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The appendage of the letter "i" to a word as an aim to create an icon is silly... momentary, short-term fame and glory may be possible, but to create a long-lasting, global, iconic mark is very doubtful. What makes an icon is also the exclusive longevity of its unique name, and for that reason, you have examples of Rolex and not iWatch, Panasonic and not iTV.

Terms like, interactive-portable-device were behind creating the name iPod, and has now become responsible for the race for the letter "i" to be ingrained in just about every product category, from iCell, iCar, iBank to iBrick and just about every word including iCopy. Feeble minds somehow gravitate towards the copying process and feel secure by joining the happy-go-lucky bandwagon, rather than taking an original approach.

Therefore, branding agencies feel very comfortable upon announcing names like iLock, iGrass or iTravel, to captive focus group audiences, names where the co-dependant participants jump in joy in approval with these so-called brilliant name ideas... most of these naming attempts do not see the light of the next season.

Most will remember the other recent short-lived craze of adding the letter "e" to convey electronic was a huge fad, pursued originally by the electronic wizards and later adopted by the real copy-cats like eSteel and eLumber or eCement, mostly now in the eCemetry. Millions of dollars were wasted by each such copy-cat as they played to these expensive loony e-tunes.

There is nothing wrong in being wildly original, gutsy and or at times silly, provided you have a long-term strategy of protecting your intellectual property assets. There are Yahoo, Google and many other unusual, light-hearted names over something overly rigid and trying to be unique at any cost like, EXZIXIVENT Systems.

Regardless and at any cost, those corporations actively engaged in playing competitive war games in the marketplace and advancing their flotillas of name brand ships must have these new name identities of their advancing brands under the cover of solid intellectual property and a well-planned strategy, and not accidental naming. In a time where a few dollars research on Google will tell you who owns what trademark, and how many others are using a similar name, it is still amazing that billion dollar companies with millions in promotional campaigns would get caught up in these i-stupid games.

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Naseem Javed, recognized as a world authority on corporate image and global name identities, is a harsh critic of casual and accidental naming. He is a dynamic speaker on corporate image and branding issues, and is also the author of Naming for Power. He founded ABC Namebank International, an image and branding consultancy over 25 years ago. Website: www.abcnamebank.com