Intranets and corporate culture should go hand in hand. If your intranet is not reflecting the culture in your organization and the site is boring or dry, consider how good old fashioned brand marketing can change attitudes towards technology. Apple does a great job in providing catchy and friendly names attached to their technology that helps to engage. Combine a catchy name with a clever tag line on your intranet, build a strong brand design, and you can do a lot to attract employees and reflect your culture.
So what’s the big deal about what you name your intranet? As it turns out, a lot. Just ask Mary Olsen, VP of Marketing at Delta Community who recently talked to The Financial Brand regarding their highly-branded intranet site.
“The Financial Brand interviewed Mary Olson, VP of Marketing, Delta Community, and talked about the credit unions’ creatively branded employee intranet, affectionately named “Simon.” Simon is the portal for all employee communications — the guy who knows what’s going on inside the credit union. But Simon is more than just an intranet. He is a full-fledged internal spokesman and mascot, complete with a costume and foam head.”
Devon Cook, Assistant Vice President of Human Resources and Training at Deseret First Credit Union and an Intranet Connections client, explains why they decided to call their intranet TeamNet.
“We call our intranet TeamNet to reflect a part of our culture here at Deseret. We put a lot of emphasis on teams: how each team supports the individual in their progress personally and professionally. It all works together in providing the best possible products and services to our customers.”
An intranet name, or creating an intranet identity with personality, is a great start to building your intranet brand and can help spread the word about your company core values. Attaching a personality can make the intranet more approachable for your employees.
Some tips!
| Keep your intranet name in line with your corporate culture and style |
| Consider a friendly and catchy name that you can build a campaign around |
| Use a name that reflects the goals you set out for the intranet |
| Use a tag line to help explain the purpose of the intranet |
| Choose a name that will be applicable to future growth and technology |
| Engage your audience: run a contest with staff for the best intranet name |
Some ideas!
| City Buzz | The Insider | District Junction (DJ) |
| Lynx (mascot) | BUG (acronym) | Intra-Scene |
| Society | iConnect | One Hub |
| Inner Circle | TeamNet | Common Connection |
| Brutus (mascot) | The Watercooler | Intra-Zone |
| Inside Focus | The Edge | Community Lounge |
| FaceTime | Roc Worx |
Other Resources
For more ideas on intranet names, visit Stephan Schillerwein’s Intranet Matters Blog. Also check out Step Two Design’s post on Naming the Intranet. It’s a great resource and provides good information on what to consider when deciding on an engaging name for your intranet.
Update: another good article on intranet branding by Peter Richards on his excellent blog, Wheat & Chaff. Check it out here.
Tags: enterprise tools, intranet deployment, Intranet Success, Intranet tips
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Very interesting topic.
My company just won the award at the Danish event “IntraTeam Event 2010″ and we changed the name when we re-launched it. The old name was remembered as “crap” and we feared the “same shit, new wrapping” thinking.
So we made a international competition and got over 100 replies from employees. The jury voted in several rounds and I, as intranet manager, commented on how the names could be used before the last round (can it be used in a sentence – does it include something catchy or strategic and so on).
Eventually we ended with the name “C-Net” which for use made a lot of sence. Our company name starts with a “C”. It’s a knowledge intensive company so insights (to see / [C]) is important. Our 4 strategic intranet focus areas start with a C (Communiaction, Collaboration, Content and Complete tasks).
Best regards
Christian Skjaeran
Intranet Manager at Chr. Hansen
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