Those of us who name things for a living sometimes find ourselves talking too much when we’re trying to convince clients that a name is great. It’s the kiss of death! Don’t do it! A great name stands on its own.
Talking Too Much
Don’t tell the client (or yourself) that a name means something or other in French or Latin! Don’t be like Comirnaty, the Pfizer COVID vaccine, and tell me it’s the word “community” with some RNA spliced into the middle of it.
???
Check out this #tellthetruths video for a little bit more about how I REALLY feel!
This video originally appeared on LinkedIn
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TRANSCRIPT:
– Hey guys, it’s Rebeca. And this video is about talking too much. Specifically, when we are selling brand names to clients, those of us that name things for a living.
If you find yourself talking too much, explaining what the name means, you’re dead in the water. A name should stand on its own because people are going to see it without that explanation. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because of the announcement of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine name, Comirnaty, I have to look it up every time to make sure I say it right, because Comirnaty, it’s kind of awful. But in all their press releases, they explain, “it’s community, and the RNA is in there.”
No, stop talking, it shouldn’t be that hard. This applies also, a very popular thing in naming is to find a word in another language like Bombas socks. Bombas means “bee” in Latin. We’re going to do a whole video on them, but… it means “bee” in Latin? Like that’s not really good enough. So if it’s a foreign word, but that you can sort of see, you can tell through the filter of the language you speak, what it means, that’s different.
But if it’s completely like “Bombas means ‘bee,'” there’s no transparent communication. You’re talking too much if you have to explain a name. I think I’m talking too much, too. That’s it. That’s what I had to say. Thanks. Bye!
