NAME BASE

www.namebase.com

It's a well known fact that some words, which sound innocuous in one language, sound funny in another. In the olden days, families used to sit around their television sets and weep with laughter as Esther Rantzen informed them that somewhere in the world, someone was eating Plopp. If Esther Rantzen did that joke now, I bet Mark Oaten's wife wouldn't find it very funny.

Lists like this are common all over the internet, and our fascination with amusing product names continues. Having said that, whilst the invention of the internet has helped feed our obsession, it has also no doubt contributed to killing off those brand names at the source.

In a global economy, a connected world, no-one wanting to launch a new product would risk becoming a laughing stock because of an ill considered name - though some, due to sheer corporate force combined with actually being a pretty decent product, manage to slip through.

That's where Namebase come in. They find names for new products. Sometimes they make up new words, or attack old ones. And, not only do they ensure your new name is free of negative connotations, they also seek positive associations and ease of pronunciation in major languages of business to make your name globally effective.

Namebase believes that your name is the base upon which you build your brand. That's why they're called Namebase. Because your name is the base upon which you build your brand. Namebase.

Their list of clients is quite impressive. Proctor & Gamble, Bic, Coca-Cola, IBM, Shell, Suzuki, Tropicana.

I can't help but feel they tried a bit harder for Coca-Cola than they did for Tropicana:

The Challenge:
Snapple was enjoying great success in the single-serve beverage category. Coca-Cola, with deeper distribution channels, saw an opportunity to take on Snapple and capture some market share. They had the formulation; all they needed was a name snappier than "Snapple"
Success:
FRUITOPIA was born. The coined word was wildly appealing to a young demographic, and Fruitopia went on to become a great international success for Coke.

OK, "Fruitopia". I've heard of that. It's memorable. Slightly annoying, but memorable.

The Challenge:
Tropicana Smoothie sales were sagging under the weight of an apparent disconnect between the Tropicana brand and dairy products. They needed a new name that would communicate the new non-dairy recipe.
The success:
In many cases, consumer packaged goods get only one chance to speak to the customer: from the shelf. Consumers must know immediately what the product is and why they should pick it up. Namebase took the "moo" out of smoothie! We helped Tropicana explore evocative and fanciful names. We thought the best solution was just to say what it is: Tropicana FRUIT SMOOTHIES. Through the use of a Namebase-inspired package design and a descriptive name, Tropicana is back in the smoothie business, stronger than ever?

"Fruit Smoothie"? That's rubbish. Surely the idiots at Tropicana could have come up with that themselves.

Namebase have developed some new pizza names for Domino's Pizza, although they haven't listed them on their website yet. That's got to be the best job in the world. "Hmmm, I think I need to try that one again. Still can't quite find the right name. Can you get another couple of slices? And maybe some potato wedges. And some Häagen-Dazs."

Though, no matter how carefully you check to make sure there are no negative connotations associated with the name you choose, there's no guarantee that will always be true:



Although it's quite unlikely there'd ever be a disease called FRUITOPIA.