At Brandsplat, we’re all for anybody becoming the next online multi-media maven. The great thing about today’s landscape of digital media is that anyone can launch his or her own blogs and newsfeeds. With the right amount of promotion and gumption, these little blogs can become widely read and forwarded brand names in online media. So it struck us as odd when Glenn Beck, he of the ridiculously high rated Fox show and of the recent rally in Washington D.C., announced with his usual red-faced fanfare that he was launching a website a la The Huffington Post to serve as “news and opinion” (and by opinion he means his opinion) called The Blaze.
Beck, agree with him or not, is trying to establish himself as a brand name in conservative journalism – and he has the flock of sheep to prove that he’s capable of doing so. Our issue here is not with his politics but with the utterly whack name of his new website. To prove how uninspired a name The Blaze actually is, we’ve collected a few other, longer-established websites and media outlets from the Interweb that were called The Blaze first.
The Blaze, as it turns out, is a super popular moniker for radio stations. Country, alternative, hip-hop and classic rock stations all seem to favor the name. Poor Beck’s fans might be in for a surprise if they accidentally visit the wrong Blaze and wind up listening to the latest hit by T- Pain. From Tyler, Texas, to Chico, Calif., we dug up at least four radio stations dubbed “The Blaze.” Strange that Beck’s marketing folks didn’t catch this, especially seeing as he was discovered on morning radio. The biggest chuckle in the bunch definitely comes from down under, where The Blaze is a popular gay and lesbian news website. Visitors to this Blaze are greeted with a distinctly un-Red State view of a man’s behind in black underwear. And it doesn’t end there. We found a head shop, a strip club, a barbershop quartet newsletter (?) and we fondly remember it as the name of the school newspaper on the original 90210 run by that pesky Andrea Zuckerman.
We’re certainly not in the business of politics here at Brandsplat, but the lesson from The Blaze is a good one everyone, regardless of his or her field. Choosing our website and brand names is an important move that needs to be mulled over with careful consideration. Beck omitting his own name in the title somewhere in the website is a big mistake. Beck is a brand name already and leaving it out of the equation is a definite fumble. It is important to have consistent branding and thoughtful company names, especially in the era of mass Google confusion.
Now you tell us: What website names fail to hit the right marks? Blaze up our comments section below!
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