Name Awards

A segway to a great (but not green) company name

Out of the blue today I started thinking about the Segway company and their great marketing of a product and technology that no one needs. And their great marketing starts with a superb name, cool logo and practical tagline.

Only in America could there be so much hype to create demand for a product that was invented simply because they could. After hundreds of years of evolution, the bicycle and tricycle are the epitome of elegance in human powered green transportation. Then Segway arrives and tried to tell us they were going to revolutionize the world – Yes, at their pre launch hype those were the kinds of stories being leaked out. simply because they now had the smarts and technology to help you balance a two wheeled scooter with side by side wheels.

Heck every postman in the country was going to need one. Every sidewalk should be allowed to have them running over grandma’s and crashing on the downhills. After all, they were only $7,000 each. Definitely your rich spoiled kids toy.. popular with adult kids in Silicon Valley so they wouldn’t have to walk to lunch.

But great marketing and a superb name do not make for good business sense. Especially when for less than half the price you can have a similar looking electric tricycle…… practical and sturdy enough for the LAPD and others to use them for street patrol. And we know how to work a tricycle – we learned in kindergarten!

PS All you green eco fans should protest at them claiming to being the leader in personal green transportation… What about the electricity and all the components they use? And they have only made a few thousand at most. Compare that with the millions of bicycles that run on pedal power before you segway to a new paradigm.

No comments yet.

Leave a comment