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Siffy to Offer Free Wiffy in NYC: “WyFy from SyFy”

Mark Skoultchi
June 23, 2009
My least favorite re-brand of the year (SciFi --> SyFy) is scheduled to go live with their massive blunder on July 7th. And, it seems that the folks at Siffy (my not-so-adoring nickname for SyFy) are well aware that their...
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By |June 23rd, 2009|Brand Naming|4 Comments
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Are you serious?

Burt Alper
July 21, 2008
Saw a report in this morning's news about a guy who plans to name his kid after a radio talk show host in return for a $100 gas card (see "Sex, Blood, and Baby Names"). So wrong, in so many...
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By |July 21st, 2008|Fun Stuff, In-the-News|Comments Off on Are you serious?
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Boozing it up

Mark Skoultchi
June 12, 2008
I saw a recent ad in the New York Times announcing the name change of the management consulting group of Booz Allen Hamilton to just Booz & Company. At first I thought it was a joke – maybe something management...
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By |June 12th, 2008|Brand Naming, In-the-News, Name Reviews|1 Comment
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Naming under the influence?

Mark Skoultchi
February 4, 2008
From the "What Were They Thinking" file, BBC News brings us word of yet another naming fiasco. Here's what happens when folks decide to try naming on their own instead of working with a trusted naming consultant. The product is...
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By |February 4th, 2008|Brand Naming, Branding, Fun Stuff, In-the-News|Comments Off on Naming under the influence?
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Crappy brand name?

Mark Skoultchi
November 4, 2007
According to my bio I'm a magazine junkie with a predilection for high fashion. It's true - I love magazines, especially my wife's fashion mags (yeah, I'll admit it). Flipping through her recent edition of People Style Watch I noticed...
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By |November 4th, 2007|Brand Naming, Branding, Fun Stuff|1 Comment
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Drastic Naming

Mark Skoultchi
October 30, 2007
The business across the street from my office goes by the name "Drastic Changes". I'm torn. On the one hand, the naming consultant in me sees the name and says, "Ouch." It's a hair salon, not a psychotherapy office. Naming...
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By |October 30th, 2007|Brand Naming, Branding|Comments Off on Drastic Naming
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Spotted Dick anyone?

Mark Skoultchi
September 26, 2007
Need I say more? Ok, maybe just a few quick remarks since I rarely blog. And perhaps now my brand name development colleagues, my naming specialist friends, also in the business of naming products and services and developing taglines for...
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By |September 26th, 2007|Fun Stuff, Language Use, Product Naming|Comments Off on Spotted Dick anyone?
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TIAA-CREF, why bother?

Burt Alper
October 24, 2005
I've never been a big fan of initialisms that replace names, but TIAA-CREF really pushes me to the edge. A part of me can understand why they made the move to the initials. Alphabet soup is one thing, but "Teachers...
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By |October 24th, 2005|Branding, Language Use|Comments Off on TIAA-CREF, why bother?
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iPod Utopia becomes…

Laurel Sutton
October 17, 2005
Podutopia. This is the cover of the latest MacMall catalog, which I just got today, and I'm mystified by the name. "Podutopia" sounds like an island nation or a disease. Why not something coined and a little more natural, like...
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By |October 17th, 2005|Branding, Fun Stuff, Language Use|Comments Off on iPod Utopia becomes…
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Walkman vs. iPod

Mark Skoultchi
September 11, 2005
Sony announced last week that it was introducing a new portable music player to compete with Apple's dominant iPod. The brand name they chose for this dramatic entry into the monstrous digital music category? Something edgy? Something hip? Something exciting?...
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By |September 11th, 2005|Branding, In-the-News, Product Naming|Comments Off on Walkman vs. iPod
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