Naming on The Findings Report

More Than a March

Sun, 21 Jan 2018 20:11:00 -0800

Yesterday, millions of women gathered in cities across America to march together for social change. The second annual Women’s March occurred after a year that shocked us and reminded us of the gender-based imbalance of power in our culture. If there is a silver lining, it may be that 2017 will go down in history as a cornerstone year for women—a year when the issues could no longer be ignored.

When Labels Matter

Sun, 12 Mar 2017 15:58:00 -0700

Each and every day, we use labels in our communications. Half the time, we’re completely unaware of how frequently we’re using labels as a shorthand, or how much meaning may be packed and inferred by a simple word or two.

I was struck by this reality while reading an excellent op-ed piece by Gloria Steinem in The New York Times a week ago. She challenged our use of the phrase chick flick. Most people use “chick flick” to refer to a genre of movies that supposedly appeal to women more than men—usually romantic comedies and love stories. Though I much prefer Steinem’s definition:

Nomen-culture

Sun, 30 Oct 2016 21:03:00 +0000

In 1998, the world was enamored with two rising stars named Jennifer: one had the surname of Lopez and the other Aniston. Given the celebrity imprimatur, it’s somewhat odd that 1998 would also officially mark the end of the name Jennifer on the top 20 list of baby names in the US.

To be fair, Jennifer had a great 33-year run in American nurseries. The name was a true blockbuster. From 1970-1984, Jennifer was the number one most popular name for girls in each consecutive year … by a wide margin. For example, in 1974, 63,116 baby girls (about 4% of all girls born that year) shared the name. The next most popular: Amy, with about half as many babies to its credit. Fast forward 40 years to 2015 and only 1,275 girls started life as a Jennifer, a decline so staggering one might wonder if the name should be placed on the endangered identities list.

The Naming Exchange

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:29:00 +0000

I have a confession to make. I am terrible with names. Though I never find it difficult to create brand names for clients, I struggle to remember the name of the person I just met. Most of the time, I feel anxious that I will get someone’s name wrong, so I end up referring to them in the most generic way possible. “That’s a really interesting point … you … guy with the pink shirt.”

You Say Blackwater, They Say Academi

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:20:00 +0000

The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the company formerly known as Blackwater, now known as Xe, is changing its name again to Academi.

Forget the politics and the controversy surrounding Blackwater for a minute. The name change game is one of my pet peeves in branding — so much so that the first chapter in Brand Real, my upcoming book, I call attention to the folly of repeatedly changing your identity in the hopes of regaining credibility with key stakeholders. In fairness, Academi is managed by a new executive team and it’s owned by a different set of investors. CEO Ted Wright says the name change is meant to signal that the company is “boring” and that the new company won’t end up in the headlines.

Why is Black Friday Black?

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:21:29 +0000

You can’t surf the web, listen to the radio or watch TV today without hearing some reference to Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving here in the States and one of the busiest shopping days in the holiday season. Shoppers love Black Friday because there is an opportunity to find massive discounts. That’s why people are willing to line up in front of stores the night before.

But how is it that Black was chosen as the name for this annual discount ritual? Conventional wisdom says its because the one-day sales hit from this day can put a retailer “into the black.” But that seems an odd reason to attract shoppers. You’d half expect them to react to Red Friday, a day when you’d expect prices to be slashed. Then again, red has perhaps some negative connotations of its own. Perhaps Red Friday is better suited to a massive discount on Stephen King novels. But the color Black doesn’t always conjure a positive association . For example, Black Flag is a line of insecticides. It’s a brand name that earns your purchase because it is guaranteed to kill.