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Is this the right way to say it?

Posted on 23. Aug, 2009 by Nikos in Blogs, Gadget, Marketing, Social Media

Dear Kodak,

You made a mistake and you named your camera Zi8. It’s ok.. Everybody does mistakes but is this the right way to say it?

Kodak Zi8 is a competitor of the very successful Flip camera and Creative Vado. Boston Globe didn’t like the Kodak’s name and they said:

When Kodak needed a name for its new pocket video camera, its marketing geniuses came up with something dreadful: the Zi8.”

And now Kodak creates a new model and they decided to find a new and better name for this. According to them, maybe they cannot find the name by themselves. What? How can you say this? It sounds like: “We tried to name a model and we failed.. We think that we cannot make it..” Come on.. You cannot say this. You are Kodak and you must be capable to find a name.  For this reason, they created a contest. I totally agree with the contest. It is a great way to create a buzz, involve your community and spread the word. But the post on Kodak’s blog (A Thousand Words) was a fail. This is what Jenny Cisney, the chief blogger, wrote:

You may have seen a recent review of the Kodak Zi8 by the Boston Globe where it received high praise for everything… except it’s name. “When Kodak needed a name for its new pocket video camera, its marketing geniuses came up with something dreadful: the Zi8.”

Woah. Ok. With our next pocket video camera in development we started thinking about the name. A few were run past our discerning CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett who said “Are you serious?” Back to the drawing board. Or is it?

Maybe we don’t have the answer. Maybe YOU do! We are asking people on Twitter and on this blog to tell us… what do you think the next Kodak pocket video camera should be called? What would you call a video camera that is rugged, simple and ready for action and adventure? (Hint – we like the letter “Z”!)

Is this the right way to say it? I guess not. I agree that you have to admit your mistakes and be honest but this is not the right way. Kodak could just announce the contest in a more fun way without mentioning the Zi8 mistake. (At least don’t write it as an introduction in your post)