You have probably come across companies and products with strange names over the years, and various stories that explain how this particular name was chosen. In many cases it is not just an improvisation – there are people whose job it is, to invent names or names.
This is exactly what Anthony Schur does for a living. Anthony was on the team that chose the name Accenture when the consulting giant wanted to rebrand itself, invented the name Snapdragon for Qualcomm processors and worked for a company that gave the name Pentium to Intel’s famous processor series.
Anthony testifies that he has always been a freak of names, he studied linguistics at university, and a job ad led him to the position. In an interview with the podcast “30 Minutes or Less” he explains why he does not like the name Microsoft, and how sometimes names with negative meanings are successful: Slack, for example, indicates idleness but the company chose this name generally offers tools for chatting and tasks between employees. “When you go to Gap and there is a shortage of goods you do not connect it there, which is talking about a gap or something that is missing,” he explains.
So how do you choose a name? What is the process that Anthony does when he has to choose a name for a start-up or a product of a large company, why does he recommend being careful when browsing websites when looking for a free domain and what happens when the chosen name has great meaning in one language but a negative or embarrassing connotation in another language? All the answers in the new episode of “30 Minutes or Less”.
Interviewers:
Navot Volk, a high-tech man (navotvolk @
On Twitter).
Aviv Frenkel, media man and start-upist.