News24 brings us further evidence that target audience members are not literal deconstructionists in practice, even though in theory (focus group testing) they always are.

We give you yet another powerful name that market research would have killed with “science”:

London – An eatery in Sheffield, central England, called the ‘Polonium Restaurant‘ is getting more business from local customers in the aftermath of the poisoning of a former Russian spy, The Sun tabloid reported on Tuesday.

The owner of the restaurant, Boguslaw Sidorowicz from Poland, told the newspaper that bookings had gone up since polonium-210 – the radioactive substance of which large quantities were found in Alexander Litvinenko’s urine after his death – hit the news.

Sidorowicz, 46, said he named the restaurant, which he has been running for about 18 months, after a band of which he was a member nearly 30 years ago.

“It was Marie Curie who discovered polonium and she was Polish,” he told the tabloid.

“In 1978, a friend of mine who was studying chemistry at Sheffield University suggested it as the name for the band. So that’s what we called our folk group, without realising just how poisonous a substance it was.”

“When I saw the restaurant’s name all over the papers – I thought someone had booked us an advert.”

“We’ve had an incredible 728 000 hits on the Polonium website, and have been inundated with calls from around the globe,” he said.

The Polonium Restaurant in Sheffield, England, has had slow business since it opened less than two-years ago. Then, British investigators found traces of polonium in former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. The news sent customers flocking to the restaurant.

Focus group testing of names is fine if your goal is to guarantee failure. Any naming company or branding consultant that would engage in focus group testing of names is either unsure of themselves or wants to abdicate responsibility for the final choice. Or they just want the extra money that testing brings with it.

Understanding why the name Polonium attracts diners rather than repels them is all the knowledge any company needs when naming anything. It’s not complicated, and it’s summed up nicely right here.

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Microsoft’s “Zune” name is clearly “tune” with a “z”. But how much can you charge for that? Some naming companies are at their most creative when reverse engineering rationale for their creations. Landor can shovel pretty fast, but nobody can touch Lexicon.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, we give you the rationale behind the name “Zune”. Our comments in bold:

So Microsoft has come out with its iPod killer, er, competitor, the Zune. That raises a question: Why did they call it Zune?.

…”Additionally, the Lexicon Research Network of 60 Ph.D. linguists in 39 countries [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] was tapped to provide insights into the latest brands in music and video entertainment and to give us suggestions as to words, word parts, sounds and metaphors that might be applied to a ‘next generation entertainment system,’” Placek said…

…Because the device is small, Placek said, it needed a small name. Lexicon considered 3,500 candidates with seven or fewer letters. And sometimes rhymes work best: “Zune’s similar sound to ‘Tunes’ [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] made a great connection for us,” Placek said.

Lexicon also likes the buzz Zune gets from “z,” and that it’s a fun-sounding name [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] …

…Each has its own way of looking modern. IPod’s i- prefix links it to the Internet generation, while Zune is a newly coined word. Both are structurally simple. iPod is made of two elements, the prefix plus a common 3-letter word, adding up to a grand total of four letters. Zune has four letters also, is easy to pronounce, and is only one syllable long, comparing well even to iPod’s two syllables [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”] …

Zune’s focus is liveliness and youth. The buzz of the sound “z” makes it one of the most energetic in the language. Lexicon’s studies of sound symbolism, conducted with hundreds of people in a variety of languages, have shown that word-initial “z” scores very high for communicating attributes like “lively,” “daring,” and “fast.” [“Zune” is “tune” with a “z”]

The letter z’s current popularity in respellings like “boyz” and “antz” lends a youthful irreverence. Even though it isn’t obviously derived from any real word, Zune could pass for a casual abbreviation, in the same way that ‘zza stood in for pizza with some people 10 years or so ago. Zune is clearly a fun kind of name.

[A slice of ‘zza?? wha..? “Zune” is “tune” with a “z” ]

The sounds of Zune also make a connection with music. After the highly audible z is the vowel u, made with the lips pursed as if one were whistling. The name ends with a musical ring, from the sound n. [“U” symbolizes whistling? Oh right, that’s why Igor named the other Microsoft music thingy Urge. Sorry, one forgets. But who can question the musicality of the letter “n” ? Is that an “n” sharp or flat?]

Give Lexicon credit, they are keeping a straight face throughout. Not easy.

Read more rationale behind Zune.

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The bridge that connects the town I live in to San Francisco may soon take the concept of “drive-thru” to new heights. Via CBS:

(AP) SAN FRANCISCO The famed Golden Gate Bridge is considering accepting corporate sponsorship.

Bridge officials say they’ve hired a company to explore the moneymaking potential of the world-famous span. They say any commercial deals would be done tastefully and sensitively.

The proposal was approved during a meeting of the bridge district’s Board of Directors.

A company is expected to spend six months researching how landmarks have boosted earnings by working with corporations.

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