Branding
So it is with great consternation that I address the issue of branding myself. In the online landscape it is important to have a recognizable presence, especially if you plan on contributing to the web in a meaningful way. As an up-and-coming person in media production, it is doubly important to build awareness for myself, my potential future companies, and projects. Online I have used many names, but in the last couple of years I settled on “Hoodie Weather” as the brand I wanted to claim as my own. I love hoodies, I love the crisp temperature perfect for hoodies, and I think it expresses a lot about my personal style.
Problem: I am not the first person to utilize this phrase. I am not the first person online to use this phrase. I am not even the first person on social media and blog sites to use this as a name. Hence my twitter containing an underscore, my blog containing a hyphen, etc etc. This inconsistency means not every Hoodie_Weather online is me, just on Twitter. Every Hoodie-Weather isn’t me either, that’s just on blogspot. None of the HoodieWeathers out there are me. If I ever want to truly claim that as my brand, I will need to fork out a lot of dough to buy up these permutations, or just settle on one. And the issue here is some sites allow the hyphen but not the underscore, and some vice-versa. For consistency’s sake I really need a name without punctuation I can use everywhere. And there is the rub: to do that, I really have to give up Hoodie Weather. And that, my dears, pains me.
Long have I used the online moniker of MissilePenguin; it comes from a childhood creation of mine, a heroic penguin who could fly thanks to a rocket pack on his back. Think the Rocketeer in small, feathered form. Thankfully this name has remained mostly mine, having rarely seen anyone else take it from me. The typical google search will just bring up the ‘Penguin’ missile used by the army during the Gulf War. Maybe this is the solution I have always been looking for? I have the Missilepenguin AIM name, the gmail, yahoomail, and numerous forum names as Missilepenguin. Is it any wonder I should just make MissilePenguin the brand of Marshall James?
For a long time I considered “Island of Buffalo” for my production company name, it even graces a few of the short films I made in high school. It again come from from my childhood; I had recurring dreams of this same surreal island and being really into ‘Peter Pan’ I naturally assumed that this island was my Neverland, and in the way you just ‘know’ certain things in dreams, I just ‘knew’ the island was named Buffalo and that it had no living buffaloes on it. I described this place in several short fictions and poems in high school and college and thought the name really exemplified me in this raw creative state.
I’ve received various nicknames over the years, but none have really stuck. Recently, the girlfriend branded me “Marshupial” and I like it. I really like the idea of the brand containing something i truly identify with just myself, and what better thing than my very name?
It is late. She told me to sleep on it, it might come to me then. Good advice. Buffalo, here I come.
So it is with great consternation that I address the issue of branding myself. In the online landscape it is important to have a recognizable presence, especially if you plan on contributing to the web in a meaningful way. As an up-and-coming person in media production, it is doubly important to build awareness for myself, my potential future companies, and projects. Online I have used many names, but in the last couple of years I settled on “Hoodie Weather” as the brand I wanted to claim as my own. I love hoodies, I love the crisp temperature perfect for hoodies, and I think it expresses a lot about my personal style.
Problem: I am not the first person to utilize this phrase. I am not the first person online to use this phrase. I am not even the first person on social media and blog sites to use this as a name. Hence my twitter containing an underscore, my blog containing a hyphen, etc etc. This inconsistency means not every Hoodie_Weather online is me, just on Twitter. Every Hoodie-Weather isn’t me either, that’s just on blogspot. None of the HoodieWeathers out there are me. If I ever want to truly claim that as my brand, I will need to fork out a lot of dough to buy up these permutations, or just settle on one. And the issue here is some sites allow the hyphen but not the underscore, and some vice-versa. For consistency’s sake I really need a name without punctuation I can use everywhere. And there is the rub: to do that, I really have to give up Hoodie Weather. And that, my dears, pains me.
Long have I used the online moniker of MissilePenguin; it comes from a childhood creation of mine, a heroic penguin who could fly thanks to a rocket pack on his back. Think the Rocketeer in small, feathered form. Thankfully this name has remained mostly mine, having rarely seen anyone else take it from me. The typical google search will just bring up the ‘Penguin’ missile used by the army during the Gulf War. Maybe this is the solution I have always been looking for? I have the Missilepenguin AIM name, the gmail, yahoomail, and numerous forum names as Missilepenguin. Is it any wonder I should just make MissilePenguin the brand of Marshall James?
For a long time I considered “Island of Buffalo” for my production company name, it even graces a few of the short films I made in high school. It again come from from my childhood; I had recurring dreams of this same surreal island and being really into ‘Peter Pan’ I naturally assumed that this island was my Neverland, and in the way you just ‘know’ certain things in dreams, I just ‘knew’ the island was named Buffalo and that it had no living buffaloes on it. I described this place in several short fictions and poems in high school and college and thought the name really exemplified me in this raw creative state.
I’ve received various nicknames over the years, but none have really stuck. Recently, the girlfriend branded me “Marshupial” and I like it. I really like the idea of the brand containing something i truly identify with just myself, and what better thing than my very name?
It is late. She told me to sleep on it, it might come to me then. Good advice. Buffalo, here I come.
i just made up the name oansun, and used it everywhere. I am the only oansun, and I use it everywhere. Plus its short and memorable for it's "WTF is your name?" quality. I made a very clear decision for "internet brand name" quality. So I am with you on that.
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