What's in a name? A lot when it comes to Wii.(Marketer of the Year)(Nintendo Company Ltd. changes its consoles name )(Brief article)

Advertising Age, October, 2007 by bulik, beth snyder

Byline: beth snyder bulik

And now the back story on that crazy name.

When Nintendo announced in April 2006 that it was changing the code name of its forthcoming console from Revolution to its permanent moniker, Wii, the world said, "What?''

Nintendo executives can't be that naive, right? They do know what people will think of, right? Wait, is it maybe just a strategy to build buzz?

No, yes and sort of.

Nintendo was not naive. In fact, it hired a respected branding and naming giant, Interbrand, to come up with the name (along with dozens of others that were discarded).

And, yes, Nintendo executives did know the urinary connotation of the word. They were prepared for the jokes and snickers but also knew those would...

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