Name Awards

Naming trends as big movie download players line up

In some industries, there is little or no room for the small guy. One such industry is the emerging video download business because you need to be big to get legal rights to the major release movies and shows. (An exception is in the porno industry, but that is another story).  As Hulu, Joost, Amazon, Walmart, Netflix, Blockbuster, and Apple (iTunes) line up to be our primary suppliers, it is fun to examine their name styles as a group.

The two companies set up specifically to address this market as their primary focus, Hulu and Joost have abstract names (and have been covered in earlier blog postings), while the two traditional “old timers”, Netflix and BlockBuster, have more descriptive (but still unique) names. Apple is using its iTunes service to deliver video, and everyone accepts that…. without even thinking about the word and what it means. Shows that it has become just a brand handle….shorthand for the brand promise.. not a descriptive name anymore.

Similarly of course for the mass merchandisers Amazon with their jungle full of online offerings, and Walmart with their relentless wall to wall offerings of everything imaginable to sustain a human and his pets. In due course, will we shop at one of these megastores, or be more particular in our movie tastes and get a specialized service connection from someone new? Only time will tell if the younger smaller brands can catch up, but don’t bet against them as they have big backers like CBS.

In the meantime, iVideo.com leads to Ohio’s biggest integrated video dealer, and not a download service from Apple or anyone else. And YouTube, that is educating the world on American slang, may be a player too – if they can be both the low quality video snippet site as well as the professional full length movie download company.

PS See what the namiac name critic had to say about Netflix recently.

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