Monday, June 13, 2011

a rose by any other name

A rose by any other name wouldn't be called a rose.
What's in a name anyways?
Apparently, a lot.
Especially when you are marketing a consumer product. There are some really stupid names out there. So whether you're downing the Pocari Sweat, or getting Ayds (pronounced "AIDS"; because everyone loves "getting Ayds") sometimes it just misses the mark.

But honestly this has got to be the worst EVER name.
Introducing: TrekStor's iBeat Blaxx!
(fyi: pronounced I beat blacks)
Picture from cnet.com, visit them here.
Of course, it was later renamed to TrekStor Blaxx.
And of course, being a German company, a worse names till would be iBeat Juz (fyi: pronounced I beat Jews). OF COURSE, I'm not making light of the Holocaust nor am I anti-semantic (in fact, I used to work for a wonderful Jewish man).

Here's a tip for future product/brand managers:
English, being the current number 1 international language for business, is important. So make sure your product names and brands, when translated, are culturally acceptable. It pays to hire a native speaker with in-depth cultural knowledge to tweak the brand and product names. Even hiring a random college/university undergraduate from the States or Canada would suffice (and you don't even have to pay them that much because they're basically starving; literally and figuratively in the professional-experience sense).

Google translator is not your best friend, nor is that intern who claims to be proficient in English.
Chances are that intern or the translator would screw up and give you Engrish instead of English.

If your company doesn't usually give product names (I'm looking at you Panasonic televisions department - Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25, what a mouthful), use product nicknames! I think giving product nicknames as common names for specific models is great. In the Panasonic example I gave, the Viera VT25 would be so much nicer. Although it's not an official name, it does help people refer to that particular model much easier.
Besides, it's easier for consumers to remember and recall the brand when considering the purchase. This aids in the consumer's information search phase in the purchase cycle.


Lastly I want to draw your attention to the EOS Rebel series from Canon. Their Canadian celebrity endorsement choice was brilliant. Choosing Avril Lavigne, Canadian punk/rock artist, was a good choice. Especially with her rock-star and fun-loving rebellious attitude. It really complements the casual and against-the-norm notion of the entry-level dSLR camera (this was back when dSLR are mythical semi-professional to professional grade equipment).
Snagged this here. Not sure where she got the picture from though.
Take in the subtle beauty and look of defiance in those eyes.
















I'm in a writing frenzy. We'll see if I can churn out another post before I sleep tonight.

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