Name Awards

Never lay your hands on the Neverland name.

Although it is a straight copy by Michael Jackson, and before that by Disney, of a mythical place name in the classic Peter Pan novels, today there are some big organizations and their friendly lawyers protecting the Neverland name. And, of course, Michael Jackson’s estate is probably worth a lot more now that he has passed on. So I was not surprised to read that a would-be tribute musical band had been sent one of those dreaded cease and desist letters for trying to use the name. In a smart move, they are now Foreverland. Much cheaper than fighting a lawsuit… but a positive implied connection nevertheless.

During Jackson’s passing, his Neverland Ranch gained even more immense worldwide coverage. Ironically, when he bought it originally from Sycamore Valley Ranch, he renamed it, but he had subsequently become a part owner of Sycamore Valley Ranch and taken over the ownership. So much of the public immediately recognized the brand as being associated with Michael Jackson - and would attest to that if asked for a common opinion - even though there are many trademark applications and fights over the name. Pity Jackson didn’t properly protect it earlier, instead of the slew of filings on his death (assuming he could get the rights properly from Disney or J.M.Barrie Estate author of Peter Pan).

Enough legal, more interestingly, why does the name have such power, such interest, such fascination? It is a negative right? Wow. Great example of where a negative has become a positive. How much more over the top brandable than Sycamore Valley Ranch? Immeasurable…  with maybe even a touch of genius behind it. Most corporations I know would get all analytical and say it is too negative a name for us - but most of them outside Hollywood are not paid to dream!

Eloquent and beautiful.. but in this day and age Neverland is taken as a name. RIP Michael Jackson… we will leave your place name to your lawyers and family.

Oh no, not another Nexus. One has to wonder.

This week Google announced their own new phone, even though they can’t quite clearly elucidate what this has got to do with their core business.

Never mind, what we want to know is if you make a call on a Nexus One™, will it be routed via a Cisco Nexus® switch, will it work with the Nexus® measuring equipment and the Nexus® satellite radio hardware, will it use and support Nexus® typefonts, does it use a Nexus® plasma flat screen, does it compute like a Nexus® personal computer and connect to the Nexus® automotive measuring instruments, does it support Nexus® audio/video, run the Nexus® fluid dynamics program, is it based on Nexus® IC technology, can you download Nexus® erotic books from Virgin, and is all this supported by the Nexus® software support package?

Aren’t you glad they added the word one to make it unique? Luckily they didn’t pick 2000, because the Nexus 2000® was an old, old dictation machine. Google must be going corporate. So much for their former uniqueness streak.

All Nexus names used here are registered trademarks of their owners - too many to mention, but only a small sample of those fighting over the same name with the US Patent and Trademark office. Nexus one is not yet an approved or registered trademark.

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?

Carbonite will copy your PC all night

Carbonite’s great and topical TV ads caught my ear before my eye…  a sure sign of a great TV commercial if it works with the visual switched off.. (or visual only, no sound). The name just has a great strong sound to it, even though analysis might show it is close to reminding one of dynamite or kryptonite.

Anyway, a great new service for many, many PC owners who aren’t smart enough to run their own regular backups (which means most of us). But how unique is the name? A check of USPTO trademark database shows there are many other Carbonite registered trademarks. Of course, they are for other categories of products, like industrial, metallic coatings, building materials, medical, etc.

Interestingly enough… and a big caution to trademark checkers everywhere.. the USPTO flags Karbonite as a similar trademark too. Indeed it should, since it is phonetically equivalent, and therefore the same. But they do not flag Carbonyte, which is also phonetically equivalent, and even has some registered trademarks in their database. As usual, the USPTO online search is one of the world’s worst for equivalency checks of trademarks. Be careful, or use a professional naming agency and a good trademark lawyer to be sure.

PS The close integration of the logo and tagline make for instantly clear messaging for Carbonite. Well done.

Emergency Golf released for all those facing their first rounds

Well this post is to announce a small book of my own, so I won’t be as egotistical as to try give myself a name award for the title. But I would appreciate any comments or feedback on whether the title grabbed you or not. One good thing about book titles is that you don’t have to check trademarks, because one bad thing about book titles is that you cannot protect them, and duplicates are allowed.

Since many sales, marketing and branding conferences include potentially a round of golf, and since many business deals are still done on the golf course, you may want to download a copy of Emergency Golf from FodenPress.com if you have never played before. I am trying to save you the heartache and angst I suffered on a number of occasions.

That is why I call myself the world’s worst beginner. But that is also why I have this unique viewpoint. I know first hand the little things that bedevilled me and lead to a number of false starts. You will probably save the complete cost of this book in lost golf balls the first month you are out there!

At very worst, you will enjoy the first few days more , especially if you have no time for lessons. Plus you will not hold up the rest of the group or make them mad at your basic ignorance of what they think of as a lovely game.

Cache Creek is the perfect name for a casino

North of Sacramento in Northern California, there is a largish Indian Casino development called Cache Creek. What a perfect name for a casino! Not only does Cache mean a treasure haul, it also has great connotations for all the techno propeller heads in that part of the country.

More interestingly, it is simply named after the local creek! Talk about getting lucky…..If the Indians had named it after their own tribe, it would probably have some boring Rumsey Tribe name.

With such a strong English name for their casino, I applaud their usage of Yocha-De-He for their academy and golf course, even though they don’t enlighten anyone as to the real roots of this name. Doesn’t matter. After all, we all love Yosemite, and only have a vague idea of its Indian roots.

I am sure this combination of a strong English name coupled with a very unique Indian name will lead to a powerful branding position.

If you ever doubted the power of brand names….

Business Week (Aug 3) has a powerful article on The Rush to Grab Orphan Brands. Wow.. who knew so many powerful brands were homeless? But it just goes to show you how the magic is in the total brand, as personified by the brand handle - the name itself.

Smucker’s used to make fun of themselves along the lines of “with a name like that, it had better be good”. Now they are the new owners of Folgers. I still don’t know where the name Folgers originated, but on the few occasions I drink instant coffee, it has to be Folgers for me - even if they are now owned by a jam (jelly) company. And I am glad they are no longer an orphan.

Gliding on the name peace train with Roadslinger

Many companies want to change their names as their business plans evolve, but not many entertainers once their personal brand is firmly established. Cat Stevens sure was a catchy name.  Yusuf Islam not so much! Even if the album title Roadslinger is in a classic traveling style.

Brave move, motivated by some serious issues, I must confess. But it probably wasn’t money as now it takes a lot of PR and promotion to get re-established, especially with such a name that perhaps limits your total exposure to all ethnicities.

For me, the music already sounds different when I hear Yusuf is singing instead of our old favorite Cat. The first rule of branding has been compromised: If it is not broken,don’t fix it.

Would you name your company ngmoco?

Well if you answered yes to our title question, without even a blink, then you are definitely part of the Twitter and Computer/Phone gaming generation.

If your stomach turned to knots and you asked yourself why is a professional business namer even raising such an issue, then you are probably a little older and more traditional!

As I sit here and ponder how to pronounce the name and what it means, I realize I am being stupid. Probably only some gaming insiders will know… and half the reason will be the domain was free :).  And to compound the difficulty, they are trying to confuse all the press and media and spell checkers for ever more by writing it ngmoco with a lower case n. Good luck. Everyone else who tried this eventually changed. Hey guys.. it is your name.. not a tweet or text message. Go look at your birth certificate and see if that is spelled lower case.

PS At least their game titles are more comprehensible.. Rolando seems to be their star. Word Fu seems to be the title of another.. not Word F. U. The sounds are so loud I could never concentrate on the words… but I am an older tweeter.