Narec -what does it mean?

Posted on 04/12/2012 by Rosie

Marching forward renewable energy for the UK with international investment

Does the acronym Narec mean anything to you? Would you have had any idea where the Duke of York was opening these new multi-million  business venture centres today if it had been reported firstly and solely as Narec?

Unless you are a scientist and you have your eco-ear to the ground possibly not. In fact it stands for National Renewable Energy Centre. 

To us Namiacs we are not unduly surprised when scientists on a project team request a descriptor name. Sometimes a descriptor works very well, other times the descriptor would sit better as the tagline.

Narec is far easier for me to pronounce than the county where they are in Northumberland, England. (Oh this word caused me eons of anguish as a child as I stuttered over it!)

It is also co-incidental that the birth of these renewable energy centres comes hot-footing on the heals of the announcement of the forthcoming Royal birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.  The news ghouls are all out second guessing what the infant will be called if it is a girl or a boy. I’m hoping they go for a name that is original and personal to them and not merely passed down from generations of Royalty old, tired and boring names.

 

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The ‘Naming’ town crier calling: “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!”

Posted on 27/11/2012 by Rosie
Last New Names Naming Call for 2012

Last New Names Naming Call for 2012

Town criers are as ever popular in the UK with a new one recently appointed in Windsor. A town crier’s job is to make announcements in the streets on the instructions of the local town hall.  They call the masses to notice, by ringing their brass bell and shouting out loudly calling for silence by shouting, “Oyez, Oyez, Oyez!” This means “hear ye,” and has evolved from the Anglo-Norman word for listen.

During these challenging times facing Europe and the export markets in  the world for our products, we need to be more innovative in finding ways to attract new customers, retain old customers and live our brand promise, with Brighter Naming.

So how do we do this? We go back to the drawing board and look at first the Company name. Is it is looking tired and dated? Can it be pronounced on the international stage where their language is not English?

In Spain they have difficulty with names that start with  H – Harrods = ‘Arrods; Halfords = ‘Alfords and more confusing for them are the car names of Hyunda and  Honda.  Hyunda is has a double edge sword as they drop the H and then the y sounds different with the Spanish dialects and Castillian to Catalan for example.

The Asian countries have similar difficulties as well as languages that do not have  a Q in them cannot say Qualcast and therefore stutter over the next two letters of ua. In Polish q, v (perfume Valentino) and x ( Xact  -medical product for people prone to pressure ulcers) are used in foreign words and excluded form their daily alphabet.

The Company name may not need changing. So re-visit your product names  and consider are they meaningful to people outside the factory floor and in other countries. Are the numbers and the names too close to your competitors.

Maybe now it is time to call Brighter Namingfor a naming critique or full naming audit.

http://www.brighternaming.com/process/name-audit-pro-opinion/

Name Audit & Professional Opinion

It need not break the bank!

 

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Simply the Best as the song goes, is often the way to go.

Posted on 03/09/2012 by Rosie

When Hypermarket corporation Auchan Group changed their food store names in Spain and Catalonia, to tailor in with their Boardroom image, how do you educate the local communities to stop using the old name  of Sabeco and embrace the new name? Do you need to? Does it tarnish the brand?

Simply Sabeco Madrid

Simply Sabeco Madrid

This name Sabeco is part of the culture of one of the first big supermarkets in what was once a Medieval town. The name is tatooed on their hearts and minds like a brand on an animal’s rump.

Sabeco stood in the locals’ minds for choices, for spacious aisles and pleasant shopping conditions, ample car parking with their own gas (petrol) station, good value, always guaranteed to meet friendly and helpful staff  and as the Spanish culture depicts – a place to bump into your friends as you push around huge shopping trolleys or bigger baskets on wheels with long handles.

HiperSimply is going places. It is moving forward! They must be doing something right. Expansion to their brand with new stores opening (one now in Salou -Costa Daurado ) – not closing, as is the norm’ during this crisis. They are being innovative and are offering more techno-friendly services in-house and out-house and rolling out online shopping in Zaragoza! This brand is going far. They are also embracing the environment and purchasing a gas truck (like Lidl have done) and

Cheaper fuel costs – lower mark-ups on products

this project has been lifted off the ground with two other well known brands  - Mercedes Benz and Logistics Operations Trio.

I think these two names ‘Hiper+Simply’ co-work well together as an example of a good clean descriptor. The tone is bright.The image is just Simply right!

Their growth is amazing with store names like: SimplyMarket; SimplyCity; HiperSimply; SimplyBasic; SimplyStore. 171 Supermarkets, 17 gas stations , 86 local partners and also present in 9 autonomous regions.

Do you know what really improves their brand above all else in the local communities? It is Customer Service every time! Should you need to address or ask about Simply anything email them. I did and was amazed! They do act on it and act on it promptly.

Auchan Gorup-HiperSimply - old Sabeco

Simply the best!

Simply the Best!

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You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs – or is it Omlet?

Posted on 19/08/2012 by Rosie

I have for sometime been toying with the idea of having my own hens. The issue is not what to do with the numerous amounts of eggs (hopefully) or the by-products, rather what accommodation I would need to build or buy for them.

So it is with Google’s help and to my glee I’ve found umpteen different varieties. Yet, what has enchanted me the most, is not so much their style, but the product names.

An Omlet or omelettes?

One egg or two

My favourite is Omlet! How appropriate is that?

They have taken a simple meal from eggs that is eaten all over Europe, changed the spelling and Voile and Omlet is cooked or should I say made?

 

 

 

There are others that have more traditional and rather scenic sounding names. One reminds me of a holiday cottage on the south  coast and is called Devon. While her sister products also take regional names to Southern English counties of Kent and Sussex. Although, from the latter  two names I  first drew correlation to English Cricket, but I guess they need a diet of poultry products too.

Furthermore, there are very sombre sounding names too, like Monmouth and Sonning, followed with a second name of either Minor, Midi or Major, depicting size or even style. Now Monmouth is  a town in Wales and Sonning is a place in Berkshire. So once again the use of regional names.

However, in days gone by the word sonning was disrespectul in conversational use, though it is not common place today, but is still banned from use on the BBC.

So one has to be careful when engaging product or company names that there is not a hidden meaning that could damage the brand. By using professional international namers  and receiving a linguistic report (before engaging  expensive trademark lawyers) can only be beneficial. It lets your company name and product brands show your offerings in the best light possible.

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You buy one – you get one free

Posted on 03/08/2012 by Rosie

 

The most annoying advertisement on British television is the sound effects of the double glazing advertisements spouting their tagline “Buy one – get one free”. It really grates your nerves and the telly volume seems to automatically double into a screeching pitch.

However, Renault has taken this concept to a magnificent high in trying to promote car sales across a cash strapped Spain. Buy one of their stylish cars like a Laguna or an Espace and you get one of their smart cars for free. Yes, it is Viva la Espana, or to be more precise you receive one of their Twizy.

Twizy an electric two-seater city car can be driven off the British forecourt for  ₤6,690 or €8517.75. So that is, to me, is one helluva of ‘freebie’. http://www.inautonews.com/spain-free-renault-twizy-offered-with-every-laguna-or-espace.

The name is fun, catchy and the colours are young, hippy and full of life. The smaller model Twizy Urban 45 can be driven by 16 year olds without a full licence but the Twizy Urban 80 requires a complete licence. It is classified as a quadricycle

Renault smart car Twizy

Twizy urban car got me into a motorway twizzle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Twizy and not designed for motorway driving! I say this as I saw one join the AP7/E15 motorway en route to Terminal one at Barcelona El Prat airport. It nearly got side-swiped by an articulated long vehicle.

Boy oh boy, that Twizy sure grabbed my attention that day as the truck veered in front of me trying to avoiding crunching this Twizy. I can say my hair and nerves were all a twizzle after that experience. A name I will always remember –Twizy!

 

© 2012 – All rights reserved – BrighterNaming.com

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Does the public grasp your name in the acronym?

Posted on 02/08/2012 by Rosie

Panasonic is not a name we often hear about in Europe these days as it is lost in all the noise about Apple and Samsung, and then it is re-born and is simply written displayed in the London 2012 Olympic Aquatic Park as one stand-alone word  in bold black - Panasonic.

waterproof android smartphone Eluga by Panansonic

Message in a glass -Eluga

Now Panasonic is being rolled out across Europe as the latest in waterproof android smartphones with a name coined as Eluga.

Depending on where you live how you would pronounce this name:-

El-u-ga or e-lug-a even elu-ga and e-loo-ga

What did strike me straight away was the ‘lug’ in the middle of the world and brought a grin to my face as it is the colloquial name for ‘ear’. I thought it was quite appropriate as the Eluga PR team want to see their phone against everyone’s ‘lugs’, though I think it was unintentional that the slang word slipped into the name.

The name is denoted from <elegant user-orientated gateaway> = Eluga.

sub-aqua phone or is it?

Panasonic re-born in the EU wth Eluga

Panasonic displays very graphically how the Eluga Smartphone still works after being dunked in a glass of beer. What worries me is that the meaning of the name and what it portrays is lost deep in the written reviews. I don’t think there is sufficient push to get across to the public what the acronym stands for – it seems to me that a descriptor in the tagline would not be out of place here.

< P.S.from Editor:  Didn’t I used to have to lug a big suitcase too? Imagine a phone so heavy you have to lug it around!>

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“Britain’s brand will get a boost this year.”

Posted on 09/07/2012 by Rosie

I keep hearing this comment. I keep expecting to see it followed with a tagline –a slogan. But they talk about the Olympics and Paralympics of 2012 but most of this is staged in London. What about the rest of Britain? Yes, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee was wider spread and tourism figures looked favourable.

What is being done on the world arena or the EU stadiums for the British company brands and products profile being raised? The financial British Banking brands are somewhat tarnished at the moment.

Maybe an-ex British colony a.k.a South Africa is on the right track. They have just re-launched Brand South Africa with much ceremony and marketing, but only after careful thought has gone into the process. They have a new tagline – “Inspiring new ways”.

South Africa's new Brand launchedWatch their commercial: http://www.brandsouthafrica.com/tvc/

I welcome positive comments on what Britain’s tagline should be.

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Can the Barclays brand survive this L.I.B.O.R debacle?

Posted on 05/07/2012 by Rosie

Before English spelling was standardized, surnames (family names) often changed several times over with variations – none more so than de Berchelai, Berkeleys, Barkley, Barclay and Barclays. In the 17th Century the name of Barclays evolved from the families in Mathers and Urie who became the cadets of the British financial institute.

The strength of the Barclays brand

Barclays Bank logo

The Barclays brand has been the backbone of what the British banking world stood for – strength, unity, integrity, solidness and honest values. Now this image has been smashed in the faces of the British citizens and ricocheted around the world stock markets with share prices falling.

What would those Barclays’ Quakers have said today to their Board of Directors?

Bob Diamond is to walk away from Barclays and not empty handed, by all accounts. Let’s hope the meaning of the surname Barclays -“birch cleaning” carries forth the current inner-cleaning of the British banking system. But more important that his “diamond” of a proposed millions in pay-out doesn’t do more harm to this strong brand the world could once trust.

Perhaps, in the words of Jeffrey Archer’s book, “Not a penny more, not a penny less,” could save the brand creditability.

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How much can you squeeze into two cups?

Posted on 28/04/2012 by Rosie

Summer days are here and the need to tone up and go down a size or two, is on many peoples’ mind, so we turn to find apparel we can squeeze our frames into, to exercise.

The quandary is: which product name do I trust? Some I have never even heard of! Why is that I wonder?

http://www.lessbounce.com/brands.aspx regales the most variety. This name is clear, sharp and descriptive. I’m told the product delivers exactly what the domain name depicts – less bounce. I must admit I was informed by a friend to buy ‘minimal bounce’ products. It is interesting how shoppers mix up the effect the product has for them  and engrave that on their memory instead of the product or company name.

‘Bodyglide’, ah, another straight, short,simple and descriptive name. One that implies sleekness, gliding through the water or sprinting through wind, perhaps?

Now this one did not have the same appeal to me being a cynic and ever (!) so slightly over-weight. - “GlamorizeSport”. Glamorize fat and bulges – doesn’t work for me. However, that is not to say the product is not brilliant, I am only referring to the name.

“ElomiEnergize” – for the fuller figure.

Now here we have a name that will be pronounced differently in Europe to USA. Do you say El-oh -mé  or El-o-mi even e-loh-me? It so important when naming a product or company to say it out aloud as many times as possible and ask random people to read it and read it out again aloud. You will see how it changes. How people hear the word , how it sounds different telephonically, is how they will write it down, correctly or incorrectly. If it is the latter, will they find the product/company when they search for it online.

A very difficult product name that I am struggling to  swish my tongue around, bearing in mind I speak several different languages, is ThuasneSport. Thu-as-ney or is it Thu-as.né maybe even Thu-as-na or Thu-a-ss-na? There is another factor in play as I’ve been so distracted by this name on how to pronounce it I cannot recall one image of their products. Now that is bad!

Freya Active Tankini. While I was pondering this name my son lent over my shoulder “Oh yes! The Nordic goddess – daughter of Thor – the god of thunder and lightning.” Guess I need say no more about that brand name.

The Nordic goddess

Yet the bottom line remains amongst my quandary: How much can I squeeze into two cups?

 

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Raspberry Pi retails@22 GB pounds sterling

Posted on 14/04/2012 by Rosie

 

Raspberry Pi founded by Eben Upton as a charity in Caldecote, South Cambridgeshire England has seen the first examples demonstrated to school children in Leeds, Yorkshire. Eben Upton has shown these children how easy it is to use these new computers and hopefully inspire them to be the next generation of programmers.

He went onto demonstrate how they apply the Python scripts t0 create their very own applications. Children need to be brave, try things out, make their own mistakes and learn, creating great things out of their endeavours.

“Wow! Can I go back to school. please Sir?”

Eben has created not only a little gem of software , but has devised an innovative name, be it a fruit to follow on from the successful use of Apple as a brand.

Pi is a mathematical term and the sixteenth letter in the Greek Alphabet. P can also indicate the use of Python software. Pi could mean personal and individual to the student. Idioms denote fingers in a pie – mixed ingredients, mixed results. The movies have for ages enhanced the characters of the private investigators by merely calling them P.I’s.

Every school needs a bunch of these raspberries. No child needs to be like a turtle chasing a  raspberry any more. This is an inspiring gadget for all to learn on and experience programming at a very young age and not wait until they go to college.

 

 

 

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