Writing, marketing and technology
Dear Uncle Matthew, I notice you trade under Articulate Marketing – and what a great name that is, by the way – rather than Matthew Stibbe. Just wondering what you think the pros and cons are. I imagine that the Stibbe brand was well known when you left journalism, so you must have been sacrificing [...]
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Naming things is hard so Russell Davies has come up with this helpful guide to picking a title for your next book. It’s bound to be a bestseller. (Hat tip: IO9 the site with the best tagline – ‘we come from the future’.)
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My other blog, GolfHotelWhiskey.com, is a free online magazine and airport guide for pilots. I worked long and hard to come up with the name. It replaced earlier sites of mine, including HappyLandings.net (which sort of worked but I didn’t have the .com domain name) and ModernPilot.com (which was supposed to be a magazine but [...]
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I just got back from a wonderful week in San Francisco. I have a lot of new things to think about (which is why I love going there). But the first thing that comes to mind is the challenge and fun of picking a good product name. I visited the Samovar Tea Lounge in Zen [...]
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Great article on Technologizer about the history of version numbers in product names. Ever wondered why Windows 7 is so called? What is the best version number ever? Read and find out. (More posts soon – I just have to finish my book!)
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NASA ran into problems with a public competition to name a new module on the International Space Station. It offered website visitors a shortlist of names to choose between but allowed them to write in their own choices. According to Space.com, comedian Stephen Colbert encouraged viewers to write in his own name. When voting ended [...]
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In many big companies, intellectual property protection – trademarks and registered marks – drive product naming. I’ve worked on several projects in November that suffered from overwrought names. Some examples (not necessarily from my work): Intel® Centrino® Pro™ processor technology The 2007 Microsoft Office system Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Professional software The problem is that there [...]
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I talked to a few publishers this year about doing a book of Badlangauge.net. I even wrote a few pitches. The problem is that the book I wanted to write was different from the book editors wanted to publish. I couldn’t put my finger on the problem except that they kept on referencing titles like [...]
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How about “Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate UPGRADE Limited Numbered Signature Edition”? This is the best yet. I wish they would get me to write some copy about that. I’d only have to mention it a few times to reach my word count and get paid! Brought to you by Strategic Name Development. Thanks.
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I saw an interesting article posted about the “G’zOne,” a new phone possibly from Casio on the great Strategic Name Development Blog. The author, William Lozito, says that the name “left most consumers scratching their heads.” Not really surprising. Some good examples of technology names: Mac, iPod, Windows, Razr. It may be difficult to come [...]
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Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He edits Golf Hotel Whiskey and writes the Forbes Aviator column.
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