6 ms·

Actually, I quite like the name Appthwack.

by trevelyan 14y ago

sukuriant 14y ago
How do you spell it? (no really, say it to someone on the road and see if they can tell how to spell it)
- LeFever 14y ago
  The first time I say it out loud to someone there's often a request to hear it again. If they're a native speaker it generally clicks with an emphasis on "Thwack." If they're not, spelling it clears it up rather quickly. Usually it's because they've never heard the word before. Once people get it they repeat it, likely because it's an entertaining and weird thing to say. I agree with the advice that names should be easy to spell, but I also think it depends on context. Nearly all of our customer acquisition starts visually, either through the site, banners, or press, so it hasn't really been a problem. Who knows if we'll keep it forever, but it's working for now.
hkmurakami 14y ago
Definitely sounds like a form of brain tumor though.
luiperd 14y ago
I don't mind it, but it sounds like someone with a lisp is trying to say Aflac.
- LeFever 14y ago
  The first time we publicly demoed AppThwack it was pointed out. On the other hand, people seem to remember it and generally react positively. Who knows if it will stick, but we agree on it enough for now that it's better to focus on the product and getting customers.
smacktoward 14y ago
For those of you who are too young to have lived through the original dot-com boom, I can't recommend this 1999 article on company naming from Salon highly enough: http://www.salon.com/1999/11/30/naming/ http://www.salon.com/1999/11/30/naming/ Read the whole thing, it's hilarious. As soon as I saw the parade of names in the OP I was reminded of one of the names the naming consultants in the the Salon piece devised -- "Jamcracker": When Altman and Manning presented the name Jamcracker to a client recently, the reception was not everything they had hoped for. "I put the name up in front of their creative people," Manning says. "There were a couple of women sitting in. One of them got up and said, 'Oh, that's disgusting.' Another said, 'This is really sick.' I said, 'Excuse me, what are you talking about?' They said, 'We can't explain it, but that name is just creeping us out. We don’t know what it is, but could you take it off the wall, please?'" Manning remains mystified by the incident. "There's apparently some strange, uncomfortable meaning attached to it in the minds of some women," he says. "God knows what that could be."
- patrickyeon 14y ago
  I'm starting to head off-topic here, but that sounds like a scene right out of William Gibson's _Pattern Recognition_. The main character has an allergy to corporate branding and logos, and charges an absurd fee to sit in on a marketing meeting and simply give yea/nay judgements on logos. She can't explain why or how she can tell what's going to be good, but her judgements are considered gospel.
- graue 14y ago
  Amusingly, there is a business called Jamcracker: http://www.jamcracker.com/ http://www.jamcracker.com/ and, what's more, the copyright at the bottom of their website says 1999-2012. I wonder if the naming firm still sold the name after this article!
  - smacktoward 14y ago
    As the saying goes, there's a sucker born every minute :D This got me wondering if the naming firm described as the minds behind "Jamcracker" still exists. Sure enough, it does: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ And they have a useful page listing all the names they've ever sold: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/category/all-names/ http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/category/all-names/ Scroll down to "J", and... boom. "Jamcracker: Unified platform for IT management." Right between "Jacks" and "Jamoka."
jlarocco 14y ago
I got a kick out of "Mehole" and "Simplert" from the list of possibly real names a couple sentences later in the article. I have no idea what their product or service would be, but I'm having fun thinking of things...
LeFever 14y ago
Thanks! We've gone back and forth a ton of times, especially because of the obvious "Aflac" thing. We get a lot of comments that are positive, and of course some that are negative, but nobody seems to have a problem remembering it. I'm way more concerned with providing a good product with a name that's "good enough." Also, it describes in slightly playful terms exactly what we do. We test apps.
samstave 14y ago
My favorite domain of all time: www.therapist.com I cannot read that any other way than, www.THErapist.com
- runejuhl 14y ago
  I guess you haven't been to www.PENISland.com? For some years there was an actual page at the end if the DNS request. Now the domain hilariously redirects to www.penisLEND.com, which is funny and awkwardly enticing.
  - samstave 14y ago
    Haha I totally forgot about the wonder vacation spot; PENISLand! Goes hand-in-hand with this post: http://www.businessinsider.com/15-worst-corporate-logo-fails-2012-1?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/15-worst-corporate-logo-fails...

Actually, I quite like the name Appthwack.

sukuriant 14y ago

How do you spell it? (no really, say it to someone on the road and see if they can tell how to spell it)

LeFever 14y ago
The first time I say it out loud to someone there's often a request to hear it again. If they're a native speaker it generally clicks with an emphasis on "Thwack." If they're not, spelling it clears it up rather quickly. Usually it's because they've never heard the word before. Once people get it they repeat it, likely because it's an entertaining and weird thing to say. I agree with the advice that names should be easy to spell, but I also think it depends on context. Nearly all of our customer acquisition starts visually, either through the site, banners, or press, so it hasn't really been a problem. Who knows if we'll keep it forever, but it's working for now.

hkmurakami 14y ago

Definitely sounds like a form of brain tumor though.

luiperd 14y ago

I don't mind it, but it sounds like someone with a lisp is trying to say Aflac.

LeFever 14y ago
The first time we publicly demoed AppThwack it was pointed out. On the other hand, people seem to remember it and generally react positively. Who knows if it will stick, but we agree on it enough for now that it's better to focus on the product and getting customers.

smacktoward 14y ago

For those of you who are too young to have lived through the original dot-com boom, I can't recommend this 1999 article on company naming from Salon highly enough: http://www.salon.com/1999/11/30/naming/ http://www.salon.com/1999/11/30/naming/ Read the whole thing, it's hilarious. As soon as I saw the parade of names in the OP I was reminded of one of the names the naming consultants in the the Salon piece devised -- "Jamcracker": When Altman and Manning presented the name Jamcracker to a client recently, the reception was not everything they had hoped for. "I put the name up in front of their creative people," Manning says. "There were a couple of women sitting in. One of them got up and said, 'Oh, that's disgusting.' Another said, 'This is really sick.' I said, 'Excuse me, what are you talking about?' They said, 'We can't explain it, but that name is just creeping us out. We don’t know what it is, but could you take it off the wall, please?'" Manning remains mystified by the incident. "There's apparently some strange, uncomfortable meaning attached to it in the minds of some women," he says. "God knows what that could be."

patrickyeon 14y ago
I'm starting to head off-topic here, but that sounds like a scene right out of William Gibson's _Pattern Recognition_. The main character has an allergy to corporate branding and logos, and charges an absurd fee to sit in on a marketing meeting and simply give yea/nay judgements on logos. She can't explain why or how she can tell what's going to be good, but her judgements are considered gospel.
graue 14y ago
Amusingly, there is a business called Jamcracker: http://www.jamcracker.com/ http://www.jamcracker.com/ and, what's more, the copyright at the bottom of their website says 1999-2012. I wonder if the naming firm still sold the name after this article!
- smacktoward 14y ago
  As the saying goes, there's a sucker born every minute :D This got me wondering if the naming firm described as the minds behind "Jamcracker" still exists. Sure enough, it does: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/ And they have a useful page listing all the names they've ever sold: http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/category/all-names/ http://www.ahundredmonkeys.com/category/all-names/ Scroll down to "J", and... boom. "Jamcracker: Unified platform for IT management." Right between "Jacks" and "Jamoka."

jlarocco 14y ago

I got a kick out of "Mehole" and "Simplert" from the list of possibly real names a couple sentences later in the article. I have no idea what their product or service would be, but I'm having fun thinking of things...

LeFever 14y ago

Thanks! We've gone back and forth a ton of times, especially because of the obvious "Aflac" thing. We get a lot of comments that are positive, and of course some that are negative, but nobody seems to have a problem remembering it. I'm way more concerned with providing a good product with a name that's "good enough." Also, it describes in slightly playful terms exactly what we do. We test apps.

samstave 14y ago

My favorite domain of all time: www.therapist.com I cannot read that any other way than, www.THErapist.com

runejuhl 14y ago
I guess you haven't been to www.PENISland.com? For some years there was an actual page at the end if the DNS request. Now the domain hilariously redirects to www.penisLEND.com, which is funny and awkwardly enticing.
- samstave 14y ago
  Haha I totally forgot about the wonder vacation spot; PENISLand! Goes hand-in-hand with this post: http://www.businessinsider.com/15-worst-corporate-logo-fails-2012-1?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/15-worst-corporate-logo-fails...