In a happy coincidence, given this week's Bad Brand Names theme, my just-published Visual Thesaurus column is about ten words to avoid in your company or product name. Why avoid them? I quote myself: "Because they're nomenclature clichés, leached of meaning by rampant overuse."
The column is behind a paywall (so subscribe, already!), but I'm feeling generous. Here are two of the ten no-no's:
Flux: Remember the flux capacitor in Back to the Future? So do a lot of folks who were teenagers when the movie came out in 1985. But what seemed cool back then is a bad naming idea now. For starters, there are 122 trademarks for flux in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database. (A sampling: Mega-Flux, PureFlux, Flux Studios, NovaFlux, Thermaflux, Channelflux,UltraFlux. There's even a Flux Deluxe.) Second, flux sounds unlovely in English, especially when forced into awkward coinages such as Fluxiom. Finally, there's a meaning problem. Yes, flux suggests flow. It's also a medical synonym for diarrhea. Run, don't walk, from this word.
Share: Share is to the interactive Web 2.0 what cast was to the original Web's one-way channel. We're all exchanging information now, so how better to express the concept? Plenty of ways, actually. But lazy naming practices have given rise to the lion's share of names like SlideShare, BubbleShare, ConceptShare, ShareMeme, ShareNow, ShareThis... and, not surprisingly, many LionShare companies and products. As we learned in kindergarten, to share is good. But too much share is bad.
Share: Share is to the interactive Web 2.0 what cast was to the original Web's one-way channel. We're all exchanging information now, so how better to express the concept? Plenty of ways, actually. But lazy naming practices have given rise to the lion's share of names like SlideShare, BubbleShare, ConceptShare, ShareMeme, ShareNow, ShareThis... and, not surprisingly, many LionShare companies and products. As we learned in kindergarten, to share is good. But too much share is bad.
Apologies in advance to my associates whose business names include the Ten Banned Words. Next time, call me! I'll give you the friends-and-family rate.
I once succeeded in steering a client from adopting FLUX as a trademark by citing the diarrhea meaning. (I could swear I first learned about flux from reading "Gone With the Wind.") In any event, the term makes me think of the Sure-Flo catheters in the movie "A Mighty Wind."
Posted by: Jessica | May 13, 2009 at 02:25 PM
Just when I had a fabulous new product name: ShareFlux! Or was it FluxShare? Great post, and I'm looking forward to the VT article.
Posted by: NextMoon | May 14, 2009 at 06:34 AM