Qualcomm describes their display technology brand as follows: “Mirasol displays bring living color to technology by applying one of nature’s most remarkable innovations — the butterfly’s wings. These highly developed structures reflect light so that specific wavelengths interfere with each other to create nature’s purest, most vivid colors.” Master-McNeil’s mirasol name is derived from mira, Spanish for “see, notice,” and also recalls mirror, “mirroring” the brilliance and clarity of sunlight, with further subtle suggestions of “miracle.” The -sol suffix relates to a key product innovation: mirasol displays remain vivid even outdoors in the sun’s brilliant light.
We worked closely with this venture-funded startup to create their new name and domain, including consulting on logo, tone, look and feel. Incubated by Partech International, the firm was formerly known as Muchobene. Our new name, PeerPong, is shorter, more memorable, more relevant, and more fun
A real-time question-and-answer service that works with Twitter, PeerPong enables users to find and consult a knowledgeable peer in a live conversation. Our name suggests both “pinging” the initial contact and the “ping-pong” of the back-and-forth conversation. Similar in structure to our very successful PayPal name, we expect PeerPong to play an important role in improving internet search satisfaction.
We are delighted to have worked closely with this enterprise startup, formerly eSSembly and Philotelic. Besides creating the Causes name, we provided domain name negotiation, resulting in our successful acquisition of the causes.com URL.
2003’s next generation of handheld PDAs, gaming devices, and digital cameras featured displays that can be viewed at any angle and use less battery power. This was made possible by Eastman Kodak’s new line of displays using OLED technology, for which we created the name NuVue. OLED displays need no backlight, because the materials light up when an electrical charge is applied, so the displays are thinner and use less power than LCDs.
Master-McNeil is delighted to have created AccuClean for this revolutionary product line from American Standard Air. As described by our client, “AccuClean is a whole-house air cleaner, which works in conjunction with your heating and cooling system. The most effective air filtration system in the nation, it can clean up to 99.98% of allergens from the air your family breathes. With AccuClean, the majority of irritating particles like dust, pollen, pet hair and dander, dust mites, mildew, lint, fungus, most tobacco smoke, cooking grease, even bacteria, will be removed from the filtered air.” With its focus on the primary benefit, our name speaks for itself.
PayPal, our name for this popular payment service, was swiftly adopted as the company name as well, prior to IPO. The name is particularly effective at humanizing and demystifying sending money over the Internet, something people were very concerned about the the time of the introduction of the then-revolutionary service. Besides friendliness and trust, PayPal conveys the speed and ease of use, benefits that have made it the most popular way to pay for online purchases. The name’s short syllables, plosives, and alliteration make it particularly easy to say and remember.
We created this brand name for Global Village Communication’s line of fax and remote-access servers. Related in tone and imagery to the Global Village corporate name, the OneWorld brand integrates seamlessly into the Global Village corporate personality. Composed of short, simple English words, OneWorld is designed for an international audience. It suggests the key product benefits of individual access and people working together.
The OneWorld product line includes OneWorld Fax server, OneWorld Remote Access server, OneWorld Manager administration software, and GlobalAccess server software. Global Village is now part of Zoom Telephonics.
AudioFeast, formerly Serenade Systems, provides MP3 players with a web-based broadcast network of digital audio programming. The new name goes beyond music; it’s a better reflection of the diverse audio content available through the service, including NPR, BBC, the Wall Street Journal, A&E, and Sporting News Radio.
Netopia, originally developed for Farallon Communications’ family of high-speed ISDN routers and modems, was adopted as the company name. Our name suggests Internet utopia (an ideally perfect place), the best possible Internet experience. As part of our work with Netopia, Master-McNeil also developed the positioning slogan “What the Internet Experience Should Be.”
We created the name Personal Internet Communicator (PIC) for AMD’s low-cost PCs. The Personal Internet Communicator was key to CEO Hector Ruiz’s 50×15 initiative, which aims to connect 50% of the world to the internet by 2015. The Personal Internet Communicator was first offered in India, Russia, China, Mexico, and Brazil in 2004.
StarMax is Motorola’s brand of powerful Macintosh-OS computers. In two short syllables, our name conveys “stellar performance” as well as “maximum” and “Mac.”
In a major realignment of Compaq’s naming architecture, Master-McNeil created the Armada name to encompass all of their portable computers. Most often associated with a fleet of powerful warships or with a large group of moving objects, Armada is an apt metaphor for the variety of powerful machines sold by Compaq under this sub-brand.
We developed VisionPoint for SBT Accounting Systems for their Windows-based accounting software. The name suggests the instant access to visual information that this product provides.
Netopia Virtual Office allowed individuals and small businesses to establish professional-looking, personalized web offices. Building on our earlier Netopia brand, this name highlights the service’s web base, while suggesting a multitude of beneficial business functions. Netopia was acquired by Motorola.
Originally a line extension of the Quicken brand for our client Intuit Corporation, ExpensAble is designed specifically for tracking and reporting business expenses. Our name clearly communicates the key product benefit: the ability to handle expense reporting more effectively. Now owned by Insperity, the product line has been extended to ExpensAble Small Business, ExpensAble Workgroups, and ExpensAble Enterprise. Further, ExpensAble has been licensed by Insperity to American Express for their Business cardholders.
Microsoft’s imaging software product lets home PC users improve, reconfigure, and format their photos. Once photographs are uploaded to the PC, users can create collages, add silhouettes and decorative borders, and incorporate text for cards, posters, or newsletters. The Picture It! name incorporates Microsoft’s key message, photography, and also implies a creative, imaginative experience for the user.
Scientific Learning’s computer software service represents a breakthrough for language- learning-impaired children. Our Fast ForWord name conveys the revolutionary results of this unique program: children move forward fast, progressing several years in language skills in a few months. The name’s playful tonality appeals to children and their parents, as well as to teachers and speech therapists.
The Veriton brand of desktop computer from Acer integrates a PC with a flat-panel display. Our name highlights the brand’s trustworthiness and stability.
Adobe’s ImageReady software allows web professionals to streamline functions that previously took hours. Users can process, optimize, and preview web graphics with the touch of a button. Our name reinforces the software’s no-nonsense approach while highlighting its prime function: preparing images for the web.
Also for Adobe is the ImageStyler software product, which allows for simple and speedy manipulation and application of sophisticated graphical styles across a website.
Portico is General Magic’s voice and touch-activated virtual assistant, performing tasks such as faxing, banking, email, and speakerphone communications just as a human assistant would. The Portico name identifies the product as a gateway to information and management.
This help desk service from Microsoft supplements costly phone-support systems by providing automated answers to users’ software questions, which they may enter using plain, normal speech. Our name, AskMaxwell, is built around a virtual person, humanizing what could otherwise be seen as a loss of personal attention and caring.
Master-McNeil created the name 4wd for Scientific Learning’s interactive training program for teens. Designed to help individuals rapidly improve their language and reading skills, our name suggests rugged advantage, while recalling Scientific Learning’s core Fast ForWord product, a Master-McNeil name from 1998.
By using CrossTrain, teachers and speech therapists learn how to teach with Scientific Learning language and reading training products. These products include Fast ForWord, Step 4word, and 4wd, all named by Master-McNeil.
Encanto Networks, our name for the former Flat Connections, highlights this company’s near-magical ease of Internet access.
Apple Computer, as it was originally known, was Master-McNeil’s first client, and over many years we have named much of Apple Computer’s product line. Our naming for Apple includes numerous stand-alone software products, a number of proprietary technologies, the naming architecture and individual products within Apple’s former imaging product line, and the naming architectures and many products in Apple’s desktop and “portable-CPU” lines. For several years, during the years Steve Jobs was away, every product mentioned in Apple’s annual report was named by us. Some of the many names we created for Apple in these 60 projects include: Macintosh Classic, Macintosh LC, Macintosh Performa, Macintosh Pippin, AtEase, Apple FontPack, PowerBook Assistants, OneScanner, FirePrint, PhotoGrade, ColorSync, PowerLatch, TrackPad, GeoPort, and StyleWriter, among others. Even though much has changed and many years have passed, several of our names from this era are still in use; and our Apple network of clients continues to come to us today for new names for the companies they have founded, or where they now work.
Master-McNeil created the name Athlon for AMD’s high-performance processor family, and Duron for the processor family optimized for value-conscious customers. Athlon, usually associated with athletic competition, suggests endurance, power, and speed, highlighting this processor family’s superior capabilities and performance. Explaining its choice of this Master-McNeil name, AMD said they “wanted to emphasize that the product represents a champion of competition.”
With a leading processor design ideal for business and home users, AMD Duron processor-based systems are perfect for applications commonly used by value-conscious customers. Suggesting durability and dependability, our Duron name highlights the processor’s combination of capability, durability, and value.
Opteron, our name for AMD’s high-end server processor, suggests optimization and the ability to handle multiple operations. Opteron stands out from our earlier AMD names, the value-minded Duron and the powerful Athlon, by emphasizing the unique characteristics of servers, but shares with those names a family resemblance, due to the -on ending.
Sempron is our name for AMD’s family of processors for value-conscious PC users. Sempron joins our earlier Athlon (high-end) and Opteron (server) chip brand names for AMD. From the Latin semper, “always,” our name suggests the durability and performance of this chip family.
Candere, Latin for “to shine,” forms the root of our corporate name for this developer of thin CRT flat-panel displays. The association of light, brilliance, and clarity suggests the key features of Candescent’s technology — high-color fidelity and brighter, clearer images.
FirePower Systems, previously known as PowerHouse Systems and formed from the hardware division of NeXT, was the first company to design clones based on the PowerPC microprocessor. Purchased in late 1996 by our StarMax client Motorola, FirePower now resides in the Motorola PowerPC group.
This Xerox PARC company makes high-resolution flat-panel screen displays. Our name, dpiX, evokes industry-standard terminology (dots per inch) and Xerox heritage (the “X”). We chose to emphasize “dpi” as the core of the name, reflecting the revolutionary seven-million-pixel technology being commercialized here. Pronounced, it sounds like “depicts,” an apt description of what the products do.
Designed to convey the idea of partnerships, Master-McNeil developed the name Symbios Logic for the AT&T Global Information Solutions spin-off of its NCR Microelectronic Products business unit to Hyundai Electronics America. At acquisition, Hyundai’s purchase price of over $300 million represented the largest direct investment by a Korean company in the United States.