The Power of the Brand as Verb in the NY Times, for your naming pleasure.

Perhaps because “effects of modern life on mental health” is a central theme of my show BURST; perhaps because I am a newly-hatched iPhone (ab)user; or perhaps because I am both terrified and titillated by the inevitable momentum of this world into one more virtual — either way, when I read this ( “Internet Addiction Center Opens in U.S.” – NPR.org ) and watched this ( a Sony Vaio spot ) and found the stage website about Social Media Addiction (genius marketing, Sony), I couldn’t help but feel… well, intrigued. Vindicated. Stimulated. Angry. Old. Inspired. Lonely. Fearful. Sad…

Nauseous.

[Time Lapse: 120 minutes]

I’d finish this post, but I seriously just got sidetracked watching YouTube videos and reading NPR articles on social media as it relates to mental health. God save me us all.

I want the right to complain when I have a bad customer service/brand/product experience, so I have to uphold my end of the bargain by giving a shout-out when I encounter the opposite.

So, in that interest, I’m pasting  feedback I gave to AT&T in a recent survey. No, I don’t have time to be filling out online surveys, but when has practicality ever stopped me from engaging in meaningless action? read more »

My sentiments exactly.

I was going to CONQUER THE WORLD.

My plan of action was this:
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I leave the country for three weeks, and I come back to discover Hill has dropped out of the race, gas is over $4 a gallon, and this is what passes for viable music subjects:

 
Kid Sister ft. Kanye West – “Pro Nails” from Ruben Fleischer on Vimeo.

Mani-Pedis? Oh, Kanye… And to think, I was just making headway in Arab-American relations.

“Suddenly, the World’s All a-Twitter” (Newsweek)

I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I’ve set up a Twitter account. (Feed can also be viewed in right sidebar). There is… just… so much to say… In fact — I need a moment. Watch this while I collect myself:
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I don’t even have to know you. Or know your email address. Or whether you are a .mac Maniac, an @Yahoo yahoo, or a hotmail Has-Been — I can already read your eFuture:
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As I (slowly but surely) update NKS, I am dazzled by the easy easy easy new widget-infused Wordpress that makes my blog-writing job, well, easy ( <–see the italics, right there? I didn’t even bother with the html. Just clicked a button. Thssss):
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Why Yes: it’s another sexy, modern, pithy, interesting internet interaction, just as you wanted: get your hypertexted butt over to SMITH Magazine’s Six-Word Memoir Project and submit yours.

(I figure this is my best chance at publication, because God Knows why anyone would want to read more than 6 words of mine*[1]… )

I came up with:
Sour Green lemons dipped in maple syrup.

UPDATE 3/31/08: Per reader comment suggestion

And here this whole time I’ve been trying to write a memoir novel — I could have saved myself a lot of time had I known about this 99,994 words ago.

*[1] Word on the street is that self-deprecation is back in this year.

As in: “Cha-a! You scored, dude!” And, of course, that which I am constantly Not Keeping.

Segway: I have to introduce you to a very cool idea: The Big Word Project, an attempt to redefine the meaning of words as re-associated with virtual places. People can purchase words at $1/letter and then assign them to their sites, whether they be individuals or companies.

Not only is it a great viral marketing experiment, but what a way to make money: selling words that, really, nobody owns simply for the value of exposure. Brilliant.

Of course I’m thinking, Why didn’t I think of that? Ah, I guess my million dollar website idea is yet to be.

You can be sure I bought a word (two, actually). Take a gander at the sidebar to the right, and you can view my pretty little scrabble-like word tile: SCORE. Why, yes, I think it was.

Can you guess what my other word-purchase was?

Freelancing abroad in the Holy Land for 18 days

WHAT? I can’t hear you over the wailing Hindi music!

Yes, I know. Anyone who has visited NKS in the past week, (perhaps surreptitiously while at work with the volume up) — I apologize. But look: I finally figured out how to turn off the auto-play on my stylish music widget (check sidebar; press play to hear little orange guy spin).

…I’m tinkering around.

Yes I’m on ‘vacation’. I’m also at work. The thing is, I have to learn asap the DL on php etc. + more idk b4 eow b/c i’m wrkng 4 a 2.0 comp. ok? btw sms = chpr in UK&ME + my il. mins. = ltd. so ive got use 2 txting. (Anyone who knows me well will know this is not something I do willingly. Grammar is a beautiful thing.)

Speaking of grammarless enterprises, check out Zlango, a company that is attempting to replace txt orthography with a universal sms symbol language. Aside from comments I might have, as a naming consultant, about the name, the premise is beautiful — create a “revolutionary new way of globally communicating in our ever-evolving, multi-lingual world” (that’s not their slogan, I’m just in copywriting mode).

However — as idealistic as that is, tell me that trying to find the different little symbols in their UI (again: witholding design commentary) isn’t as slow as typing out the whole damn message?

And when you’re online checking them out, why not take a peek at this: Out Of Town, a series of “webisodes” by Flavorpill and sponsored by Redkin. It’s a nice product promotion idea — get people to watch your Simple Life meets Real World and then watch a commercial at the end. My only beef (aside from the fact that they don’t have a San Francisco edition I can apply for) is that the “Urban Experiment” tagline says first “Don’t follow. Initiate.” and then quickly urges you to “Be part of it.” Ah, the joys of contradictory culture generating.

Okay. So I’ve been online a lot lately. Like I said — I’m tinkering around. (If you hadn’t already noticed the painfully pixelated masthead picture…place holder, I promise.) I’m trying to keep up with the Web 2.0 kids, alrighty? While working in Israel for just such a company, I’ve been wet with “media-rich,” “social-networking,” “sharing platform,” “widgets-embedded,” “micro-portal,” “online presence” harah (pardon my Hebrew).

Which reminds me: when I travel I like to post word/phrase sections on whatever language is being spoken. But Hebrew, which has no vowels and has to be interpreted in-context, is much like sms: For a non-native speaker it is difficult to write, impossible to read, and has the usefulness over English in only a very small sphere.*

*To my Israeli hosts: I love your language like I love your hummos — heartily. Bevakasha: no offense taken? Toda. Shalom.

I’m doing some work for a couple of Web 2.0 companies, and finding myself, well — 2.0verwhelmed.

I like to think of myself as a fairly savvy technology user, but I have to admit that more and more I have to “educate myself” to keep up.

It all started when I ripped off all of my pictures and deleted my profile on MySpace in order to protest the clusterfuck of design and visual narcissism that pervades, and is required of, myspace users *[1]

I declared my official non-participation with MySpacedom; I would “sign-off” from virtual society;

I decided I would not get a Facebook profile, (Oops), because, honestly, can anyone tell me the point? I already have an old Friendster profile that lies dormant, a “big-kid” work-oriented Linked In and (for those global connections) a Xing profile. Do I really need to get on Multiply, Bebo and Xanga, etc. etc.? ‘Spose I should join The Hub, just in case.

But if 2006 was the Year of social networking sites, Newsweek has declared 2007 likely to be the “Year of the Widget”. Widgets have evolved beyond a clock that emerges when you hit your Dashboard F12 key (for us Mac users) — there are pregnancy countdown widgets, music playlist widgets, and “Smart Blog” widgets that make your blog UltraSuperSavvy, like instantly populating your site with pictures relevant to text.

In this new era of widgets, I didn’t want to be left in the cold; God forbid my blog contain “merely” text. And although I have an inkling that no widget could save me from the title of “Un-smart Blog,” I’ve created my own blidget (blog widget), available on the sidebar, for your very own NKS viewing pleasure.

Widget-away!

*[1] (The profile has since been, sighingly, restablished after I 1) actually had have it for — get this — my job and 2) a friend complained about looking at the little gray shadow that haunted my old mug shot location on her “Friends” page.)

The New York Times reported today that “Nevaeh” (nah-VAY-uh) is an increasingly popular name for girls, with modern parents inspired by Christian rock star Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D., who appeared on MTV in 2000 with his daughter, Nevaeh.

“Nevaeh,” you see, is “Heaven” spelled backwards.

As a professional namer, I think I’ll be taking this naming approach on future client projects. You know, like, “Erawtfos” for our next Microsoft product, or “Elibom” for some of our mobile phone clients, and I think I’ll offer up “Cigam” as a potential name the next time we work with Disney.

Hell, I don’t even have to be client-specific. “Eman” seems a genius name for anyone! Perhaps I’ll even patent the process and open up a naming agency of my own. We’ll call ourselves Sdrawkcab-ssa: Naming the wrong way.

Or, as my boss said when I mentioned this to him, “Tihsllub.”

As a copywriter, it is often my job to develop taglines for products and companies. Oh, the difficulty of getting it right! Short, sweet, punchy, catchy, all while saying exactly what needs to be said, in under a dozen words.

God bless the folks who have come up with the automatic Advertising Slogan Generator. Now all I have to do is kick back, put my feet up, click “Sloganize,” and my job is done! Easy, breezy, beautiful™…

Some of my favorite tags below (bonus points if you can name the source of the original tagline):

…you get the idea.

I don’t know where I’ve been, but Kodak unveiled its new logo last week–a much more streamlined design created to help the company forge a new image as a cutting-edge, 21st century innovator:

(Images from SpeakUp)

A departure from the previous 70-year-old logo, the new logo utilizes a custom typeface meant to give Kodak a more “contemporary look” reports the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

“We want to break out of the box, in a lot of ways,” said Betty Noonan, Kodak’s Brand Management and Marketing Services Director.

The new logo, however, does no such thing. In fact, it looks retro, not progressive, and lacks the presence of a company that wants to be a major player on the “digital photography playing field.”

“It is not graphic enough, and loses it’s weight and boldness” weighs in San Francisco designer Ben Cheong. “It looks back to a 70’s geometric era typeface.” Clearly not new and cutting edge.

Rebranding can be an essential move for a company looking to reinvent itself–whether from declining sales, lack of consumer recognition, or to position itself in new markets. But there is something to be said for tradition: if a company is lucky enough to have 70 years of equity behind it, scrapping a world-recognized logo isn’t done on a whim.

I’m sure great consideration was given. And the more time I spend with it, I think Kodak is on to something: perhaps they realized the whole Solid-Red-and-Yellow-Boxed-In-Logo thing just wasn’t differentiating enough, considering the crowded space:

Welcome to the season of New Gym Memberships!
Come January, many people scramble to join for that New Year’s Resolutions, burn off those extra chocolate-logged pounds and remake themselves in the image of, well, something better than themselves.

Guilty as charged. [Raising hand as the first to admit Me Too]

It should be obvious that gym memberships are for suckers such as myself that spend 40-100 hours a week sitting in front of a computer. (And to set the record straight, being a loyal San Franciscan: yes, I do walk to work, the grocery store, and…bars). Gym memberships are not, however–unlike Trix–for kids.

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What the hell is J. Crew thinking? They have, in their online catalog, courduroy dress pants, “each leg panel is a different color (navy, tiger lily, pine & maize).” Yes, it is from the current Winter 2005 catalog. No, I will not be ordering a pair.

Although I’m sure many will visit this site for bleeding-edge trend coverage (God knows I was on top of that metallic shoe trend that — despite misconceptions — started in the Tenderloin, San Francisco, not from Aldo fashionistas), I suspect I would wear out the ole RSS reader before I could even cover half of the trends that interest me. My NewsFire, in fact, is currently bogged down with 365 unread feeds. If only I could be a professional news junkie. Alas, I will instead redirect those interested parties to a site that I find does a pretty fair job: Agenda Inc. as I do want try and develop *somewhat* original material instead of going link-happy (see this paragraph).

But the pants were too good to be missed. Thank you J. Crew for another insightful foray into Fashion 2006