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  • May 2011
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

The Best Way to Name Your Product 2.0

By: Marco Bertini, John Gourville and Elie Ofek
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Abstract

Although there's ample research to guide marketers in naming new products, little of it has addressed follow-on offerings, even though these make up the bulk of new products in many industries. Companies have two basic strategies to choose from. They can stick with a name, often adding a sequential indicator (PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3), or they can come up with an entirely new name (Nintendo's Wii). Three questions managers should consider when deciding whether brand-name continuation or brand-name change is the best way to go for their next-generation product.

Keywords

Product Development; Management; Brands And Branding; Strategy

Citation

Bertini, Marco, John Gourville, and Elie Ofek. "The Best Way to Name Your Product 2.0." Harvard Business Review 89, no. 5 (May 2011).
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About The Authors

Marco Bertini

Marketing
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John T. Gourville

Marketing
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Elie Ofek

Marketing
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More from the Authors
  • HP Instant Ink: (Self) Disrupting the Consumer Printing Market By: Elie Ofek and Marco Bertini
  • Customer Lifetime Social Value (CLSV) By: Elie Ofek, Barak Libai and Eitan Muller
  • Tencent: Combining Technology and Culture By: Elie Ofek
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