Boneheaded?

Buy.com has changed its name to Rakuten. com. Seriously. Discarding a memorable/clear/short name in favor of one that’s (apparently) familiar in Japan might be the result of provincialism, always a danger in international commerce. Renaming is always treacherous, but this break new ground for self-inflicted damage. Rakuten seeks to deliver, according to their website, Omotenashi. Well, that clarifies everything.

Naming: navigating the minefield

It’s very challenging to create company names these days, especially when we insist on making the name available as a .com, be trademarkable, be easy to spell – zig-zagging around dozens of branding landmines. (One acid test: Can you remember a name perfectly, for example, if you hear it once over the phone?) So. We’re very pleased to unveil InOut …

Nine nuggets of business wisdom

1. When you leave your phone number on voice mail, insert three pauses. 2. People only absorb the first topic of an email. To say three things, send three emails. 3. Do in-house what you do best. Turn to pros for all the rest. 4. If a meeting can be held in nine minutes or less, conduct it standing up. …

Our naming rules, revisited

We do a lot of naming, sometimes after a company launches a DIY effort, or (worse yet) tries the sure-to-disappoint employee contest gambit, the dismal results of which lead to a renaming effort two years later. We gently remind you of the mantra of every professional outsource: “Do in house what you do best; turn to pros for all the rest.” …