New "Head Scratcher of the Year" Contender: Chyngle

Posted by admin on September 15, 2009

OMG, their name as confusing as what they do… “Chyngle is the first mobile location-based service to provide a venue branded ultra-local experience for users to interact and exchange value with each other and their surroundings within what we call Ultra-Local Environments™ or ULE’s.” Huh?

Too bad the Chynglers didn’t see this before they paid $14.95 for their domain name…

The Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test (as seen in The Wall Street Journal), is based on our philosophy that a name should make you smile, instead of scratch your head.

SMILE if your name has these 5 success factors:

Simple – one easy-to-understand concept – NO

Meaningful – your customers instantly “get it” – NO

Imagery – visually evocative – creates a mental picture – NO

Legs – carries the brand, lends itself to wordplay – NO

Emotional – empowers, entertains, engages, enlightens – NO

SCRATCH it if it has any of these deal-breakers:

Spelling-challenged – not intuitive – CHECK

Copycat – similar to competitor’s names

Random – disconnected from the brand – CHECK

Annoying – hidden meaning, forced – CHECK

Tame – flat, uninspired, boring, non-emotional – CHECK

Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it – CHECK

Hard-to-pronounce – not obvious – CHECK

Thanks to our buddy Paul K. for sending us this doozie.