As of November 1, the U.K will have a new electric utility company called Spark. They describe themselves thusly:

Spark is an energy company. Seems simple enough, and it is. All we have to do to be a great alternative to the 6 major utility companies is deliver the best customer service, lower prices, innovative benefits and greener energy.

And from a branding perspective they are off to a great start. The name Spark works on multiple levels and demonstrates, rather than explains, several of their key positioning messages. The name immediately sets them apart from their competitors, conveys the start of something new (the spark of a new paradigm, the spark of a new idea), is active, enthusiastic, approachable, human and infinitely memorable. And in a literal sense, a Spark is all about energy, a Spark is energy. Well done.

For a different approach to naming a utility, we turn to the Chicago Tribune:

Peoples Energy Corp. has a new name coming, and like many corporate monikers it is not a word you will find in a dictionary.

The corporate parent of Peoples Gas soon will be known as Integrys (pronounced in-TEG-ris) after the completion of its merger with a Wisconsin gas and electric utility.

“Integrity was the core idea here.”, said James Uehling.

Actually, integrity was the only idea here, and Integrys fails to communicate that one idea. Or more accurately, Integrys fails to sell that one idea, because Integrys is trying to explain, rather than demonstrate, the idea of integrity. Integrys is trying to tell us they have integrity. But honest people don’t go around explaining how honest they are, dishonest people do. Just as interesting people don’t try and tell you how interesting they are, because at that moment they become suspect and uninteresting.

A key tenet of naming: Explaining doesn’t work, demonstrating does.

However, Integrys does demonstrate one thing. It’s a cold, technical looking and sounding construction that might as well be “Vast Uncaring Corporation, Inc”. That was not the intention, of course:

Peoples Energy has had serious run-ins with consumer advocates, the Illinois attorney general’s office and some members of the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates the company.

“It is an attempt to turn over a new leaf,” Uehling said of the new name. “It is a new day.”

The image they were attempting to overcome, has instead been reinforced.

Finally, a great name for a movie! From today’s Hollywood Reporter:

“Igor” centers on a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant Igor, who has big dreams of becoming a scientist and winning first place at the annual Evil Science Fair. It will be distributed domestically by the Weinstein Co., which also has secured rights in most foreign territories. Weinstein Co. will be selling “Igor” at next month’s American Film Market.

Piven will voice the role of Dr. Schadenfreude, Igor’s nemesis, with Shannon voicing Eva, a giant, indestructible monster invented by Igor. They join a cast that includes Steve Buscemi, John Cleese and Christian Slater.

Can “Interbrand, the Final Fury”, be far behind?

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From Playlist Magazine:

Microsoft’s forthcoming digital music player, dubbed Zune, may make some Hebrew speakers gasp. The name for the device—which will take on the Apple iPod when released later this year—sounds like a vulgarity, specifically the “f” word, in Hebrew…

…Microsoft breaks the controversy down to pronunciation. “While we do acknowledge the similarity in pronunciation to Hebrew zi-yun, that is not the intended meaning of the name Zune,” according to a Microsoft statement. Bloggers have picked up on the difference—one humorously writing that if you say Zune to rhyme with iTunes, out pops the profanity.

Buck, cluck, chuck, yuk, muck, puck, pluck, luck and truck all sound very similar to the “f” word, but the point is they are not the “f” word. There is nothing to this “controversy”, except that it gets Zune talked and written about. And Microsoft should be thrilled to be even accused of having a connection with a physical act that is natural and pleasurable. How often is that going to happen?

A few years ago Buick ran into a similar problem, albeit a direct hit, and changed the name of their Lacrosse model for the Canadian market.

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