English Unlimited HTL 4/5, Schulbuch mit Audio-CD und CD-ROM

129 From design to brands 10 LANGUAGE SKILLS EXPLORE EXTRAS The name taxonomy The naming company A Hundred Monkeys , for instance, doesn’t make coined words or empty vessels. (By the way, the company got its name from the idea that if you put a hundred monkeys in front of a hundred typewriters, you’re bound to get a good name. It’s a joke about the process.) They prefer to come up with names based around a narrative, inspired by anatomical charts, constellations, secret service code names, rundown theatres, types of wind, and ocean currents. They strive for names that lead to conversation. For example, they named an online textbook company Inkling . Rather than a naming spectrum, A Hundred Monkeys sees more of a sort of name taxonomy in which classifications break down into 25 categories of names. Some examples: Names of real people ( Tesla Motors, Jack Daniels, Newman’s Own ) Names of imaginary mascots ( Jolly Green Giant, Dr Pepper, Captain Morgan ) Americana names ( Baby Ruth, Dixon Ticonderoga, 76 Gasoline ) Mythical names ( Nike, Pandora, Hermès ) Lifestyle statement names ( Forever 21, True Religion, Livestrong ) The takeaway is this: If you have enough money, the name can be anything. When the iPad was about to come out, everyone thought it was a really silly name. You heard all kinds of sanitary napkin jokes. Now, through sheer force of will and advertising dollars, you don’t think twice about the word ‘iPad’. Look at these highlighted expressions which can be used to talk about product names. In pairs, take turns explaining them without looking at the article. a LanguagE fOCuS 20 Talking about product names Read the article again. Were your ideas correct? In your opinion, what are the ten best-known product names (nationally or internationally)? Write the names down and:   relate them to the information in the article.   justify your opinion with one statement. Go on the internet if you need more information. Example: ‘Cannondale’ is an arbitrary name for a mountain bike. It refers to the train station next to the headquarters of the company. Talk about your ideas in class. Discuss these questions. The highlighted words are all connected with marketing. 1 Think of a large company in Austria.   How does it promote its products ?   Does it have a particular slogan ?   Do they use a particular kind of marketing campaign or sales pitch ?   What kinds of names do their products have?   How effective is the company?   Who is their target audience ?   Do they have the biggest market share ?   Who are their competitors ?   What brand image do they present? 2 ‘There is no such thing as bad publicity .’ Do you think this is true? b a WRITIng and SPEaKIng 21 b LanguagE fOCuS 22 Marketing words a catchy b trip off the tongue c which implies both … d unique e appropriate f descriptive g self-explanatory h arbitrary i appealing j suggestive k explicit l coined word Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv