WorldWater and the power of a good name

On an announcement today that clunky-named WorldWater & Power had changed its name, a [small] buzz flew through the Cleantech Group's world headquarters (the sylvan view from HQ.)

What exciting new name would the co. now sport?

Did it hire a high profile naming firm? How much did it cost? How many junior marketeer consultants slaved away on primary and secondary research, testing individual phonemes and researching the semantics of contenders in languages around the world?

Would it be trendy? Would it be timeless?

Would it be sexy?

We opened the release, expecting fanfare, desperately seeking a little marketing savvy, a little circumstance and pomp in the oh-so-dry biz of cleantech... and were greeted with a dull thud.

WorldWater & Power Corp. is now to be known as WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. The stock symbol WWAT.OB is to remain the same.

"The new name reflects the company’s growing leadership role in producing, installing, and servicing some of the largest, most advanced solar powered solutions available today – with patented, high-powered technology that delivers renewable energy on a cost-effective basis," yawned the release.

That may be true. And no offense intended to the good folks at WorldWater and their fine products, but boy, it's boring.

Not everyone needs a name like Fat Spaniel (a great, memorable and differentiated name, IMHO.) But a good name is the best (and absolutely free—you gotta pick one anyway) opportunity companies have to begin to open the minds of others to their value proposition, and to own a unique space in the minds of prospects and the industry at large. Not to mention a good way to impress certain jaded editors.

Much has been written about the black art of good naming. For a primer, start here. Or read the naming chapter in the seminal marketing classic Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout.

And with the number of vendors in cleantech/greentech growing logarithmically, differentiation and actual marketing are going to becoming ever more important, we posit.

And good marketing begins with a good name.