June 8, 2017
The Bay Area is undeniably the wild west of new tech. And if Uber and Lyft thought this town ain’t big enough for the both of them, well, they’ve got another thing coming; there’s a new horse in town. The next means of getting from the downtown Oakland saloon to your hideout in the Berkeley hills is called […]
March 27, 2012
This blog originally appeared in Fast Company. The Lorax, the cranky voice of environmentalism, is now telling us we should buy an even bigger car to “help” nature–that’s co-branding gone startlingly awry. McDonald’s gives away toys based on movie figures. Characters in TV shows use products with the brands prominently displayed. Athletes wear clothing emblazoned with corporate […]
August 4, 2010
This item was originally published on July 30th, 2010 at Fast Company. I love those Kia hamsters. The first commercial showed a trio of hammies tooling around in their Kia Soul while the rest of the world ran in stationary wheels; it was cute and clever and made a nice statement about the cool factor […]
March 1, 2010
Cool article in today’s Washington Post! Any Japanese naming experts care to comment? “My name is on every car,” Akio Toyoda, the president of Toyota Motor, assured Congress on Wednesday. The company started by Toyoda’s grandfather did indeed have his name — Tokyo Toyoda Motor Sales — until 1936, when a stroke of the brush […]
December 2, 2009
Wahey! Our totally cool, fun, informative, and cheeky Brand Name Owner’s Manual has gone live on the web at long last. It’s got a ton of advice on naming and an extensive breakdown of car name themes We’re so excited, we did a press release and everything. Take a test drive, kick the tires, and […]
October 27, 2009
Courtesy of the Autopia section of Wired comes news of a new contest: After developing and marketing what promises to be the world’s first mass-produced extended-range EV, the folks at GM are too tired to come up with names for all the paint colors, so they’re asking for your help. Apparently not satisfied with “kinda […]
July 3, 2008
This is old product naming news, but I forgot to blog about it until just now. At the end of last year, Chrysler (formerly DaimlerChrysler, formerly Chrysler Corporation) showed off a new concept car, the Dodge Avenger Tuner – Stormtrooper (shown at left, all white and shiny and spiffy). Scott Anderson, designer of the car, […]
July 1, 2008
It’s no wonder that with soaring gas prices, car companies are rolling out their gas alternative car models. The two that I’ve seen get a lot of press coverage recenlty are the Honda FCX Clarity and the Chevy Volt. The Clarity is Honda’s new hydrogen fuel cell car that begins beta tests this week in […]
March 17, 2008
Ford recently announced that it is relaunching the Fiesta as a worldwide brand (see article). I love this naming strategy, but it doesn’t always work. Ford’s justification is two-fold: the name already has some existing equity (albeit, not all positive) and by using one name in multiple markets, they can trim down their marketing expense. […]
February 7, 2008
I came across a great brand today while reading engadget. The company is ZAP and they build electric cars. I think their name is brilliant. Zap conveys the electric aspect of their cars wonderfully. The logo then reemphasizes this message with a comic-inspired font treatment. Even the exclamation point in the logo fits into the […]