Not-so-great moments in product naming history
Way back in the Dark Ages of 2005, Bill Hunt over The Digital Bits made this comment:
"PC Magazine's John C. Dvorak has posted an editorial column on HD-DVD that's well worth a read. His argument is that HD-DVD is likely to win the format war for a variety of practical reasons, from compression to price to backwards-compatibility to copy-protection. It's a well reasoned argument. But he left out perhaps the best argument going for HD-DVD... the letters DVD in the name. That means instant recognition. Consumers already know and love DVD, but they've never heard of Blu-ray Disc before and they have no idea what it is. "
Ok, aside from putting me in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with Dvorak (who I think is right out of his ever-lovin' mind), I agree. Blu-Ray is a great example of a product name that sounds sexy but says very little, and what's worse, what it says is *how* it works (it uses a blue laser for more data on a disc) than *what* it does. The vast majority of consumers aren't bamboozled by facts and figures, but tell them that Product A will do Function Z better Product B (then hit 'em with the facts), and you've got a winner.
HD-DVD - You know right away what it does, and what it uses.
Blu-Ray - Is it a new sport boat? Superhero? Part of the Strategic Defense Initiative?
Doomed from the start.
"PC Magazine's John C. Dvorak has posted an editorial column on HD-DVD that's well worth a read. His argument is that HD-DVD is likely to win the format war for a variety of practical reasons, from compression to price to backwards-compatibility to copy-protection. It's a well reasoned argument. But he left out perhaps the best argument going for HD-DVD... the letters DVD in the name. That means instant recognition. Consumers already know and love DVD, but they've never heard of Blu-ray Disc before and they have no idea what it is. "
Ok, aside from putting me in the uncomfortable position of agreeing with Dvorak (who I think is right out of his ever-lovin' mind), I agree. Blu-Ray is a great example of a product name that sounds sexy but says very little, and what's worse, what it says is *how* it works (it uses a blue laser for more data on a disc) than *what* it does. The vast majority of consumers aren't bamboozled by facts and figures, but tell them that Product A will do Function Z better Product B (then hit 'em with the facts), and you've got a winner.
HD-DVD - You know right away what it does, and what it uses.
Blu-Ray - Is it a new sport boat? Superhero? Part of the Strategic Defense Initiative?
Doomed from the start.
This entry was posted by Kevin Creighton, on
9.06.2006.
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