Beware the Pitfalls of a Company Naming Contest
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Marcia Yudkin
Apr 23, 2013, 11:50:05 AM4/23/13
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Marcia Yudkin
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Article Title: Beware the Pitfalls of a Company Naming Contest
Author: Marcia Yudkin
Word Count: 557
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=881911&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=881911
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=881911
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
Need a new company name or new product name quickly on a small or non-existent budget? Many business owners and non-profits believe the hands-down answer to that dilemma is a naming contest.
In some instances, a naming contest generates so many brilliant entries that it�s hard to choose the best one. Sometimes, however, the contest leads to an embarrassing disaster.
Avoid the pitfalls of naming contests by structuring yours with these pointers in mind.
Naming Contest Pitfall #1: Making competitive information public. To facilitate on-target names, you must provide strategic information about your company or product � how it differs from the competition. Are you certain that you want to put on the public record the advantages and disadvantages of your offering vis-�-vis other companies, products or organizations? If you think this kind of openness might turn around and bite you later, do not run a contest. Hire a naming company instead, confidentially.
Naming Contest Pitfall #2: Insufficient entries. If you already have tons of followers on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In, as well as the capacity to get the media and colleagues interested in spreading the word about your contest, terrific! But if not, be aware that you might not generate the buzz needed to inspire sufficient high-quality entries. A small reward or simple glory does not necessarily get smart people putting on their creative caps for you in all seriousness. And of course, if you had the resources to offer a large reward, you�d be much better off hiring an expert for your naming challenge.
Naming Contest Pitfall #3: Unwise selection procedure. Do not under any circumstances promise to award the name to the suggestion that gets the most number of votes. Why? Because the voting process is highly susceptible to irrelevant influences. When NASA requested name ideas for a new room on future American space stations, Stephen Colbert told his fans to suggest it be called �Colbert.� The comedian actually received 40,000 more votes than the next most popular name. NASA then had a public relations problem on its hands. Remember: Those entering or voting in a contest do not have the best interests of your organization in mind. Judges are the better option for a contest.
Naming Contest Pitfall #4: No vetting process. Also remember that contest or no contest, names generally have to be pronounceable, spellable, distinct from names that are already trademarked or used by close competitors, meaningful to your core customers and unlikely to offend them, and more. Avoid getting carried away by enthusiasm for a clever name that is overly trendy, obscure or legally troublesome by setting out a clear, explicit internal set of steps and criteria for screening name suggestions prior to launching the contest.
Kraft Foods Australia fell into the last of these traps in 2009 when it asked the public to suggest names for a new Vegemite spread. (Vegemite is an extremely popular food paste that Australians spread on toast or biscuits.) The company selected the entry �iSnack 2.0� as the winner from some 50,000 submissions, then had to retract their announcement four days later because it caused a national uproar of fierce derision.
Carefully sidestep the pitfalls above, and you may be in for positive publicity when your contest culminates with an appealing, well-chosen winner.
About The Author: Marcia Yudkin is Head Stork of Named At Last, a company that brainstorms catchy business names, product names and taglines. Learn to come up with a snappy new name or tagline from a free copy of "19 Steps to the Perfect Company Name, Product Name or Tagline": http://www.namedatlast.com/19steps.htm
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=881911
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Marcia Yudkin
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=881911
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=881911
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: Beware the Pitfalls of a Company Naming Contest
Author: Marcia Yudkin
Word Count: 557
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=881911&ca=Marketing
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=881911
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=881911
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
Need a new company name or new product name quickly on a small or non-existent budget? Many business owners and non-profits believe the hands-down answer to that dilemma is a naming contest.
In some instances, a naming contest generates so many brilliant entries that it�s hard to choose the best one. Sometimes, however, the contest leads to an embarrassing disaster.
Avoid the pitfalls of naming contests by structuring yours with these pointers in mind.
Naming Contest Pitfall #1: Making competitive information public. To facilitate on-target names, you must provide strategic information about your company or product � how it differs from the competition. Are you certain that you want to put on the public record the advantages and disadvantages of your offering vis-�-vis other companies, products or organizations? If you think this kind of openness might turn around and bite you later, do not run a contest. Hire a naming company instead, confidentially.
Naming Contest Pitfall #2: Insufficient entries. If you already have tons of followers on Facebook, Twitter and Linked In, as well as the capacity to get the media and colleagues interested in spreading the word about your contest, terrific! But if not, be aware that you might not generate the buzz needed to inspire sufficient high-quality entries. A small reward or simple glory does not necessarily get smart people putting on their creative caps for you in all seriousness. And of course, if you had the resources to offer a large reward, you�d be much better off hiring an expert for your naming challenge.
Naming Contest Pitfall #3: Unwise selection procedure. Do not under any circumstances promise to award the name to the suggestion that gets the most number of votes. Why? Because the voting process is highly susceptible to irrelevant influences. When NASA requested name ideas for a new room on future American space stations, Stephen Colbert told his fans to suggest it be called �Colbert.� The comedian actually received 40,000 more votes than the next most popular name. NASA then had a public relations problem on its hands. Remember: Those entering or voting in a contest do not have the best interests of your organization in mind. Judges are the better option for a contest.
Naming Contest Pitfall #4: No vetting process. Also remember that contest or no contest, names generally have to be pronounceable, spellable, distinct from names that are already trademarked or used by close competitors, meaningful to your core customers and unlikely to offend them, and more. Avoid getting carried away by enthusiasm for a clever name that is overly trendy, obscure or legally troublesome by setting out a clear, explicit internal set of steps and criteria for screening name suggestions prior to launching the contest.
Kraft Foods Australia fell into the last of these traps in 2009 when it asked the public to suggest names for a new Vegemite spread. (Vegemite is an extremely popular food paste that Australians spread on toast or biscuits.) The company selected the entry �iSnack 2.0� as the winner from some 50,000 submissions, then had to retract their announcement four days later because it caused a national uproar of fierce derision.
Carefully sidestep the pitfalls above, and you may be in for positive publicity when your contest culminates with an appealing, well-chosen winner.
About The Author: Marcia Yudkin is Head Stork of Named At Last, a company that brainstorms catchy business names, product names and taglines. Learn to come up with a snappy new name or tagline from a free copy of "19 Steps to the Perfect Company Name, Product Name or Tagline": http://www.namedatlast.com/19steps.htm
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=881911
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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