It is exciting and fun to create a new product! Along with the potential for increasing your bottom line, you get to name it. Imagine the fun back in the early 60s when those really smart "geeks" (and I use that term as a compliment) started working on the Internet. First implementation of the Net was in 1960 followed by the "@" symbol in addresses in 1971. Downloading of files through FTP and multiple-chat sessions started in 1973 followed by a key driver - email and commercial use of the Internet in 1994. Believing in the new industry and the expected benefits helped it to become the success it is today. However, you've got to believe. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Martin Luther King, Jr.
What about those early computer technology code names? Here are a few of my favorites: Batphone, Beagle, Bride of Buster, Buzz, Captain Rayno, Cheeze Whiz, Darth Vader, Falcon, Guinness, Houdini, Klingon, Leeloo, Ninevah, Obi Wan, Pooh, and, well you get the idea. It's all over the place. It seems to me that "techie" names today all have a lower case letter "e" or two words scrunched together with two capital letters. Not only are the names unique, creators are taking liberty with fonts. But why not? Haven't you heard of the eRevolution and eCommerce?
Thomas Edison said, "There are no rules here. We're trying to accomplish something." The United States Postal Service is exploring innovation with key constituent groups in an attempt to accomplish something too. They are evaluating ideas from CEOs, Mailers Technical Advisory Committee, Postal Customer Councils, and from stakeholders who attended the October 13th Innovation Symposium. They are going to compile and identify ideas with the potential for long-term value to customers and to their bottom line.
It will be great when the USPS can implement ideas that will do both. With an organization that reaches across the US affecting so many lives, some ideas will not be embraced with open arms from everyone. People generally resist change. However, with innovation - especially in our increasingly technology-driven world - will be change. "The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Alan Watts
What about that new product dance? What should the brand names be? How about these?
· Email distribution through the USPS. Provide internet "@" address and access (for a charge) for every delivery point: Brand Name: USPS MailEAddress
· Post Office lobbies to house a national coffee retailer. Relax, enjoy your coffee, and catch up on your MailE. Locations branded as MailEJava
· Online bill payment management by the USPS. Brand Name: USPS ePayIt
It will be exciting and fun to see the new products that the USPS will introduce. I'm sure they will be much better than what I came up with, but I'd sure welcome visiting a MailEJava conveniently located in towns closest to where I live and work!
What about those early computer technology code names? Here are a few of my favorites: Batphone, Beagle, Bride of Buster, Buzz, Captain Rayno, Cheeze Whiz, Darth Vader, Falcon, Guinness, Houdini, Klingon, Leeloo, Ninevah, Obi Wan, Pooh, and, well you get the idea. It's all over the place. It seems to me that "techie" names today all have a lower case letter "e" or two words scrunched together with two capital letters. Not only are the names unique, creators are taking liberty with fonts. But why not? Haven't you heard of the eRevolution and eCommerce?
Thomas Edison said, "There are no rules here. We're trying to accomplish something." The United States Postal Service is exploring innovation with key constituent groups in an attempt to accomplish something too. They are evaluating ideas from CEOs, Mailers Technical Advisory Committee, Postal Customer Councils, and from stakeholders who attended the October 13th Innovation Symposium. They are going to compile and identify ideas with the potential for long-term value to customers and to their bottom line.
It will be great when the USPS can implement ideas that will do both. With an organization that reaches across the US affecting so many lives, some ideas will not be embraced with open arms from everyone. People generally resist change. However, with innovation - especially in our increasingly technology-driven world - will be change. "The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Alan Watts
What about that new product dance? What should the brand names be? How about these?
· Email distribution through the USPS. Provide internet "@" address and access (for a charge) for every delivery point: Brand Name: USPS MailEAddress
· Post Office lobbies to house a national coffee retailer. Relax, enjoy your coffee, and catch up on your MailE. Locations branded as MailEJava
· Online bill payment management by the USPS. Brand Name: USPS ePayIt
It will be exciting and fun to see the new products that the USPS will introduce. I'm sure they will be much better than what I came up with, but I'd sure welcome visiting a MailEJava conveniently located in towns closest to where I live and work!
Wanda Senne is the National Director of Postal Development for World Marketing. Contact her at wsenne@worldmarkinc.com or 770-431-2591.
