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May 29, 2009

Packard Bell Brand Naming Re-invented for Ferrari Lovers

I'm sure we all remember Packard Bell, the first American radio manufacturer that morphed into an ill-fated computer manufacturer in the 1980s.

Despite having the dubious honor of being the brand name radio used by the castaways on Gilligan's Island and the even more dubious honor of being ranked by PC Magazine as producing the worst PCs of all time, the company appears to be surviving outside the U.S., having left our shores almost a decade ago.

Its new parent, Acer, just redesigned and recreated Packard Bell's logo and tagline and has the company producing some very interesting computer products.

The logo's coloring looks like it was taken off a Ferrari, which is probably because the Italian car design group Pininfarina helped design their new notebook range. Acer also seems to want to shift the name's focus to "PB" and the new tagline, "Puredesire."

Their marketing color scheme matches the Ferrari red and they describe their top of the range Easynote TR85 as a "piece of art."

Never mind that Packard Bell once had twice the computer returns as its competitors, these new computers really mold the brand into a lovely, upscale niche. In fact, Packard Bell has really been reinvented overseas as a stylish brand. Interestingly, its parent company also owns Gateway, which will be aimed at the U.S. almost entirely.

Even more interesting is the brand naming of the ancillary products. The notebooks include the Butterfly, while there is also a desktop called the iMedia, a smaller iMax Mini and the iPower gaming PC.

Their strategy appears to be a direct swipe at Apple, not only in terms of design but also in terms of its brand nomenclature.

Technorati Tags: Packard Bell, Computer Branding, Computer Naming, Logo Design, Computer Logo Design

Posted by William Lozito at May 29, 2009 9:24 AM
Posted to Brand Naming | Branding | Company Naming | Industry | Marketing | Naming | Product Naming | Slogans | Taglines | Technology

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