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Topic: Names like "Shoppe" and "Pointe"
| Author | Message |
| WinonaWriter | Posted – 5/24/2007 9:41:22 AM | show profile I'd like to get publicists' honest opinion on this. My husband's business partners really want to give their real estate project a name with an "e" on the end, but he and I both think it would sound/look terrible -- dumb, dated, and downright tacky. Right now it comes down to a subjective argument between my husband and his partner. So he asked me if there are any logical arguments from "the editorial world" about why using these kinds of spellings is a bad idea. I'll ask this question on another board too, from the "purity of language" perspective, but I wanted to get your opinions on this from a publicity/marketing point of view. Any reasons, publicity/marketing-wise, to stay away from "fake" spellings with the extra e's on the ends of the words? Any data public perception of those kinds of names, etc.? Or any opinions you'd like to share? Thanks! |
| SpinDr810 | Posted – 5/24/2007 10:54:30 PM | show profile "e" endings Well, I am by no means and editorial expert, but I can give you my PR view. PR is about being bold, precise and to the point. It's all about appearances. Adding an "e" on the end of a word where it isn't needed (in the U.S.) makes the word and statement seem wimpy and weak...almost too feminine. It really depends on the type of company. If it was a new brand of lipgloss called Sweet Shoppe, maybe it would be appropriate, but if it is a company they want taken seriously, I would just stick to the hard spelling. |
| df | Posted – 5/25/2007 10:13:12 AM | show profile from a branding perspective it all depends on who you are targeting. It doesn't matter if you, your husband, his biz partner or I like it - all that matters is how it will be affecting their biz. short idea list: consider your regional area and handling of names, positioning there - it can be very different depending on where you are (NYC vers. Nantucket vers. OC e.g.). main target group: younger, older, educated, sophisticated, fun loving, ...?? benchmark: how do very successful competitors handle it? any modern take on that? form mini focus group: make up 5 names, and ask a) 10 people you know and you think might be in your target group and b) position yourself at a corner in proximity to your potential new biz and ask 20 people who look like your target group randomly on the street. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 5/26/2007 2:01:44 AM | show profile If you're branding a pharmaceutical drug, you make up a name, right? Depending on who you market that drug to, you put an E or an IA on the end of it - Latinos, for example. I can say I think abbreviations are dumb -- or that joined words are stupid. But the ros(e) by any other name would smell as sweet, and QuarkXPress and InDesign get the work done. If you're naming a newspaper, you stick to basics - Herald. Star. Times. Journal. News. But if you're naming a subdivision, you might conclude that Lakepointe is more memorable and distinctive than Lakepoint. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 5/26/2007 2:10:33 AM | show profile There are some all-time unfortunate names out there for subdivision streets. THere's one near me that's all Civil War battles -- not an extra e among them. So you can live on Antietam or Appomattox or Chickamauga. A sad rehash, if you ask me. |
| WinonaWriter | Posted – 5/30/2007 9:50:42 AM | show profile What if it's a higher-end, new-urban real estate development? Target market is upscale, wealthier, more "sophisticated." The development is in an area where the typical run-of-the-mill suburban subdivisions are named with the extra "e" on the end. The client/partner likes the extra "e" because he thinks it sounds "homier." Unfortunately I don't know much more than that about the ins and outs of the market. |
