by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
Previously on Cool Rules Pronto…
Pizza Hut became “The Hut,” evoking images of Jabba — or worse.
Now word comes that another iconic American brand has likewise simplified:
Radio Shack is now “The Shack,” evoking images of a giant basketball player. Their new tagline, “Our Friends Call Us The Shack,” makes me wonder what their non-friends call them. (more…)
Categories: Random Observations
Tagged: branding, naming, Radio Shack, The Shack
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
No pizza for you!
What’s wrong with pizza? I love pizza! Yet fast food giant Pizza Hut is dropping the word “pizza” from some of its store names and packaging. While still officially called Pizza Hut, the chain will refer to itself as “The Hut” to reportedly make it a more appealing place for teens to hang out. Hey, we’re not a fast food joint, we’re a cool clubhouse! (more…)
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: fast food, marketing, naming, Pizza Hut, retail, Spaceballs, Starbucks, teenagers, The Hut, Yum Brands
So I’m reading this book that recommends naming your company after yourself to make your brand “authentic.” Hmm… Freddy Nager Productions? Uh, no — sounds like a nightmare on Elm Street.
My personal name issues aside, here’s my advice to all other entrepreneurs: If you plan to remain a small operation (like a law practice), you might consider naming your company after yourself — just might — otherwise, I recommend crafting a name that’s original and creative. Sure, naming a company after yourself is easy, but you’ll get more mileage from an imaginative name — and avoid a few headaches down the road… (more…)
Categories: How To Tips
Tagged: Authenticity, branding, Britney Spears, business, Charles Shaw, Disney, Ford, marketing, Martha Stewart, naming, Nicole Scherzinger, strategy, Trump
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
Who ever imagined that naming a company would become a game of speed and chance?
Categories: Atomic Tango News · How To Tips
Tagged: advertising, AFLAC, Atomic Tango, Bing, branding, business, Client 9, Eliot Spitzer, Kaplan Thaler Group, marketing, Marty Neumeier, Microsoft, naming, Neutron LLC, Pinkberry, strategy, The CW, Web 2.0
“I’m so full of action, my name should be a verb.”
- Big Daddy Kane
I meet far too many dotcom execs and entrepreneurs who claim marketing isn’t necessary. “Just look at Google,” they tell me with smug grins. True, Google never spent a dollar on advertising their world-dominating search engine, but they did perpetrate some wicked marketing…
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: branding, business, Chrome, Google, marketing, mission statement, naming, search, search engines, SearchMe, Silicon Valley, technology marketing
"Common sense is the little man in a gray suit who never makes a mistake at addition, but it's always someone else's money he's adding up."
- Raymond ChandlerLet's hear it for uncommon sense: that inner itch that inspires you to stray from the herd, ditch the training wheels and leap into the fast lane. As we all know, it's the risk takers who get their faces on the cover of Wired magazine and their words on National Public Radio. No one ever remembers who won "honorable mention"...
Cool Rules Pronto celebrates uncommon sense in marketing and media. It's written by Freddy J. Nager, the Founder & Fusion Director of the L.A.-based marketing agency and production company Atomic Tango. For Cool Rules Pronto, he draws on two decades of experience in advertising and entertainment, including 15 years in new media. He has created campaigns and projects for agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and Magnet Interactive, and for such clients as Toyota, MCA Records, National Lampoon, Nissan & Infiniti, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the NFL on Fox and numerous startups.
Freddy also serves on the Board of Directors of City Garage Theatre in Santa Monica, California. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from USC (go Trojans!), and currently teaches marketing through Antioch University L.A. and the University of Wales/Robert Kennedy College. He also wrote the satirical book, Claw Your Way To The Top: Ten Things I Learned About Business From My Cat, which he'll get around to marketing someday.
