The Name Game

Naming things isn't easy. I feel like maybe I didn't acknowledge that enough in my last entry. While I don't change my stance on the Gamer razor, I will respect the fact that it's a challenge to name a product. Especially in a case where you have to name something that is basically the exact same thing as everything else in the line (like the Fusion Gamer) yet the name has to give the product a character of it's own.

Case in point, the "Become A Doritos Guru" contest. I remember seeing this bag on the shelf and saying, "What? I have a background in advertising! Of course I can come up with an awesome name and advertising idea for this!" I made a few phone calls to colleagues who I thought would help make this happen. After that, I paid for the bag of Doritos thinking I was about to taste $25,000 and 1% of the flavour's future sales.

I was so intrigued at the time as to what these could possibly taste like. But when I took my first bite, I knew I was in for trouble. "Uh...this tastes just like regular Doritos," I said to myself. "Maybe just a touch spicy, but other than that they taste just like any other Doritos chip."

From then on, all I could think about were "cheese" and "spice". Spicy Cheese? Cheese Spice? Extreme Cheese? "Damn it!" I said in frustration, after eating the whole bag and still not having a clue what to call it. The chips weren't even that great.

What do you do? Odds are, naming it straight-up isn't going to cut it anymore. I was hoping there would be something distinct about the taste to work around, but all I had to work with was "spicy". As if that hasn't been done before.

I was kind of hoping to waltz in and collect $25,000. Didn't happen. Partially because I didn't have the time to dedicate to it, and partially cause naming things is hard. But like anything else in advertising, you probably could come up with the right name through 1+1=3. Know the target. Know the product. Come up with the creative concept to bring them together. I didn't do the math. I just ate the chips.