Discussion about the name

Michel van Hagen MRA-Founder

As director of MyRoute-app, I have to choose the name of the app. That is not as easy as it seems . The company name is MyRoute-app. We have 2 products: 1. MRA Route Planner. 2. MRA Navigation Next. I think that's the most logical choice.

But...

The app is more than just a navigation app, it is also an extension of the website. In the future, more and more web functions will also be built into the app. That's why we named the free app 'MyRoute-app'. Recognizable and easy to find via search and future-proof.

The name of the navigation module that you can buy in-app or via the website is MRA Navigation Next, which is also the name we use for marketing and sales. You download the MyRoute app for free and you buy the MRA Navigation Next subscription for premium navigation.

That's how it is now.

Tips and comments are always allowed .

Jörgen

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder said in Discussion about the name:

Navigation Next

I like the naming "MRA Navigation Next", that works for most languages, it says something about the origin and that it is something new or a successor and is modern with a view into future.

Richard 18

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder

Naming things is always tricky. Rather like the contents of spreadsheets, what makes perfect sense to one person, sometimes makes no sense to someone else.

At the moment you have three things:

MRA Route Planner. This is also sort of known as Route Lab and sometimes spelt Routeplanner. This is where people create routes, create groups, share stuff etc.
MyRoute-app, which is the free version of the new ‘navigation and much much more’ app.
MRA Navigation Next, the new module, which bolts onto (if that is the right expression) the My Route-app.

I am active in the wide audience UKGSer forum’s GPS subsection and know for sure that it all creates some confusion, not least when people are not clear which of the three products they are talking about or (most likely) they just don’t know.

I think a part of the confusion comes from the repetition of MyRoute in the names. I can understand why you do it, as it’s the name of the parent company. But, it might not make life easy for some people.

Think of the giant Unilever company, with hundreds of brands. They don’t put Unilever in front of each of their products. But naming is not as easy as dropping something. Tyre companies, Michelin or Dunlop, for example, keep the company name in front of the individual model of tyre. People then drop the company name, saying “I love my Super Cup tyres”, expecting everyone to know that they are made by Michelin. Microsoft, all but drops it. For example, it’s Word, PowerPoint, Excel, with no real reference to Microsoft at all.

Good luck finding a new name or names…. To some it will be genius, to others crazy.

All the best,

Richard

PS I like the NEXT name, too.

Tom Cat

Personally, I prefer MRA Route Planner and MRA Navigation Next. I never really liked the app part of the name because it's more than just an app and 99% of my routes are planned on a laptop where I have a bigger screen and easy access to other tools I use to plan a route. I get that it's part of the company name, but I think MRA covers that.

I enjoyed being part of the beta and you guys did an awesome job at revamping the product. Congratulations!

Con Hennekens

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder, If you call the Navigation app "Next" I am already curious what the next app will be called

Rob Verhoeff

@Con-Hennekens "Branding" is such a difficult part of the whole proces. Ziggo does the same with their mediabox. They call it "Mediabox Next". I agree with you. What's comming "next"

Bart De Medts

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder personally, I would just call it Navigation.... without the "next".

Stefan Hummelink

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder In my opinion the "Next" appendix in the name should be removed. In 3 months time, nobody remembers the " old" MRA Navigation app and with it it's relation to a SEPARATE app.

I would simply offer the following product types and put out a e-mail to every registered user how the new system is connected together.

MyRoute-App Routeplanner
MyRoute-App Mobile (excl./incl. add-in Navigation module)

Along with the e-mail, the table view that is now hidden underneath the 'show all features' should be redesigned to be an eye-catching first view when one enters the webshop. Perhaps even an interactive flowchart that one can follow to identify the subscription one needs based on the features one wants to be able to use.

It all starts with identifying the differences between routeplanner subscription and navigation subscription.

Ad Bouman

@Bart-DM I agree. I worked for a company who had the names of their products prefixed with NEWGEN (New Generation). The marketing department decided that had to be dropped after 5 years also.

Con Hennekens

@Bart-DM, I agree, because that's what it is. The subscription should be called Navigation. The App already has a name. MyRoute-App...

Nick Carthew

First of all I think that the name MyRoute-app should only be used for the company as a whole. I also think that all products should start with the prefix MRA.
MRA RoutePlanner
MRA Mobile
MRA Navigation

Bart De Medts

@Nick-Carthew Exact!

Jack van Tilburg

@Nick-Carthew +1

Michel van Hagen MRA-Founder

We do not think MRA Mobile covers the load if you are looking for a route app in the App Store and Google Play.

That is why we chose MyRoute-app, a brand name with protection. If you find us via the protected brand name 'MyRoute-app', you can choose from the products MRA Routeplanner and MRA Navigation Next or continue to use MyRoute-app for free.

With the Next addition, we distance ourselves from the old, not so well-reviewed app. After all, we have embarked on a new path. There will therefore be no Next after the Next.

But interesting discussion, keep it alive!

Richard 18

@Nick-Carthew said in Discussion about the name:

First of all I think that the name MyRoute-app should only be used for the company as a whole. I also think that all products should start with the prefix MRA.
MRA RoutePlanner
MRA Mobile
MRA Navigation

I agree. That is what I was sort of leaning towards with my comment about Unilever.

Use MyRoute only for corporate or holding company stuff. Likewise, MyRoute app.

For everything else, the three (hopefully) simple names should do.

Bart De Medts

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder I understand you, but the old app will be forgotten very quickly. That you choose the name MyRoute app instead of MRA makes sense to me.

Drabslab

@Nick-Carthew said in Discussion about the name:

MRA RoutePlanner
MRA Mobile
MRA Navigation

I largely agree, I see no reason to continue with MRA Mobile. Navigation is mobile as well, no?

The "next" addition was a good title for the development project but can be forgotten now?

And, I do hope that the "next" phase of the routeplanner will remain a web and large screen based solution and not an attempt to squeeze route making into a tiny phone screen.

Stefan Hummelink

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder said in Discussion about the name:

With the Next addition, we distance ourselves from the old, not so well-reviewed app. After all, we have embarked on a new path. There will therefore be no Next after the Next.

Put yourself in the position of a potential new user 2 years from now. How does the Next addition in the name of MyRoute-App Navigation provide him with clear information? Next by itself implies a relation to something Previous. He/she most likely will never know about the old app since it is discontinued already by more than 1.75 years.

In fact, I would even go as far saying that Next only makes sure he or she is coming here on the forum to ask about the meaning of this Next thing only to know that it was due to an old app that got less positive reviews.

To me it would make sense to simply proceed with MyRoute-App Navigation as the title, since the apps are "merged" and no one can backtrack to the old app, except for the current user base, which should simply be informed about these critical changes.

But hey, that's just my two cents.

flamingm0e

@Michel-van-Hagen-MRA-Founder said in Discussion about the name:

That is why we chose MyRoute-app, a brand name with protection. If you find us via the protected brand name 'MyRoute-app', you can choose from the products MRA Routeplanner and MRA Navigation Next or continue to use MyRoute-app for free.

And sadly when I have told people about MyRoute-app, their google search yields a different product, because they searched for MyRoute (not understanding that APP is part of the company name). MyRoute is similar enough to people that don't know (because it's a website for creating routes for fleet vehicles, etc).

Con Hennekens

@StefanHummelink, totally right!