The new iPad, a missed branding opportunity

I shall name thee The Newest iPad - at least until you're not

It seems like since yesterday’s presentation by Apple, the tech community is buzzing about the new iPad. One of the points that new Apple CEO Tim Cook stressed during the presentation was that the new iPad, which now sports an impressive HD retina-display screen, has no official name. It’s not the iPad 3, it’s not the iPad HD, it’s not the iPad Retina, it’s not even the iPad 2.1, or any of a plethora of actual names that would adequately brand the product. It is simply the new iPad.

To me this seems very poorly planned out, and a totally missed branding opportunity. It’s just not very forward thinking, as it doesn’t particularly allow for future expansion on the name and the naming conventions that consumers have come to expect. If and when a newer iPad is released, will this still be known as the new iPad? Even the new iPhone 4S had a name that slightly distinguishes it from previous models in the consumer’s eyes. It will be interesting to see how Apple refers to “the new iPad” when it is no longer the newest model available.

It reminds me a lot of the tragic naming of the Final Destination series of horror films:

In retrospect, not quite so final

The first three films of the series followed logical naming conventions – Final Destination, followed by Final Destination 2 and 3. For the 4th film in the series, they picked the name “The Final Destination” – the implication of course being that this is the culmination of the series, the grand finale. It turned out a poor choice, as the 5th film returned to the original naming convention as Final Destination 5, leaving audiences confused on the order of the films. For the next films, I’m thinking The Finaler Destination, followed by Final Destination 7 and then of course, The Finalest Destination.

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