What's in a name? Sometimes everything when it comes to marketing a new product. Companies spend substantial amounts of money on the naming of products and advertising campaigns to promote them. Microsoft probably spent millions.

Well Apple (AAPL) has a solid product in the iPod and iTune brands, that's for sure. But its market position is made even more secure because, starting a few laps behind, the "Zune" from Microsoft (MSFT) seems like it will go nowhere fast.

There is no indication that the Zune will bring with it any fresh ideas or features. It seems to be another, "We have to have a piece of that market somehow product." See Underwhelming Zune in Forbes.

Does this Zune work for you? Anybody got a better idea? Anybody think this has the smallest chance of competing with the iPod? Maybe they throw billions of dollars at the project and create another money losing X-BOX? Actually X-BOX works as a brand name. MP3 is a cooler name than Zune. I could write a "Rap-tune", would I write a Rap-Zune?

iTunes works for me... but iZunes?, Zuner?, Zunettes?, Zune Video?, MicroZune? (that might work) Oh well, not my gig. They must have done some advance market research -- did they call you? Maybe a Microsoft executive somewhere has a kid named Zune?

I'm sure there are people who like the name, and if the product was remarkable the name would grow on me, but there is no reason to believe this is going to happen here.

A "rose by any other name" - NOT

Disclosure: I do not own Apple of Microsoft stock but my kids have iPods.

Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the vice president for Design and Research of an Architecture & Planning firm.

Microsoft Zune - What is in a name? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 Sep 2006 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.