Categories: Articles

Business 2.0 Magazine Gets In On Naming Your Company And Nomenclature

I’ve Blogged about something I call “voice branding,” Calling All Stations – The Power Of Voice Branding, and posted a nomenclature article on the Twist Image website, The Name Game, which discusses the power of naming your company, products and services… and what it all means (aka “nomenclature”). The latest issue of Business 2.0 (December 2004) has a great piece entitled, The New Science Of Naming, written by Alex Frankel in the What Works section of the publication. It’s a worthy read and features gems like:
“There’s a trend toward meaning in words. When it comes down to evocative words vs. straightforward names, straightforward will win in testing every time.”
And this beauty:
“Likewise, instead of assuming a built-in need to educate people through traditional marketing, firms are also waking up to the idea that some organic names are fun to say – and that makes them easier to spread by word of mouth. In an age where everything can be found by way of Google, simple names do double duty as easy-to-remember keywords.”
One of the core principles I discuss in one of my keynote presentations, The It Factor – Very Good Is Bad. Be Remarkable, is how in business (and life) simplicity is the highest form of complexity (not as philosophical as it may read – think Ziplock bags!).
It’s nice to see Business 2.0 and others waking up to the power that lies within a name and how the obscure and hard to say/spell names may be going the way of every company that used to end in a .com.
If you would like a copy of the article, email me.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.