Snappening: Company Name Importance

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Anyone who has ever tried to come up with a new and original name for a business knows how difficult it can be. Even the best name drawn up on a whiteboard can run into issues. As is likely happening with increasing frequency, these names are either identical or too similar to existing companies. This is precisely why many companies are choosing to dream up their own names out of gibberish words. After all, what IS a Google, anyways? And some companies will nail down the name but then forget to register on a site like LegalZoom. In an example of pure coincidence that even the most advanced (and fictional) random events sequencer couldn’t dream up, one startup has found themselves the unintended beneficiaries of the latest security scandal to rock the Internet.

Yet Another Breach
If you search “The Snappening,” you’ll find countless stories about a security breach and a cache of what may be thousands of sexually explicit photos and videos of minors. Though the social network is not directly involved in this latest controversy, Snapchat has had to issue comments about the Snappening, saying their users have been “victimized” by a third party application which stored photos for later viewing. It’s suggested that images gathered via Snapsaved.com, the third party in question, are at the center of this leak. The Internet has collectively decided to call this news event “The Snappening,” a play on “The Fappening,” an earlier breach of celebrities’ mobile devices which left intimate photos of famous celebs widely available for perusing.
 
Right Place at the Right Time?
Yet anyone typing in “The Snappening” to their favorite search engine will also come across “Snappening.com.” a startup whose name is more portmanteau than gibberish. As it turns out, Snappening is a startup event planning service based in Indianapolis, Indiana. (The name is a play on their motto, “Event planning in a snap.”) Though every young company dreams of the kind of traffic Snappening.com has been receiving, it’s not all been from Indiana mothers looking for venues for their five year old’s birthday party.
The enterprising owners of Snappening.com have taken it all in stride and are even using this brief bit of coincidence to their benefit. Using the hashtag #TheSnappening as their own, the event planning depot has created an image all their own and have passed it around Twitter. “Don’t worry ladies…we’ve got you covered in all the right places” reads the caption for a picture of a cartoon lady showering. All the “right places,” of course, are covered in colorful cartoon bubbles.
 
A Lesson On Adapting
Bad news travels fast, especially in the age of the Internet. If the marketers at Snappening.com hadn’t been quick on their feet and able to adapt to constantly changing scenarios, this scandal could have claimed another victim. Any marketers, especially those representing startups, will do best to take a page from Snappening.com and learn to always be adapting to constant change. And if possible, do it with a bit of levity as well.
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