December 8, 2015
Historically, it has required a lifetime of virtue, charity, and piety to be declared a saint. However, when Kim and Kanye (AKA Kimye) announced their newborn son’s name on Saturday, they showed the world that at least for this new West, sainthood is a birthright. And even though Kim made it clear that they wouldn’t […]
August 26, 2015
Earlier this month, media leviathan VICE Media, Inc. launched Broadly—the first women’s interest site among its stable of digital channels—featuring daily editorials, digital videos, and immersive long-form documentaries. Broadly leverages VICE’s in-your-face style and tone, intelligent coverage of prickly territory, cheeky humor, and confident attitude. Branching out from a primarily dude-skewed audience, VICE now shares space with confrontationally named grrrl sites, […]
August 10, 2015
This post originally appeared on MarketingProfs on 8/5/15 One of the hardest financial decisions you’ll face when naming or renaming a company or product is whether you should splurge for the exact .com domain name—and, if not, how you should adapt the URL so that it fits with your brand and allows consumers to easily […]
June 2, 2015
Hats off to Caitlyn Jenner. Her courage to share her transition with the public marks an important step towards equality for trans individuals everywhere. Cailtyn’s cover shot on Vanity Fair shows us that trans is beautiful, that we all have the freedom to define our own identity. While Bruce Jenner confirmed the gender transition during […]
January 27, 2011
Some brand names are forgotten as soon as they’re heard. Others are PR powerhouses. A friend called me the other morning because she’d heard the name of a company being talked about on the radio, and it was so memorable, she wanted to share it. The company is a “super duper pooper scooper service” and […]
January 21, 2011
This item was originally published on January 16th, 2010 at Fast Company. In my last blog I joked that Groupon, a hugely popular local coupon site, adopt the grouper fish as its mascot. This was a joke, because as you can see, groupers are not at all cute. They have big mouths and swim slowly […]
November 18, 2010
Around five years ago, about the time my first-born reached school age, my wife and I made the decision to leave New York City, join the middle class herd, and move to Northern New Jersey. Tired of all the wonderful restaurants, great music, breathtaking architecture, and world class art galleries, we yearned for something different; […]
July 23, 2008
We here at Catchword Global Headquarters are big fans of caffeine – we never got that diet Coke dispenser installed, but we do have an espresso machine onsite. Via Craigslist, we bought a high-end Nespresso machine for the low low price of $20! Since we have to buy their proprietary coffee capsules, we get hit […]
March 25, 2008
I saw an ad on TV the other day for LG’s newest phone Rumor. I immediately understood and appreciated the message contained in the name: A texting phone with a Qwerty keyboard – great for spreading rumors! Certainly LG doesn’t intend the Rumor to be used only for gossip-mongering. The phone has a 1.3 megapixel […]
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. […]