Collaborations in Creativity & the Law ®
– Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash
In a recent article in The New York Times, John Williams discussed the evolution of our language through the “vowel dropping” trend.
He mentions the use of vowel dropping in naming tech companies, as tech companies like Tumblr and Flickr dropped vowels “…both for distinctiveness and because the altered…
– Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash
Last year I wrote a “Change Your Name Already” blog post about Overstock.com on DuetsBlog which described the painful way that Overstock.com was trying to communicate that their name did not fit what they were doing as a business…”we are so much more!” My response was to politely…
-Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlash Name Development
Mark Cuban held a variety of jobs in his youth including selling garbage bags door-to-door and being a bartender, a disco dancing instructor, and a party promoter. But one thing that frustrated him was bank overdraft fees. Now he’s helping to fund an app that claims it can help…
—Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlashSM Name Development
Naming contests. Sounds like a good idea, right? A company needs a new name and it decides to engage its employees to come up with a new name. What could go wrong?
Well, you could end up with a name like Mondelez.
Just to be clear, I’m…
—Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlashSM Name Development
If you have kids, you know that they all pass through the “Why Phase,” where they keep asking “Why?” until you ultimately resort to the conversation-ending phrase “Ask your Mother (or Father).” You probably are also familiar with the “5 Whys” technique of asking “Why” at…
—Mark Prus, Marketing Consultant at NameFlashSM
I received a lot of terrific feedback on my recent Duets Blog post “When Should You Change Your Name?” Consider this Volume 2 in the series.
After you have decided to change your name, “How Do You Know When You Have Identified a Great Name?&rdquo…
—Mark Prus, Marketing Consultant at NameFlashSM
In my NameFlashSM name development business, I sometimes get asked by clients, “Should I change my brand name?” From a purely selfish standpoint my answer should be “YES!” because I get paid to generate names! But the reality is that there are times when you should not…
—Mark Prus, Principal, NameFlashSM Name Development
There is a local furniture store in Pittsburgh called Colonial Modern Furniture. Its slogan is “It’s Colonial. It’s Modern. And everything in between.”
This demonstrates one of the biggest mistakes people make in picking a name—developing a name that tries to speak to everyone. I’m sorry, but apart…
—Mark Prus, NameFlashSM
A few years ago, Procter & Gamble launched the Olay Total Effects line, and introduced us to “Anti aging skin care products that moisturize and fight seven signs of aging.” In case you don’t know, the “seven signs of aging” are “look of fine lines and wrinkles, rough texture, uneven skin…
—Mark Prus, Marketing Consultant at NameFlashSM
Like many professional name developers, I opened 2010 by making fun of the Apple iPad name. Steve Jobs gave a strong case for naming the “tablet pc” in a way that was consistent with previous Apple naming conventions (iPod, iTunes, iPhone), but many of us poked fun at…