them add the stupid moniker Microsystems. Lucikly we all just called them Sun and ignored fact they have seldom done anything micro like, except design a few chips.
But along the way, a small R&D group was working on a computer language that had the long-awaited appeal of write once, run anywhere. This was called Oak originally, based on the tree outside their office window (very creative!). When that sounded old and stodgy, they changed the name to Green. Maybe it was springtime! But when Kim 
Polese showed up as product manager, it was renamed Java. Oh the magic when a marketer knows what they are doing - and gets her way. No changes needed from engineering except to change all the name references. And a whole new world opened up.
The rest they say is history… except it is not over yet. The original power of Sun workstations was simply the fact that they took existing technologies and properly integrated and commercialized them. Now many others have figured that out.
Java, on the other hand, was unique and different and original research. One day, that is what they will be most known for, and the child will be more famous than the parent, and the company itself will be renamed Java!
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08.23.07
Posted in Name Winners at 6:33 am by Athol
When you list the names of online job services, it is dominated by names like:
Jobs.com
Hotjobs.com
BAjobs.com
Careers.com
SimplyHired.com
and many others that all start to sound alike as they are almost generic. Companies that described themselves as opposed to really naming themselves.
And then the
re is Monster.com! Just cuts through the noise doesn’t it? What the heck is the connection between jobs and monsters? Don’t they even have a negative or scary image? Well, yes, but that was solved graphically with a cute little friendly monster that shows up at various times.
So I recognize this name with a full 3 trophies award.
And sometimes when you work smart and hard, you get lucky. Maybe even very, very lucky. Like when a company with a similar name, that few have
heard of outside the broadcast and video equipment industry, decides to pay millions to the San Francisco 49′ers to remain their Candlestick Park home football field Monster Park. My casual surveys continue to show that many people think this is named after Monster.com and not Monster Cable Company. Wow.. what a great free fortuitous PR event. Your name on a stadium for free.
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08.16.07
Posted in Great Names at 9:08 pm by Athol
While researching the Zara name, for my Name Critic’s column, I came across the other brands and business names for the consumer-centric companies of Inditex Group out of Spain. Given that the parent corporate name is simply an abbreviation from Independent Textiles, I was really impressed to see they also owned Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Zara Home, Oysho, Kiddy’s Class.
Nobody turns the latest fashions into products on the rack quicker than Zara and its sibling companies. So they have earned much business praise and success. Which is made all the more interesting given their no advertising philosophy (and very little PR). But I am very happy to toot their horn for them. As soon as I figure out what kind of awards we are going to offer here.. they will get the best of the best.
PS What do you think of the name Oysho? Especially where the primary market is Spanish speaking?
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08.09.07
Posted in Rotten Names at 10:01 am by Athol
Well this posting was delayed while I tried to review my opinion of Dell’s name for their new line of PC’s. But it is not aging any better, so I am coming right out and saying that Vostro is an ugly sounding name. Their lawyers might like it. Certain linguists might
make up stories about the rariefied roots. But certain names and word forms just don’t sound good. And this is one of them.
Compare this name with Sony’s VAIO. Very few people know that VAIO stands for Very Advanced I/O, but that doesn’t matter. This a coined unique word that doesn’t sound ugly. In fact, it has a nice open sound to it, even though it might have taken the brand power of Sony to promote such a name.
Come on Dell. You can do better than pulling names out of some language dump.
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