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back to article Naming the Palm Prē: Strategy Boutique OD's on joss-sticks

We're sure you were all wondering just how Palm came up with the paradigm-busting name for its much-anticipated, iPhone-annihilating Prē smartphone. The answer is it didn't - it asked a Strategy Boutique to do it. Cue the heady fug of joss-sticks and the sound of whalesong - in this at Catchword. Here are a few extracts …

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  1. LINCARD1000
    Boffin

    Obviously not *enough* research done

    In many circles (don't ask) 'pre' is used as a shortened version of 'pre-cum'.

    Not entirely sure that I would have been brave enough to try and name a product after something like that, but it'll be somewhat amusing to see men and women proudly showing other people their 'Prē'...

    *snigger*

    Boffin with safety glasses because getting that stuff in your eyes stings.

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  2. Andy Moore
    Gates Horns

    Bring it on

    I have been playing with my new HTC Touch HD for the last month having dumped by Palm Centro. The battery life and signal of the Touch is great (saying that the Centro and HD really sucked) but in every other way I want Palm back.

    I want ANY alternative to Active Sync that works, I want fast responsive tasks and a lot less crashes, everything I have had from Palm from the original Pilot to the Treo 650 (what happened after that I prefer to draw a veil over).

    The minute you start selling the Pre for GSM unlocked I am having one (assuming the battery life can go for a good full day unlike the Centro or 680)

    Fingers crossed as I want Palm to succeed.

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  3. Martin Lyne

    Real lifecycle

    Step 1 - Secure contract, this may require some "on-the-fly" bullshittery

    Step 2 - Think of 5 names, choose the most edgy as final.

    Step 3 - (This is the most labour intensive step) Write aquick blog entry/press release about how painstaking it was to come up with your bullshit, making your service sound unique and not at all like we're being paid simply to write a few letters.

    Step 4 - Profit

    I'll bet the outsourced the "global suitability" as well.

    You can make up words for product names, you can have localised names, YOU DON'T NEED TO PORK BARREL USELESS COMPANIES.

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  4. Chris
    Jobs Halo

    Is that a long e?

    I think it should be pronounced more like pray or prey - as in Palm is praying this will work. Or in that the phone will be prey for whatever stupid cat codename Apple and their quietus bound or possibly post-existence reanimated spook CEO can come up with.

    Halo for the resurrection.

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  5. John Robson Silver badge

    Hats off to Nokia

    Who started with numbers, and basically stick there...

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  6. Seeker

    First Nickname

    May I coin the phrase the unbelievably original and awesome name 'Palm Pray' for when it launches and doesn't work properly.

    Matt L.

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  7. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Palm Pray?

    As in..pray it manages to sell?

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  8. Aaron

    Ugh.

    Here's hoping that's the only aspect of the device that had a "strategy boutique" involved in its design.

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  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Pre minus"

    One of the supermarkets found a few years ago that its "contains 90% meat" sausages didn't sell because people thought this was less than normal sausages that they assumed were 100% meat :-)

    Since the obviouse pronunciation of "pre-" is "pre minus" will this leave the impression in peoples minds that its not the full package and they'd be better either getting another phone which wasn't cut-down in some way or perhaps wait for the full "pre" or "pre plus" to come.

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  10. Frank
    Joke

    @LINCARD1000 re Circles

    those people sound like Jerks.

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  11. ratfox
    Thumb Up

    I wish all the luck to Palm

    They'll need it...

    Honestly, it's their last hope.

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  12. anarchic-teapot

    @LINCARD1000

    "In many circles (don't ask) 'pre' is used as a shortened version of 'pre-cum'."

    Not in French it ain't. It just means "meadow".

    Afterwards, what you do in the meadow is your own business.

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  13. Hamza
    Thumb Up

    It might have been worth the money...

    ...if they'd come up with Palm Trē. But I guess then they've just taken the 'o' off the other one.

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  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    hurm.

    Strategy Boutique almost had it right. It's their explanation that is reminiscent of Grand Pricks.

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  15. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    I'll second that Ugh

    Because after reading the article I think I threw up a little in my mouth. When will companies stop throwing tons of money at "strategy boutiques" and shift that money to improved design, hardware or software upgrades, or hell even just buying the damn design team dinner to say "job well done". Anything but paying these bull shit artists in strategy boutiques anymore money.

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  16. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    Strategy = bullshit

    Get real people, naming any product is a fraught process, especially a worldwide product in an industry geared towards fast-changing technological products, sure the bullshit reasoning does the agency no favours as far as the geek squad are concerned but how would you justify your choice?

    "sounds about right" "not really offensive to anyone" - see what I mean?

    The research still has to be done and the name has to be right, i.e. fit the brand and the market.

    Microsoft Zune - wow that set the world alight - would love to hear the the processes they went through on that puppy.

    Pré - makes me think of an appetizer, a forerunner of the main event, maybe they'll call a future phone Pöst since character accents seem to be all the rage.

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  17. Mage Silver badge
    Flame

    Pré

    Pré as I have no idea how to type Prē

    Stupid name.

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  18. Trix
    Paris Hilton

    Stupid name indeed

    For what it's worth, the long bar over a vowel is a "macron". Of course, the only language I've seen with an e-macron is Maori. Maori does not have any "pr" sounds.

    So not only is it a stupid name, it's even more stupid than Motörhead in terms of useless and unpronounced diacritic marks.

    What wank; "straight to the point" indeed. It looks like a nice device, but that macron has almost killed it for me. It was bad enough when I thought it was an e-acute. Jeez.

    /Paris, for obvious reasons (wank, pretentiousness, total ignorance)

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  19. Ferginator
    Paris Hilton

    Can no one spell properly in the US?

    Ha! They (the Palm creatives, NOT the El Reg Journalists) can't even spell!

    Paris ... coz she turns me into a Luster.

    Pass me the grumble mags ... I'm getting the urge to use my palm.

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