No doubt, the basis of Web 2.0 has become an essential part of day-to-day business—offering new ways to communicate and collaborate. Whether it’s through social networking sites or online collaboration tools, these applications are essential for driving innovation and efficiency across businesses. Yet, with all seriousness aside, there is a playful side of Web 2.0 that often presents us with pure entertainment.

Take for instance: Flickr, Plaxo, Wiggio, Yammer—ever wonder how names like these originated or what the solution is that they offer? Welcome to the plethora of Web 2.0 sites with strange names that are unrelated to their service—a collection of Web sites dedicated to services and applications that enhance creativity, information sharing and collaboration. Based on some of the names, you would never intuitively know what their purpose is or what innovative solution they are presenting.

They Do What?
Browsing Web 2.0 sites can often feel like you are on a road trip, deciphering letters on license plates into words and phrases like “ANYWR” (anywhere). Sometimes the names make it clear what vegetable of the day the creator ordered for lunch (CALLIFLOWER) or that they needed a jolt of caffeine before work that morning (Cappuccino). But it’s not always clear what the solution is that they offer. As if anyone would immediately know that Wiggio would allow a group to collaborate online or that Plaxo was a professional networking site. 

Clearly, a quirky name is a popular way to get attention among these companies that are trying to revolutionize and differentiate the service they are offering. And for those companies that just have no creativity left there is even a Web 2.0 Name Generator just in case a company or application needs help coming up with a completely unrelated name.

A recent blog posted on CIO Insider went even further citing the following three rules of thumb to qualify it as a ridiculous Web 2.0 site:

1. The site’s mission statement must be impenetrable   
2. The site must solve a problem that has been solved a million times already or didn’t need solving in the first place
3. Its name must love the letter “r” but eschew vowels ( Drivl, Grazr, Hngry), or be a refugee from “Jabberwocky” (CurdBee, Egghub, Humyo, Jiffle)

The Entertainment Factor
Clearly some of this just feels like haphazard entertainment, but as marketers, we can appreciate the creativity being harnessed through these sites. The names are often deliberately created to be different, catchy and short, in an attempt to promote their brand and make it easy to remember. Think about it, before Web 2.0 emerged, names like Wikipedia and Google were barely known. Now, “Wikipedia” has become part of our everyday language, and “Google” is a verb. While their name helps, Web 2.0 sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Google are successful because they embrace the Web 2.0 credence. They bring together collective knowledge, support interaction and communication, and are constantly evolving based on user feedback. It is more than a “cool” name and an average service that continues to help them come out on top. 

Not every name is going to be effective. As the concepts of Web 2.0 continue to produce improved solutions to organizations and individuals, it will be up to those Web 2.0 businesses to not only have an innovative name, but a strong business model too. A marketing strategy, a solid message and a differentiator within the service they are offering will go a long way in the world where 1000 different companies tout their expertise of online project management. 

At the same time, the world loves to laugh. Who knows, perhaps some of this silliness will harness your innovation and creativity.  

For More Laughs
Check out the Web 2.0 directory, www.Feedmyapp.com, to view some of the newest companies and applications. This site allows people to log new Web 2.0 applications and sites. Over the past year, they averaged 157 new Web 2.0 application listings per month ranging from solutions for pets to solutions for collaboration.

Nikki Leonardi
Marketing Director
ClearEdge Marketing

This entry was posted on Monday, September 22nd, 2008 at 3:14 pm and is filed under Social Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.