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Brand Names

In the Loop

Thu, 07/15/2010 - 08:45 — Josh Bourne — Permalink

We’ve written before about start-up companies that use alternative spellings of common words as their brand names.  I came across another example recently: Loopt, a social-mapping service that offers a variety of mobile apps.  Loopt uses loopt.com as its domain name.  It also owns the more intuitive and conventional spelling of the domain, looped.com, which it points to the Loopt homepage. 
 
It’s always nice to see companies that get it.  Kudos to Bidz (bids.com), Loopt (looped.com) and Flickr (flicker.com).

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Going with the Flow

Tue, 07/06/2010 - 14:24 — Casey Homan — Permalink

Choosing the best name for a brand or marketing program can be a tough task.  People often focus on the creative aspect, but the more practical aspects of the decision – like securing and protecting the name – can be very complex.

As I was thinking about this, I remembered the flowchart graphic pictured here that a friend sent to me after seeing it on the tech blog Gizmodo.  I know a few people who you might call “addicted” to their smartphones (usually BlackBerries more often than iPhones), so I found it pretty amusing to follow the chart through different scenarios.

When you look at the graphic (click on it to see the full-size version), it’s easy to see how it works: you start at the beginning, ask yourself the questions posited on the chart, and depending on your answer, follow the arrows to more questions and ultimately, to a conclusion.  Even though this particular chart is designed to be fun and sort of tongue-in-cheek, these are pretty accurate representations of most decision-making processes.  Namely, they point out the fact that when we try to make a decision, we face certain questions, which often lead us to other questions before they lead us to answers.

This is definitely true when it comes to selecting the best name for a brand or a marketing program.  To begin with, you have to figure out whether or not it is possible to protect the name, namely whether you will be able to get a trademark for it.  The next question is if the name is available as a domain name, specifically in .COM but also perhaps in .ORG if the entity is a charity or non-profit organization.  If the .COM domain is not available, it is crucial to determine how it is being used: if it is being used legitimately, if it belongs to a domain name speculator or if it belongs to another strategic user but is not being put to use.  This determines whether it will be possible to obtain the domain from its current owner and what it might cost you.  Sometimes, even when a speculator or strategic user owns it, he or she could want an unreasonable or unexpectedly high amount of money for the domain.

Another domain name issue to consider is whether the name is available in the appropriate ccTLDs for target markets in different countries.  Then you need to decide which typo or misspelling variations Internet users are likely to type in, and which of those to register.  Similarly, you need to determine which keywords users are likely to combine with the brand name and which of those combination domain names you should register.  And then comes social media: you have to figure out the best corresponding usernames across platforms like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and others, and then see if they are available, or can be acquired if they have already been secured.

The process can seem confusing, in the same way that a flowchart can look like a tangled, messy web.  But when you know which questions to ask, and take the time to answer them fully and honestly, you can carve out a clear path that will lead you to the best name for your brand or marketing program.
 

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On Tumbl(e)rs and Web 2.0 Misspellings

Thu, 07/01/2010 - 09:47 — Anna Gayle — Permalink

You may have read about flicker.com’s recent transfer to Yahoo!. At first glance a generic verb, the domain name is also a highly-trafficked and very intuitive misspelling of Flickr, the popular photo-sharing site that Yahoo! owns.  Like Flickr, many Web 2.0 brands are utilizing misspellings of common words to make their brands more distinctive (Del.icio.us and Digg come to mind). Some also turn to unconventional spellings because the domain name version of the “correct” spelling isn’t available.  According to Tech Crunch, when the founders of Flickr first came up with the idea for the site, they liked the name “Flicker.”  Unfortunately, flicker.com was already registered, so they adjusted the brand’s spelling to “Flickr” and set up a website on flickr.com.

Despite the prevalence of alternative spellings in Web 2.0 brand and domain names, many consumers are not catching on to these “typos” and are typing the customary spellings into their browser bars when searching for the brands in question. The owner of flicker.com attempted to capitalize on this trend by hosting ads for photo-related products and releasing harmful tweets from a similarly “misspelled” Twitter handle, both of which were problematic for the Flickr brand.  As Flickr’s popularity rose, flicker.com saw a significant increase in traffic, making the name a valuable online asset. 

Right now, tumbler.com is undergoing a similar phenomenon, with traffic increasing an estimated 270% in the last 12 months as Tumblr.com, the social blogging site, also saw an increase in visitors of a similar amount in the past year.  In the case of tumbler.com, however, this “typo” actually points to a branded third-party site.  Tervis Tumbler Company, which produces popular, customizable drinking glasses, known as tumblers, and accessories, is currently using tumbler.com and is redirecting the domain to their site, tervis.com.

Unlike flicker.com, tumbler.com is not attempting to piggyback on the popularity of the similarly named social media site.  Tervis Tumbler aptly purchased this generic product domain many years before Tumblr’s genesis in the hopes that it would boost Tervis’s traffic and that consumers looking online for tumblers in general would come across the Tervis brand.  But I’d be willing to bet that Tervis isn’t too upset that they are getting additional visitors, even if they are finding the site by accident.  What would be interesting to see is if this increased traffic actually results in additional sales for Tervis.

So should Tumblr be worried about this domain?  I don’t think so.  Tervis isn’t infringing upon the Tumblr brand here, and visitors finding a store full of Tervis Tumblers are not going to mistake this for another blogging site and abandon their search for Tumblr.  Also, despite Tervis’ ownership of tumbler.com, Tumblr still ranks first on a Google search for the word “tumbler,” meaning that Internet users who use search engines rather than direct navigation will immediately be presented with Tumblr’s site.  Long story short, I think Tumblr can rest assured that consumers won’t be diverted for long by the 60-year old tumbler company, but Tervis is enjoying the serendipitous stream of potential new customers being introduced to their company.
 

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