[Can you discern the famous brand today from cryptic clues of i=
ts origin or meaning? Have fun with this third installment of “=
company brands you know”.]
=
=
1. Southland Ice Company found a demand to expan=
d and sell groceries, so changed the name of some locations to “Tote&=
#8217;m Stores” (large totem pole as T in the logo). They needed to r=
e-name ALL stores and let people know their business name/hours.=
2. Founder Lee B=
yung-Chul began by selling fish and fruit, with his ambitious corporate log=
o having “three stars”. He wanted his company to become powerfu=
l and everlasting like stars in the sky.
3. The company name was an acronym for i=
nnovative use of the Internet to communicate, shortened because another dom=
ain with the original name already existed.
4. The Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK (the =
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) name did not appeal to in=
ternational markets, so they changed to an academic word that sounded like =
praise to the young innovators.
5. Co-founders Dan and Martin tried to develop a =
program that would identify users’ preferences in media and allow ind=
ividuals to enjoy a more personal touch in music, video, and podcasts.=
6. Gordon =
wanted this business to have a “classy name” to attract custome=
rs. He thought “Cargo House” might work, but an advertising ind=
ustry friend encouraged him to look to classical Greek and more familiar En=
glish literature for name and unique icon.
7. Like hundreds of others, after st=
udying the success of the fast-growing McDonald’s restaurants, Glen t=
ried to imitate with a few burger joints and drive-ins. Not seeing much suc=
cess in it, he gave up the burger idea, modified his menu, and launched a c=
ompletely new chain in 1962.
8. In 1969, the Fisher’s opened a West-coast s=
tore selling to teens/college kids. Biggest sellers to that underserved mar=
ket were jeans, records, and tapes. They thought about calling this mom-and=
-pop store “Pants and Discs,” but Doris recommended a broader n=
ame.
9=
=2E Jack was unhappy with many of the “social media” sites floo=
ding the market and desired a place to briefly message a friend or co-worke=
r. His co-founder tried names to convey the excitement (“friend-stalk=
er” didn’t seem all that ‘friendly’) of getting a m=
essage. Moving quickly thru the dictionary from “status” to =
220;buzz”, they finally settled on name and icon.
10. Travis and Gary wante=
d a new company that could not be compared to traditional transportation of=
the day (buses, taxis, rental cars, etc) and went for a foreign word to ex=
press their goal.
11. A merging of telecommunications companies led to this name,=
chosen from roughly 8,500 possibilities. How can you miss the call when it=
’s based on two words from everyone’s favorite language, Latin?=
12. A=
simple project of grad students led to "Jerry and David’s Guide to th=
e World Wide Web", helping others find their way thru this new and exp=
anding frontier. They were happy, but that was not the basis of the company=
name.
~~
D=
r Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
"Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!&quo=
t;