Typically our clients use an intentionally obscure project name to avoid internal rallying around the code name. Google seemed to embrace the methodology of marketing the code name, and has built an entire strategy out of the process. Enter Ice Cream Sandwich.

While I’m all for food references and love the imagery evoked by this new OS, the overall code naming strategy strikes me as an unsustainable practice.

Pros

• It’s Google
• The order/lineage is easy to understand … version C came before version D, etc.
• Desserts are fun and have an approachable personality
• It’s Google

Cons

• Code names should be code names. If a company puts more marketing efforts into their code name, do they build any equity into the actual product name?
• What is the strategy if there isn’t a recognizable dessert name that starts with the next letter in line for an upcoming version?
• As a namer, I wanted to ask about the story behind Ice Cream Sandwich; uncovering that it’s simply the next in line from an initial letter standpoint wasn’t enough for me. Cupcake is cute; short and sweet. Honeycomb referenced the structure behind the technology (and while I don’t classify it as a dessert, I get that it’s a sweet). Ice Cream Sandwich (intentionally missing the grammatically correct article preceding it) is designed to serve as ‘one OS everywhere’ but the name isn’t reflective of that messaging.

Personally, I would have preferred ‘Icing’ as the next in line. It’s one word, is typically referred to as the ‘best part of the cake’, and evokes a premium quality. Can’t wait to see what they do with J.

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AriZona Iced Tea is suffering the consequences of sharing a name with the southwestern state as people upset by Arizona’s new irrigation law boycott the state as well as businesses based there. The ironic thing is that AriZona Beverage Company was founded in 1992 in Brooklyn, New York and maintains all operations in this northeastern state. I suppose the founders may now wish they had put a little more strategy behind their name generation instead of merely taking cues from their home decor.

Contributed by Allison Jobes

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Just flipping on your TV will open your eyes to the plethora of Reality TV Series on our stations these days… but just how real are these shows? According to a recent study, the average sized woman in the United States is approximately 160 pounds and wears size 14 clothing. Last time I checked, you don’t see these average women on TV. Nope, these “reality” TV series are cluttered with women who are all about a size 2…on a “fat” day. In an effort to put the ‘reality’ back into reality TV some television stations have taken a new approach to these reality series. Shows are now receiving names such as Dance Your Ass Off, More to Love, and The Biggest Loser. These television series aim to show the lives of real people, not size 0 or size 2 celebrities.
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Just when you thought you had the latest and greatest Smart Phone on the market, along came the new >Palm pre. Available exclusively to Sprint customers (for now), the pre is Palm’s answer to the iphone. The phone rocks a 3.1 inch touch screen, WiFi and 3G connectivity, web browsing, Microsoft Outlook access, GPS, camera, and a QWERTY keyboard that slides beneath the screen—optimal for serious texters looking to avoid the error filled messages spit out by the combination of big fingers and small touch screens. Former iphone owners say the best thing about the pre is the ability to run multiple applications at one time.

But most unique to the pre, perhaps, is the name itself. Palm’s current handset lineup includes the centro, treo and treo pro. The “-o” on the end of each name seems to be an intentional nomenclature strategy. So did Palm ditch the “-o” for good? Probably not. My guess is they went with a standout name for a standout model. The meaning of the word “pre” offers a lot of creative potential in terms of concepts that are relatively transparent. Whereas preo sounds more like a car, and maybe does not differentiate the new phone quite as effectively from its predecessors. So no hard feelings, “O”, I’m sure it’s only temporary.

Contributed by Laine Beyerl