Good Name,Bad Product: Windows Vista Brand Name Gets Dumped

Share

Here at Catchword, we’ve often reminded clients that a great name will not be able to save a bad product (nor will a horrible name kill a great product). Our friends at Microsoft have helped prove this point with their recent news that they are abandoning the Vista brand in favor of Windows 7.

I wonder how much of an impact the (brilliant) Apple campaign had on this decision. If you haven’t seen the latest Vista-basher, check this out:

The sad part for me is that I thought Vista was a great brand name. It did a great job of subtly tying back to the Windows masterbrand, it was short, international, and downright catchy. Too bad the product was glitchy, buggy, and downright useless.

I wonder if Microsoft hired a naming consultant to come up with 7. Wouldn’t be the first time. I work with a guy who got paid big bucks by Tanqueray to come up with Ten. Of course, in Mark’s defense, it’s not like Ten was the next product after Nine – he had to think a bit more than that. Heck, if Landor can get paid to come up with “FedEx” out of Federal Express, someone certainly can get paid for “7” as a brand for the 7th version. Funny, Catchword never seems to get tapped for those easy jobs. Maybe we’re just not charging enough.

RELATED INSIGHTS

What do expert namers think of the proliferation of "Deep" names? Catchword's take in The Washington Post
02.18.2025
Fast Company tapped the Catchword team to evaluate Dell's new brand architecture. Spoiler: great strategy, meh naming
01.09.2025

Maria is Co-Founder & Creative Director of Catchword Branding and has personally created hundreds of brand names, including Asana, Upwork, Vudu, and

11.25.2024