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October 22, 2009

Guilt, Shame: Hot Naming Trends You Simply Can't Pass Up

The Wall Street Journal has a great piece up today about guilt and shame and how they figure into the shoppers mindset.

Guilt and shame are really the new black this season, the buzzwords that everyone should be thinking about in the naming and branding business. Or as Christina Passariello puts it, "In the past year, the guilty pleasure of shopping has turned to plain old guilt" and this has led to what one pundit calls "luxury guilt."

This has led to some interesting branding decisions. They cite The Daily Obsession, a shopping blog, and the aptly named Gilt Groupe, which offers online, high-end sales by invitation only, as examples of avenues for the newest guilty pleasure.

Similarly, one of the hottest stores in Paris is called Merci, while a quick perusal of Google gets us Guilt Free Shopping at Gilt.com and "No Guilt" shopping articles at Madison Avenue Spy.

Softpedia also informs us that "Women feel guilty about shopping but Can't Stop," where one ice cream maker tells us that "Life at the moment is full of stresses with money being right up there, but it's difficult to break the habit of a lifetime. Going shopping now comes with more baggage so women are trying to find creative ways to justify their spree."

So what makes shopping "guilt free?" There seems to be two lines of thought:

• One - you offer outrageous sales that allow consumers to say that it is too good of a deal to pass up.
• Or two - you partner with a charity or environmental cause, which generates the idea that you may be spending money, but not to worry, it is for a good cause.

Hence there is "guilt-free jewelry shopping" to be done and the promise on Thankful Planet where you can "give more" and experience "no more green buying guilt" by shopping to both save and help the planet at the same time.

You can even "treat your dog's taste buds - without the guilt." Our Canines Linguists, Chomsky and Pushkin, will most definitely appreciate that.

Technorati Tags: Guilt-Free Shopping, Guilt Branding, Shopping Shame, Guilt-Free Naming, Naming and Branding

Posted by William Lozito at October 22, 2009 8:33 AM
Posted to Apparel | Brand Naming | Branding | Fashion | Food | Industry | Marketing | Naming | Retail

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