Monday, February 07, 2005

Redundant names

National Trade Publications, a family-owned company based in upstate New York in the town of Latham, is changing its name. Henceforth the company, which publishes titles such as "Professional Carwashing & Detailing" and "Cleaning and Maintenance Management," will be called NTP Media. The new moniker is meant to convey that the company has moved beyond print into Web properties, e-mail newsletters and research services.
The new name seems redundant to me. Publications are media, and until folks forget what NTP stands for, the company is likely to be known as National Trade Publications Media.
That's still considerably better than when some genius at Primedia decided to change the title of that company's B2B unit to the hilariously redundant -- Primedia Business Magazines and Media.
I worked there at the time. And to add to the redundancy silliness, my title was changed to vice president for online content and editorial.