Branding Your Intranet Through Its Name and “Personality”
Intranet Project Names - Some Ideas: Why are so many intranets called “The Intranet”? If not that, you see two common derivations: a “-net” suffix or a “my-” prefix — ex. “BigCoNet” or “MyBigCo”.
This guys argues for some creative license in naming your intranet.
What about names like “Project Connect” or “Project Gateway”, which serve to signal the core “must have” requirements for the project? […] The abstract approach deals with how the project makes people feel. For example, “Project Bliss” (for happiness), “Project Wizard” (for magic) or “Project Pulse” (for fast-pacedness).
[…] I suppose there are always the standard fallback options: names of greek or roman gods, names of planets, names of birds and names of dances. These have the added value that - if you spawn follow-on projects in a sequence - you have ready-made logical follow-on project titles.
While I think some of that was meant as humor, it does speak to a interesting question: just how much personality can your intranet have? The team at Avenue A/Razorfish recently posted about their first intranet and discussed the concept of “playfulness on an intranet.”
So what is MOM 3000? It was the original Razorfish intranet. A much loved one well before its time. Why? Because it had a strong personality that we all loved.
[…] When you design your next intranet, think about how you can establish an emotional connection with your audience. Just because an intranet is a business tool, it doesn’t mean it needs to be devoid of emotion. And nor does it need to be deadly serious either. An element of playfulness can give you those page views that you have been yearning for all year.
Digital Web Magazine ran a piece on the same thing earlier these year: IntraBranding: Why Your Intranet Needs Its Own Personality. Some of the benefits they tossed out for branding your intranet include:
By creating an IntraBrand for the intranet you […] Create a dynamic identity and community for the workforce. Even if elements of the intranet include prominent corporate messaging, goals, etc., this is the employees environment, and if they don’t use the site, it quickly diminishes in value.
[…] An intranet’s lifespan can extend even further than the careers of many employees. While the organization itself may be buffeted by external forces, be restructured, or even be sold to another corporation, the intranet may provide a sense of stability and community.