Naming For Power: Creating Successful Names for the Business World

NON FICTION BOOK REVIEW  

415 words

Title: Naming For Power: Creating Successful Names for the 
Business World;  by Naseem Javed; Linkbridge Publishing;  
hardcover, 256 pages, $25.00

Reviewer:  A. T. Connellan, "This distillation of Mr. Javed's 
experience is well worth the price, in fact, take it along to the 
cottage for a contemplative re-read." 

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other 
name would smell as sweet


William Shakespeare certainly wasn't thinking of today's 
business environment when he penned those words. To this 
era's corporate players, a company name has to do much more 
than smell good and look pretty. It's the all important 
label that could make or break the enterprise. 
   
Naseem Javed is the President of ABC Namebank International, 
creative nomenclators to a list of Fortune 500 companies and those 
yet to be. He is also the author of this highly informative paean to the 
power of the perfect title, and the consequences of the wrong choice. 

According to Javed, a firm's moniker must be trade-markable, 
meaningful, memorable, and translatable into "approximately 2,700 
languages with up to 8,000 dialects around the globe," and do it 
without creating problems. Slip-ups can create hilarious 
misunderstandings, or disastrous results. 

For example, yeah is no to the Japanese, and Ohio isn't a US state, 
it means good morning. Ask any German speaker what the well
known product Vicks translates to, and you'll get the picture. Equally 
damaging are the ill-considered focus groups, and "contests where 
everybody loses."The author's anecdotal assessment of these will 
leave you smile-shaking your head.  
   
His examination of company names; present, past, and possible, is 
served up  with a twist of humor. How about the European vodka, 
Black Death, imported into the U.S. until 1989? I particularly liked his 
musing on potential automobile names..,"the Ford Shark might prove 
irresistible to lawyers." The Chinese might consider it lucky, but would 
you buy the all-new Chevrolet Dog? 

The author sets out the tides in trends of naming companies and 
products after individuals, or based on the frequency and impact of 
certain letters and numbers. We are lead into a careful examination 
of effective word stimulators and a pragmatic method for measuring 
their effectiveness.  

What it all comes down to is a well considered, 4 stage formula for the 
sure-footed selection of a name that will enhance the other essential 
elements of any successful business. Naming for Power is well 
supported by an index, and more importantly, an annotated 
bibliography for those of us who wish to delve deeper into this 
fascinating subject. 

This distillation of Mr. Javed's experience is well worth the price, 
in fact, take it along to the cottage for a contemplative re-read.