In June 2006, George W. Bush was president of the United States, crowdsourcing was new to the lexicon, a lot of people still called blogs “weblogs,” YouTube was barely seven months old, and the iPhone was still a twinkle in Steve Jobs’s eye.
Also, I began writing this blog.
Ten years! Happy anniversary, me.
I published my first real post (after a throat-clearing one) on June 8, 2006. It was about a nanoparticle of gold that needed a name. I offered some suggestions. My advice was ignored.
I carried on regardless.
Here are a few of my favorite posts from the archives. As an unctuous waiter would say: Enjoy!
On the Samsung “Eternity” mobile phone
A parody of a particularly clueless Maureen Dowd column
How the Volkswagen Tiguan got its name (probably my most-viewed post ever)
A lot of companies called Enertia, for mysterious reasons
A sneaker called Tampon, and other puzzling brand names
What does “urban” mean in brand names?
What Downton Abbey got wrong about “contact”
Underwear week 2013 (time to do one of these again!)
To those few of you who have been reading since the beginning, my profound thanks. And to those of you who joined midstream or are new to the party: welcome!
And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a short blogging sabbatical. Exactly how short I can’t say right now: more than a week, probably, and less than a month. But I’ll be back. If there’s something you’d like me to write about after I return, please leave a comment here. And if you have a pressing question about your company or product name, I’m still doing phone consultations via Clarity.fm.
Have a lovely break! :-)
Posted by: Mike | June 08, 2016 at 07:00 AM
Happy anniversary, you. ;)
Now enjoy your time off, however long it may be.
Posted by: CGHill | June 08, 2016 at 11:29 AM
Nancy. I look forward to reading your blog daily because I learn something new from you every day. Your insights into branding are always "spot on." You have been an inspiration to me!
We will survive without you for a while (just a little while please!). But I wanted you to know that you will be greatly missed! Enjoy your break!
Posted by: Mark Prus | June 09, 2016 at 04:27 AM
Congratulations!
Posted by: heydave | June 09, 2016 at 12:51 PM
Enjoy your well-deserved break! Whenever your blog posts come out, it's a bright spot to my day.
When you come back - can I nominate a local sloganclone for coverage? If I see one more "city of ____ love" on a billboard while I drive in/around Philadelphia, I'm going to develop some serious road rage.
Here's two I saw in one day:
Pepsi: "City of bubbly love"
https://flic.kr/p/HRg8JY
McDonald's: "City of breakfast lovin' "
https://flic.kr/p/HRgkuw
If they're trying to appeal to locals, they're better off without such a tourist-y tagline. Take Vitaminwater, who made an effort to incorporate real local slang:
https://twitter.com/mayankgamin/status/613706972463001600
Incorporating a unique word that Philadelphians take pride in:
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/philadelphia/53982-the-jawn-is-native-philly-slang
I will give Pepsi credit for being more subtle in another Philly-area ad:
http://iheartbillboards.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Chillin-down-the-shore-sayitwithpepsi.jpg
"Down the shore" is something locals actually say, but not everyone realizes is local slang. I still think this ad's a little clunky, but at least it's a better attempt at localizing their ad language than a brotherly love pun. Barf.
Posted by: SamC | June 09, 2016 at 12:53 PM
SamC: Thanks for the suggestion! It's all news to me, and certainly worth some reflection when my head returns to Bloglandia.
Posted by: Nancy Friedman | June 09, 2016 at 03:51 PM
Happy anniversary! :) Thanks for all your interesting posts.
Posted by: janelle | June 11, 2016 at 11:46 AM
Thank you and I'm glad you'll be back! Admiring and appreciative reader, here!
Posted by: Duchesse | June 15, 2016 at 09:59 AM