Nike

Naming something like a company or product sounds easy enough, but as soon as you sit to write all those delicious, creative ideas down, writers blocks comes out of nowhere with a right hook… BAM!!! Now what? You’re sitting and staring at that blank piece of paper with nary a clue as to what you’re doing. I know how hard naming can be. It took me 5 whole days after my son was born to name him, and I didn’t even give him any of the names I spent months writing down and thinking of. Naming is important to all of us. We want that perfect name right off the bat. Unfortunately it’s not that easy. For a proper name these days, it takes more than luck to get the perfect one. Let’s examine one of my favorite brands. There are companies out there that have catchy names, but few of us ponder why it is what it is. Take for instance Nike. Everyone knows who they are, and we can recognize their logo easy, but what about the name? Did you know that in 1968 Nike was actually incorporated as Blue Ribbon Sports? It was only in 1978 that they became Nike. Think about that name “Blue Ribbon Sports.” It’s like saying that everyone who wears their product are blue ribbon winners. It’s very straight forward, and you don’t need to think too much about it, but the name isn’t very catchy. Now let’s look at the name Nike. Nike is a short 2 syllable word so it’s really easy to remember. Do you know the meaning behind the word? There’s no better place to look for athletics than Greece, where the Olympics was born. It’s a mystery how the Olympics all began, but legend has it that it was all started by Heracles and Zeus. We all know that the Olympics is a battle of strength, courage, wits, and determination, and who better to aid in your battles than Nike, the goddess of strength, speed and victory. It all starts with Pallas, who was a titan associated with war, and Styx who was the goddess of the underworld river styx who personified the spirit of hatred. Now you put war and hatred together...