Kodak Can't Decide What To Call Its Next Camera

When The Boston Globe reviewed Kodak's latest pocket handicam, the pub dissed the product's "dreadful" nomenclature. Surely, writer Hiawatha Bray wondered, Kodak can come up with something better than "Zi8."*

Nope!

Which is why they want YOU to name their next video camera.** From now until this coming Monday August 24, you can submit product names on Kodak's corporate blog OR via Twitter &mdash just @ reply Kodak CMO JeffreyHayzlett and hash tag your suggestion with #NameAKodak.

Winner gets a trip to CES 2010 to see the unveiling of the new camera***. 100 runner-ups get a free Kodak Zi8.

Thus far, I can't say the crowd-branding has delivered too many plausible or palatable names. Many of the straightforward entries sound gimmicky ("MILI. You'll sell a mili-on"), familiar ("Zen"), or too hodgepodge-y ("Camvantix"). My favorite non-serious entry is "The Zod," which was posted by a guy named Fabien. Kudos to you, Fabien.

Here's a few quick suggestions of my own:

*The Kodak ZiRule (cause its predecessor does, in fact, rule)
*The Kodak Zzzz (ironic!)
*The Kodak HDude (Jeff Bridges endorses, in character)
*The Kodak J-Allison (lampoon-y!)
*The Kodak Raul (non-sequitur-ial!)

Got any legit and/or hilarious suggestions?

*For the record, I agree the name isn't terrific, but it's certainly not as bad as TrekStor's iBeat blaxx MP3 player from a couple years back.

**As everyone knows, tapping the wisdom of the crowd is the latest and greatest go-to ad/market/content gimmick... or at least it was back in 2006 when Wired dubbed crowdsourcing the "future of corporate R&D."

***The cam pictured above is the Zi8. Kodak hasn't released any photos or details about the new cam. But, I'm guessing it won't look too dissimilar from the Zi8. I've love to be proven wrong! ;)