Naming Company Agrees with Mazda Chief That Their Names Have Problems; Name One! Sees Tragic Missed Opportunities

    POUND RIDGE, N.Y.--Feb. 12, 2001--New Mazda chief executive Charles Hughes says his company has name problems and Lauren Teton, VP of Name One!, a national name creation company agrees.
    "The names of Mazda's vehicles are all over the board from numbers to letters to natural words, to coined words. There is no consistency. I test-drove a Mazda Protege when I was shopping, and although I liked the car, and speak french, I could never remember that name!" says Ms. Teton.
    Mazda's newest sport-utility/wagon is named Premacy. The implied message of Premacy is prime, (first) or supremacy meaning greatest in power. Ms. Teton says it is a good name, that is easy to pronounce and has an appropriate message, unlike Toyota's Prius. "Mazda could use three syllable names beginning with P and ending with a vowel sound, like Protege and Premacy, and the public would come to identify that style of naming with Mazda."
    Ms. Teton says the Mazda RX-7 was a fantastically successful car with a name people remembered. The name used the "sexy x" and the "lucky 7" to create a winning name combination. The current model named RX-8 doesn't have quite the same allure to the ear. "Why not have called the it the NEW RX-7, thus linking it to a successful predecessor?" wonders Ms.Teton The new Mazda MP-3 may be meant to denote "Mazda Protege 3rd model but unfortunately shares its name with the computer music format. And the new Mazda 5-Door Sport is hardly even a name at all. "It sounds like a description and is a tragic missed marketing opportunity."
    If you have heard a trade name that you love or hate, visit Name One's site at TalkingNames.com to vent.
    Name One! is a national name creation firm with offices in Pound Ridge, NY, North Carolina, and Dallas. They create successful names for Fortune 500 companies. "Our creative firepower and experience is unsurpassed in the industry, yet we charge a fraction of what some of our competitors do" says Lauren Teton. "And even more important, we help our clients come to a consensus" Contact her at lauren@nameone.net or 914 764-0115.