Anatomy of a Name
BlackBerry or iPhone?
You could be forgiven if you first thought “BlackBerry” was just another cute, quirky high tech name.
However, the name’s uniqueness heralded a game changer in mobile communications. It announced BlackBerry not just as a new addition to an expanding market but actually as a new type of device with functionality far beyond what terms like phone or digital assistant conveyed.
The name’s playfulness didn’t detract from the BlackBerry’s obvious precedent-shattering technical features. If anything, it seemed to give early adopters—often executives and government officials—permission to say how much they loved their BlackBerry. Before long, users—playfully again—found the device so compelling they dubbed it their “CrackBerry.”
The iPhone’s message was different. The name suggests a sleek device that’s easy to operate—appropriately and correctly enough. And the brand has been highly successful.
Yet the name “iPhone” didn’t suggest a change in direction:
The elegant but overused prefix i- allied the device with other new gadgets…some developed by Apple (like iPod and iTunes) and others not (like BMW’s iDrive).
The name announced a kind of phone—reasonably enough—but at the cost of sounding utilitarian.
Could the BlackBerry have been called the PineApple or the Orange? Yes, but at a cost.
Those names would have missed:
The resemblance between the handheld’s black keys and a blackberry’s external surface.
The network metaphor that derives from blackberries growing in clusters on vines, typically covering a large area.
Additionally, the BlackBerry’s size and weight also make it harder to relate to an orange or a pineapple.
Best of all, the name’s sound qualities also set it apart from other fruit names, not to mention from names of competing handheld devices:
The two b’s alliterate, an effect strengthened visually by the repeated capital B.
The consonants b, l and r have a richness and fullness that help us imagine a feature-packed device just as easily as a juicy fruit.
The three vowels in the name are among the thinnest and lightest sounding vowels of English, appropriately for a device that is so easy to carry around.
The name BlackBerry circumvented expectations and broke some rules. In so doing, it established the BlackBerry as the mobile communication device of choice at the high end of the market. Yet, thanks in part to the name’s friendliness, the brand expanded to a much broader market.