by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Lifelong Fan of the Warlord of Mars Forget the 10-foot-tall 6-limbed marauding Martians – the biggest challenge facing John Carter is his name. Or more exactly, the fact that Disney used his name as the title to his movie. Creating the second-worst sci-fi movie title [...]
Tags:Disney·focus groups·Hollywood·John Carter·marketing·naming·Pixar
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, [...]
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC 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 [...]
Tags:fast food·marketing·naming·Pizza Hut·retail·Spaceballs·Starbucks·teenagers·The Hut·Yum Brands
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC 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 [...]
Tags: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?
Tags: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 [...]
Tags:branding·business·Chrome·Google·marketing·mission statement·naming·search·search engines·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 Chandler
Let'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 of the L.A.-based creative strategy agency Atomic Tango LLC, and marketing instructor at UCLA Extension and Robert Kennedy College of Zurich, Switzerland.
