Here’s another little confession….

I love reading the New Yorker.

Weird for a commerce student? Kind of. But it’s been a dirty secret of mine since grade 12, when the great Mr. Kingstone (papa K) would read us such gems as “The Cursing Mummy” and having us analyze  fun little stories (those of you who may have ever picked up a New Yorker knows that the majority of the articles are over 3 pages long…)

However, one article was able to cross the boundary into the realm of business (partially because the article section was titled World of Business)

Famous Names, by John Colapinto talks about the power behind a name, and the process by which famous names were created, as told through a company called Lexicon. Ever wonder how the BlackBerry earned its moniker? Or how come all brands developed in the 50’s ended in ‘O’ aka Brillo and Brasso?

Names are powerful, and yet we highly underrate their importance. In Keli Gwyn’s Blog post Build a Brand Name, she reminisces about how her most powerful self-marketing tool is her own name.

Was Juliet (of Romeo fame) right….

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

…. or in this world where we are met with 3,000 advertisements a day, do we need Names to create calm out of the chaos?