Seth Godin Asked for It: Here Ya Go
Danny Sullivan of Daggle.com and SearchEngineLand.com (interestingly enough!) posted about a Seth Godin blog entry about the dangers of using generic company names like “Jewelry Central”, “Party Land”, “Computer World”, etc. He said it was a bad branding strategy, likely limited your success and made trademarking a nightmare.
Mr. Godin ended his blog entry with a challenge to name companies who have been successful with this type of branding. Mr. Sullivan brought up Disneyland as a good example (yes, I realize “Disney” is the unique part of this name, but it is a “land” name, regardless). I’d like to add Disney World, Sea World to the mix (VERY generic). Let’s also consider Circuit City and a Canadian counterpart of Future Shop that’s doing okay for itself. I’m sure there are many more, but that’ll do for now. Post your own below. 
More:
- The Pannekoek House (a local franchise)
- House of Blues
- Electronic Boutique
- Playland (a local long-time amusement park)
- Fitness World (local fitness chain)
- XXXX Zoo – Add your city to that name.
Disclaimer:
Although, I agree with the general sentiments of Seth’s post…I don’t think he can make the blanket statement that companies just don’t succeed with this naming strategy.
About: Alice Seba
Alice Seba earns a full-time online income as an entrepreneur and loves to help others achieve the same. With a focus on using content to create relationships, loyalty and results from the written word, she co-owns both a ghostwriting service and a private label content business. To get more tips for your content marketing, visit Contentrix.com - your free resource with plenty of tips and strategies.Freebies
Business WorkbookEssential Biz Notes
Free Resources
Learn to Sell More
Learn to Earn More
Bob Younce at the Writing Journey
Shoe Carnival
Carpet World
Flooring America
General Motors
American Motors Corporation
National Bank of Detroit.
With the last 3, the abbreviation became the name: GM, AMC, NBD. The abbreviations, I’d argue, make the name unique.
Very thoughtful post. Good form!
Angela
Twitter: AngelaWills
Dairy Queen
Taco Bell
Burger King (hehe I must be hungry)
Home Depot
Wal-Mart
Toys’R'Us
Dollarama
Payless Shoesource
Linens ‘N’ Things
Rent a Center
Children’s Place
Dennis Edell
I can see the possible Trademark issues, but at least you can (almost always) tell what they’re about…what they’re selling, etc.
The ones that truly irk me are when one uses “enterprises” in the name because it sounds cool.
9 x outa 10, you have no idea what’s behind the door before you open it. This is bad.
Brian Rotsztein
Here are a few more:
Airline names (such as “Air Canada”)
Bank names (such as “Bank of Montreal”)
Magazine names (such as “Vogue,” “People,” “In Style”)
Discount Car and Truck Rentals
Radio Shack
He wrote: “you can’t even remember one over the other.”
I don’t believe that many people would have a hard time differentiating between Air Canada, Air India, and Air China.
Dr.Mani
Off the top of my head, here are some:
Body Shop
General Electric
Pizza Hut
International Business Machines (IBM)
Digital Equipment Corporation
Apple (Computer)
= = = =
There are surely many more.
All success
Dr.Mani
Debbie
Corporations like Playboy Enterprises and
organizations like Thunder From Down Under
and Lover Boys USA