How we named our Soap

We sat down as a group and discussed names of soaps so we could then give our soap a name.

We listed current soap names and the reasoning behind their names. For example;

Eastenders- is called Eastenders because it is set in the East end of London and the short name tells the audience where the soap is set immediately in its name, also it is short and memorable. As the soap is called Eastenders it would attract people who live in East London already capturing a large audience.

Coronation Street- is called Coronation Street because that is also where it is set, However, it is more specific as the soap is named after the Street where the soap is set. This name would not relate to a specific group of people living on a street. However, by calling it a street name the audience can relate to the name as many people live on streets just like Coronation Street, which would give them a chance to identify with the soap which Denis McQuail states in his Uses and Gratifications theory is very important for audience members.

Emmerdale- is called Emmerdale because the village is called Emmerdale. The soap was originally called Emmerdale Farm until 1989, the reasons for the change in name was due to the soaps storyline being based around the farm however, then moved on to more storylines in the village of Beckindale. This then made the change of name more appropriate and relevant. The village name also changed in 1994 to Emmerdale, so now the soap is named after its village.

Hollyoaks- is named Hollyoaks because it is based in the suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks and also the College is called Hollyoaks Community College. This name was based around the college due to the majority of the cast being 15-30 years of age. Therefore, capturing their audience.

After sharing this research we then thought about possible names for our soap, we thought of street names such as:

Secret Street
- this would be relevant to storylines but it made the soap sound like a mystery or sci-fi which would put our target audience off watching.

Mulberry Street
- this was too sweet sounding, for example it sounds like a street in the country side due to Mulberrys being grown.

Hylands Street
-this was just picked at random and we didn't like it as it has no meaning behind and we had decided we wanted a name that stuck out and was relevant.

We also thought of areas that we knew around local villages;

Brickbarns- this is a road name in Gt Leighs in Essex, we did not like this as Barns could give the audience an impression of barn-like houses which would create an old fashioned image in their head, which is not what we want and not our aim.

St Andrews Road- this is a road in Boreham in Essex, this could be relevant if we had a character in our soap called Andrew, However we did not like that it said St.

Helen Howe- this is a road in Gt Leighs in Essex, we liked the name Helen and had that as a name for our main character in our soap so it is relevant there. Also the name Helen almost has the word Hell in it which I thought would sound good in a slogan about creating Hell in Helen Howe.

We chose the name Helen Howe because of the link to the character name and 'Hell'. Also, because it sounds unique and quirky which is what we want our soap to aim for so it stands out and attracts a large audience.





reference:
http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/television/emmerdale.htm