These blogs were started as they held two of the main themes on this blog which were intertwined with a lot of posts of a fairly random nature. I’ll continue to post to this blog, but both of the aforementioned blogs will likely bet getting more and more attention as time goes on.
You either love or hate the Geico Cavemen. I’m a fan. I find the Cavemen doubly great because I can’t stand that pompous little lizard. If you feel the same, check out the after party—you can throw darts at it.
Remember back in the 90’s, when the name of an Internet-based company needed to either (a) mean nothing or (b) weld two actual words together (or a word and a fragment of a word) which might (but not necessarily) ultimately hint at what the company is or does? Here’s a few to refresh your memory:
Meaning Nothing at All:
Kozmo.com - note to self, rent E-Dreams
Flooz.com
Boo.com
Product of Word Welding:
govWorks - note to self, rent Startup.com
WebVan
DigiScents (yes, that one was the one based on delivering scent over the Internet)
Great stuff! And great memories. Some of these methods are still in use today—hell, I work at a company named Terralever, and Boo.com is back from the dead as a completely different company in the “Web 2.0″ world (it was hip apparel prior to the bubble bursting, now its a user generated travel information site).
So, here we are in the middle of Web 2.0. What kinds of trends are we seeing? Let’s take a look at some Web 2.0 company names:
Alright. So what do we have here? I see some of the old tricks, but we have some new ones also. Including:
Hip Illiteracy
Misspelling is IN. Make no mistake about it, dropping a vowel, or acting like your keyboard double-struck a letter when you thought of your name is a good thing. Some of the most successful Web 2.0 plays leverage this trend.
Can’t get the Domain—Get there by Sub-Domain
We were all taught during the first wave that one thing that had to happen to be a successful online venture was the domain had to be available. Period. Well, since the 90’s we’ve lost a lot of potential domain names. Anything remotely making sense is owned by someone that thought they’d cash in for millions. How can you get around that? Find a top-level domain that can be the end of the word, get a domain that fills in a few more letters, and add a sub-domain to finish it off. Del.icio.us and Script.aculou.us anyone?
Stlll Thinking “How can I get my Web 2.0 company name?”
It’s easy! Even naming and branding is free with the power of Web 2.0. If you’re looking to create your own Web 2.0 company, and are at a loss of creativity, do try the Web 2.0 Company Name generator. When you’re done, get your logo created correctly in Web 2.0 style at the Web 2.0 Logo Creatr (brilliant naming by the way!).
I gave it a shot, here’s three names I came up with:
Voonoodle BabbleZ Flipshare
Voonoodle—a bit long for Web 2.0, but it just might work. So what would Voonoodle’s logo look like? Let’s take a look at what the Logo Creatr came up with for me:
Very nice! I went with the Beta option (VERY 2.0). Now I just need to figure out what Voonoodle is/does and I’ll be on my way!
Tags: Branding, Internet Bubble, Visual Design, Web 2.0
