Name Awards

How sweetly can an awkward name sing?

What if you are a very creative individual, making the finest in hand printed textile and silk pillows, scarves and throws, but you are laboring under a heavy, old sounding name? Well, if that is your grandfather’s name and he created the business in the first place, then you smile and keep designing and printing, just like Laura Goldstein is doing at Grotta & Co in Milwaukee.

Her work is truly a traditional art that is seldom seen in the USA anymore. Her designs appear to be a very unique and classy addition to any interior design project. Maybe some fashion projects too. This little songbird pillow is just one of her many layered, many screen passes products. It is definitely about playful and interesting designs, not about volume. Must take her hours to uphold the fine workmanship of her grandfather Jacob Grotta.

Would you call your shop In Watermelon Sugar?

What a fun name, though it went completely over my head. Even now I don’t have time to catch up and read Richard Brautigan’s book with this title. I thought I was seeing things when I stumbled on company records in Maryland for such a business. Of course, I was looking through boring business records, not walking down the street peeping into curious boutiques.

As for the legal issues of naming your business after a book title – hmm.. very interesting. On other hand, book titles cannot be trademarked so maybe there are no issues. Anyone got some lawyerly comment on this?

Thanks to blogger Audrey Q for this photo of a watermelon sugar popsickle from Kuala Lumpur.

A fierce battle erupts over the Fierce trademark

In reading about the Abercrombie and Fitch fight with Beyoncé over the Fierce name, it is amazing to discover how now A&F is described as a teen clothing retailer. Wow. Their transformation is now complete.. from old conservative adult hunting gear… to pushing the limits on sexuality advertising for teenagers.

As for how this lawsuit will turn out, I don’t know. But some money could be changing hands unless they want to be tied up in court for a while… or Beyoncé gets another alter ego brand name. She already has Deréon as her fashion line after all.. why not a Deréon perfume??

Abercrombie have definitely had a registered trademark on Fierce for perfumes and cosmetics since 2003, while all Beyoncé’s filings for Sasha Fierce trademarks are still in a pre-approval stage.

So you make the call? What are you saying the rulings coming down from USPTO are likely to be on approving of this trademark – despite the protests we are sure Abercrombie have filed with them?

From Code Camp to Branding Fun and Honey Pot Marketing

This is turning into a busy month for me and personal speaking engagements, but I am still trying to have some fun with these very serious audiences I run into. Great attendance at Silicon Valley Code Camp to hear me and my son, Ben Foden, talk about converting code into product and product into brand. But not a lot of interaction on my theory. Luckily Ben’s real life example was of much more interest to the audience.

Then off to the Business Marketing Association breakfast roundtable to talk about Having some Fun with Your Brand (without offending the corporate lawyer). I prepared some interesting props…but I guess locals are not in the mood for fun. Very dismal turnout. Oh well.. last time I pitch that subject for a talk around here – at least until the general business mood improves.

Now this coming Wednesday I will speak on naming and branding as a guest for UCSC Extension, in their new location just off 101, as part of a marketing fundamentals class.

But the real action is Thursday evening when I am the featured speaker for the Silicon Valley Enterpreneur Meetup group.  Mostly I am going to talk about Honey Pot Marketing – the name I have proposed before for a marketing strategy when you really cannot directly target your prospects. The idea is you put out lots of honey pots, and attract the bees and the bears to come to you instead.

Of course, being a naming professional, I never even bothered to check until a few minutes ago if anyone else is using the name! Now I find a complete agency in Canada using that name, with some similar concepts and ideas. But why is their bee so sad?

Don’t you prefer my little bright idea bear head, that serves as my photo icon on lots of forums, as well as my naming books and even some ads? Or do you think this is too cutesy? Our logo for Brighter Naming by itself is supposed to just be classy, and that is why we have rejected all light bulbs and brain concepts. But sometimes it is just boring and forgettable. Unlike our little branding bear!

Glad I am not a gregg head

Circuit City and The Good Guys might have fallen on hard times, but at least they had names and logos you can stomach. Many a famous retailer is named after their founders, not the least of which is Nordstrom’s or JC Penny’s. But at least they stand up and recognize their name as a proper noun.

Seeing a sign and logo like hhgregg’s would make me walk the other way. I am glad I don’t shop their East Coast areas. It probably only works because it is so darn awkward and different – and the fact it has been around for many years. No one in their right mind would start out like this today.

PS Is that an egg yolk joke in the first of many g’s?

Code names for code on the eve of code camp

On the eve (almost) of Silicon Valley CodeCamp, I cannot help reminiscing about old computer compilers and coders. Remember the old traditional abbreviations like Fortran (Formula Translation), Cobol (Common Boring Language – Officially Common Business Language), RPG (Report Program Generator) and the trustworthy Basic?

Well I was an old time coder, which I perhaps why I am one of the few marketing types invited to hang out at this ultimate free programming geekfest. I loved it when Kim Polese, while a great product manager at Sun, changed the name from Green (formerly Oak) to Java. Programmers have been brewing up a storm ever since. What a marketing coup – via a simple name change.

Of course, nowadays, Java has to compete with other exciting tools like Python, Scala and Ruby on Rails. Their names alone are enough to make me want to investigate their capabilities – at least if I was still a hacker. Instead, I am relegated to presenting on how to convert code into products, and products into brands.