We were thrilled to see one of our new names launch this week. Sezmi is, “the first complete TV 2.0 offering, that combines traditional TV content, movies and internet video in a single easy-to-use product.”

This was a fun project from the get-go. The product demo wowed us. Believe you me, Sezmi is amazing. It has the power to predict what you are likely to want to watch, and acts on that prediction. That way, when you’re ready to watch a new show, it’s already downloaded onto your 1TB Sezmi drive. No lengthy lag time waiting for the show to download.

Our client assigned us the exciting dual challenge of product naming and company naming, all-in-one. Relevant and unique domain names for companies aren’t so easy to come by these days, so we had our work cut out for us. But we used our special naming guru voodoo to come up with Sezmi. This name conveys the power that Sezmi affords the TV watcher. Sezmi’s tagline says it all: “TV that tunes into Mi!”

Sezmi afforded us another great opportunity to work with design agency Turner Duckworth. They created an amazing logo, and are also responsible for the industrial design application of “mi” on the remote. (You’ll see it when you buy your Sezmi.) Those Turner Duckworth folks are very clever.

For more coverage of Sezmi, click here and here. We’re looking forward to the day when there’s a Sezmi in every home. Tivo, your days are numbered!

ZS Associates approached Catchword to help create a new name for their suite of software products. We started by evaluating the various legacy product names and then began to explore what makes ZS’s software suite unique and valuable. The name Javelin conveys speed and accuracy — both desirable benefits for busy sales people.

It was great working with the folks at ZS. They managed to come together as a team and rally behind a powerful new brand name that will help them market and sell their software products more effectively.

(Maybe it’s because of the upcoming Olympic Games, or maybe because Javelin is a great, resonant name — Either way, I just can’t get the old Track & Field adage “Higher Faster Farther” out of my head!)

On Monday Kickfire publicly launched, effectively lighting a fire under the feet of their MySQL query competitors. Kickfire’s product is a database appliance that revolutionizes the way queries are conducted. The small form-factor and proprietary SQL chip make Kickfire’s queries faster and simpler than current industry-standard systems. What’s more, the Kickfire database appliance is more economical than the competition, opening up the MySQL database market to small and medium businesses previously unable to afford expensive database systems.

We had a lot of fun exploring ways to communicate speed and ease-of-use for this high-tech brand. The interesting challenge in this case was to find a name that was appropriate as both a company name and a product name, while also having an available dot-com.

The Kickfire team did a great job taking the name we created and shaping it into a great brand. We think Arami Design created a cool company logo and implemented it quite beautifully throughout the Kickfire web site. Just check out the web site and flash demo, and you’ll see what I mean!

Saw this fun little piece on naming today. It mostly talks about “Googlegängers” (folks who share the same name finding out about each other through Google). But the reference to people subliminally liking names that are similar to their own is fascinating.

I’ve experienced a slightly different, but likely related tendency in my years as a naming expert. Clients often have an uncanny (if irrational) draw to names that *they* came up with. Their names can be off-message and totally unavailable as trademarks, but if the CEO coined it, the chances of it ending up on the product increase exponentially. Seems odd to pay for a naming consultant if you’re only going to use what you already came up with. But what do I know?

We had a lot of fun developing this new technology name. The client was great to work with and the technology is going to shake things up when it hits the market. We’d love to say more, but Ozmo Devices still hasn’t launched publicly. For now, we’re excited that their new name and the fantastic graphic identity will be helping Ozmo get some well-deserved attention.

We really enjoyed naming Vivaty, the newest 3D virtual world experience that launched today. The product is truly amazing, and we had a lot of fun exploring the creative naming directions inherent in such a rich technology. 

Vivaty is like Second Life, but better, much much better! It doesn’t require downloading clunky software onto your computer and therefore it isn’t as slow as molasses (ahem, Second Life). Instead, Vivaty is a lightweight application that can be seamlessly embedded in various web and social-networking sites like Facebook and Yahoo.

We got to see and play with a demo of the product while we were working on the naming project. And rest assured that I, Catchword’s resident social networking fiend, will be signing up for my beta Vivaty account ASAP!

Read the great NY Times article here, or read the PDF here.

In his column today, tech guru Walt Mossberg expresses high hopes for Dash. He has been using a beta version of Dash, and preliminarily he says it’s great. We’re so happy that Dash is getting well deserved accolades. It was a fun project, a great product, and a clever name (if we do say so ourselves).

Read the WSJ article, or read it as a PDF.

I saw an ad on TV the other day for LG’s newest phone Rumor. I immediately understood and appreciated the message contained in the name: A texting phone with a Qwerty keyboard – great for spreading rumors!

Certainly LG doesn’t intend the Rumor to be used only for gossip-mongering. The phone has a 1.3 megapixel camera and camcorder, is an MP3 player, and has advanced Bluetooth connectivity capabilities. None of its features really set it apart from the dozens of other phones that have the same feature set. It’s not even a particularly stylish phone.

LG overcame these obstacles by choosing an edgy name that’s memorable and has some relevance to the product. Rumors usually aren’t good things. They’re often created and spread with the intention to scandalize and hurt others. But, edgy names can be given a positive spin. (Take Flickr or Yelp for example.) With Rumor, LG is using rumor’s negative meaning to distinguish the phone amongst its competitors, a tactic that will help it stick in people’s minds (it worked on me!). Even Rumor’s website cleverly uses the rumor theme with flash animation characters asking you the viewer questions like “Have you heard about Rumor’s Qwerty keyboard?”

I like this name a lot. It’s great that LG took a risk and adopted an edgy name and extended its potential with smart, relevant advertising. Bravo!

In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, Catchword’s naming leprechauns have been busy compiling statistics on Green names — and implications for marketers.

It seems everyone’s jumping on the green brandwagon.  Trademark filings incorporating “green” jumped 143% between 2006 and 2007, versus under 5% for “red” and “blue.”  Clorox’s recent introduction of Green Works, a line of biodegradable household cleaners, exemplifies the trend.

“Eco” and “earth” names also showed huge gains (almost doubling), while more general terms like “nature,” “natural,” and “pure” grew less than 20%.

What does all this mean for marketers, going forward?  Are “green” names still golden?  Or are there greener pastures?  Here’s our take on green naming:

Read the rest of this entry »

Our newest name has just been introduced. Meet Flybridge Capital Partners.

In conjunction with their announcement of a new $280 million fund, IDG Venture Boston has introduced an entirely new identity. Catchword worked with the partners of the firm to develop this new brand name. In the press release, the company had this to say, “As you may know, a flybridge is the open deck above the main bridge on a boat where you go to get a different and better perspective on the water in front of you.  It is a vantage point to better see the water, fish, rocks, land and more.  The name symbolizes who we are and what we do best - collaborate, partner, and provide guidance and perspective.”

We just love the solid reinforcement of their positioning through the brand name. As a naming firm, this is exactly the kind of fresh creative solution we aim to provide: Distinctive, but relevant.

Who’s next?