What's in a name?
We're struggling with something here that a lot of websites have to deal with: How do we squeeze 32 characters into a headline area that holds 22 characters? But while MSN, MSNBC.com and other news and information sites just need to think harder when faced with this challenge, we don't always have that luxury.
At issue is the fact Microsoft's branding folks are hoping to shift people's thinking when it comes to the Office name. While we used to be able to rely on the word Office to mean Microsoft Office when people thought of productivity software, we don't have a copyright on the word and there are now competitors with the name Office in their brand. So, starting with the 2003 release, branding's message to the company was, "Put 2003 before Office and refer to our collection of products as the 2003 Microsoft Office System." Or was it the 2003 Microsoft Office Editions? Maybe it was the 2003 Microsoft Office release.
Therein lies the problem: Nearly everybody outside of Microsoft Branding refers to the current collection of applications, solutions, etc., as Office 2003. We've had an unwritten agreement to use that term in headlines we write and have long forgotten the official name. Well, no longer will that fly. The next version of Office is officially known as the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Little 's'. Year before the product. Exactly 32 characters. Naturally, Office Online editors balked. When newspapers, trade journals, bloggers and even company executives are saying Office 2007, you assume that's going to hold muster with branding. It's not. When even SteveB himself gets flame mail (OK, maybe only a flicker mail, but still an e-mail) reminding him to use the proper wording, you know it's serious.
Here's the "watered down so the managing editor can understand it reasoning" and why we will try as best as we can to comply:
- You don't say Yugo 2007. The new Yugo is the 2007 Yugo. I know they don’t actually import Yugos to the US anymore. But a boy can dream.
- People don't generally identify which version of Office they have.
- If you put the year ahead of the product name people will pay more attention to the year, and hence more attention to the fact they may not have the latest and greatest version.
It's a mind shift. We know readers are more apt to click on a headline with "Office 2007" in the text instead of "The 2007 Microsoft Office system." But we have to start differentiating our products from the competitors. So we'll compromise. We'll try to fit that long brand name into headlines when we can. We'll always fit that name into body copy in articles. Where we can't fit it, we're free to use "Microsoft Office," "the new Microsoft Office," "the 2007 release," and other variations.
Maybe we'll turn our attention to campaigning for cooler codenames. Office "12"? How about Office "Area 51"? The next version after 2007? Why not Office "Revolution"? I hear that name may be available now.
Mark Talkington, managing editor
