March 16, 2010

Tommy Hilfiger's $3.38 Billion Acquisition Biggest Deal Ever in Apparel Naming and Branding

The Tommy Hilfiger name has been acquired by the Philips Van Heusen Corporation (PVH) for $3.38 billion after the current owners failed to get it listed.

Tommy Hilfiger may seem to be a true American brand but in fact two thirds of the company's business is in Europe.

Philips Van Heusen also owns Calvin Klein, Izod, and Arrow, and the plan is to launch the name into Asia, making Hilfiger a truly global brand name. This is also the biggest deal ever in terms of dollars spent to acquire a clothing brand and makes Philips Van Heusen the world's fourth largest apparel company.

This almost certainly signals a revamp for the brand which saw its heyday in the preppy 80's and 90's and which is on an upswing after some bad years.

Some say this mega-deal is the "return of private equity."

But what is really interesting is that PVH is trying to ensure that control of Tommy Hilfiger himself rests with them. PVH is seeking "ironclad" ability to control the name, and not just the trademarks. Hilfiger is staying on as "Principal Designer and Visionary" for the Tommy Hilfiger brand but he has been quietly acquiring smaller brands, leading to the worry on the part of PVH that Hilfiger may have plans to create a breakout, competitive brand name.

Ultimately, they need to avoid what happened around the Joseph Abboud name, a trademark law precedent I have written about before. In this case, Jospeh Abboud found a way to use his name to promote another line of clothes after selling it off to another buyer.

Should Hilfiger do the same this, it would sour a deal that is fifty times larger than Abboud's $65.5 million 2008 acquisition by JA Apparel.

Technorati Tags: Tommy Hilfiger, Philips Van Heusen, Apparel, Branding, JA Apparel

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January 18, 2010

Can SJP Make Halston Naming and Branding Fashionable Again?

Sometimes the names of people and the names of brands go together beautifully. Think about Apple and Steve Jobs, or Microsoft and Bill Gates. The people behind the brand name often drive the brand itself through the sheer force of their personality and celebrity.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the fashion world, where the names of designers are the brand. Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Joseph Abboud: these are people whose names are also labels.

One brand that seems to be learning this the hard way is Halston. Yeah, that's right, Halston, as in the mega-seventies brand that Billy Joel mentions in "Big Shot". Back when disco was the thing, Halston made the must-have dresses for anyone who wanted to be fashionable.

Its larger than life founder, Roy Halston Frowick, who died in 1990 after being tossed out of Halston in 1984 partly due to his excessive drug use, led the kind of flamboyant lifestyle we have come to expect from high-end designers.

Even after twenty years, the name still is well known and there have been six attempts to bring it back , all of them failures. This, even though seventies era-style seems to be making a comeback. As the New York Times reported at the start of 2008, the brand has "a lot of believers" but loses millions of dollars.

In 1993 one writer said that bringing back Halston would be "the fashion equivalent of reuniting the Beatles." Some really slick designers have done their best since then to make the brand work.

Now, the task of bringing Halston back has fallen to Sex and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker, who will take a design role in the Halston Heritage collection affordable dresses that are "updated archival Halston pieces."

SJP may be able to do this, not least because this is Halston Lite: affordable wear with a big name attached. She is wearing the dresses in Sex and the City and doing all she can to retain her status as celebrity fashionista.

But her name is not Halston. This is still just a deep endorsement. After all, she is flogging us dresses out of the company's vaults. It seems to me that the fashion brand name needs the actual person behind it or it flounders.

The people that remember Halston are all getting to the age when wearing one piece minidresses is rather a challenge. If history is any teacher, if this works it will be on the back of SJP and not the Halston brand name.

Technorati Tags: Halston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City, fashion, brand,

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January 14, 2010

Tricky Joseph Abboud Naming and Branding Setting Trademark Law Precedents

Back in 2008 I wrote a blog about the ill fated Joseph Abboud name. When the famous designer sold his trademark to JA Apparel for $65.5 million, that company received all "associated names, trademarks, etc., including Joseph Abboud, designed by Joseph Abboud, JOE, JA, and similar or derivative terms."

Abboud has since tried to use his name in other fashion ventures, to no avail. He was allowed to "be himself" (whatever that means) but could not profit from the goodwill associated with the Abboud name.

Until now, that is.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a federal judge has ruled that he can use his name to promote a new line of clothing with a few caveats.

Abboud wants to use the tagline "a new composition by designer Joseph Abboud" and the court has ruled he can do so provided he also indicates that he is not associated with JA Apparel or products sold under the Jospeh Abboud trademarks.

Even more interesting, "That disclaimer can't be written in smaller print than the text in which his name is used" and "Mr. Abboud can't use his name on the new label's clothes, tags, labels or product packaging." He can only use it in marketing materials in a "descriptive" fashion and only "in a complete sentence or in a phrase, and [the name] can't be larger or more distinct than the words surrounding the sentence or phrase."

This is what the New York Post calls a "low key approach" but it is sending reverberations through the fashion world and certainly in the world of trademark law.

JA Apparel claims they are "thrilled" with the result of this suit (no pun intended).

In a statement from JA Apparel, the company stated, "While Mr. Abboud is free to compete in the consumer marketplace, he simply must do so without in any way using JA Apparel's valuable Joseph Abboud brand name. We are hopeful that this ruling ends this case and enables us to focus on continuing our successful efforts to build the Joseph Abboud global lifestyle brand in markets around the world."

I'm actually fairly sure they are not thrilled. It will be very easy for a designer to market the name on other brands while still staying within the parameters of the law. This is clearly a matter where the contract was ambiguous and it has led to much anguish on both sides.

This decision may open the floodgates for other entrepreneurs who sold their names to larger companies to endorse products made by those companies' competitors, albeit in a roundabout way.

It will also ensure that future contracts that involve the sale of a personal name that is also a brand name will become far more stringent.

Technorati Tags: Joseph AbboudJA Apparel, naming, Image Conflict, fashion, court, jacket,

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January 7, 2010

Weatherproof Blows a Presidential Naming And Branding Opportunity

The blogosphere is lit up with comments about the way the apparel company, Weatherproof, has appropriated President Obama's image for a massive billboard in Times Square.

The President was apparently wearing a Weatherpoof brand jacket when an AP photographer snapped a shot of him striking a thoughtful pose on the Great Wall. Weatherproof duly acquired rights to the image and turned it into an advertisement. The president of the company (somewhat cynically) commented, "We did this in good faith. This is an image that we thought would enhance the President of the United States.'

The White house has tartly commented that it "disapproves" of the billboard and most mainline newspapers and mags would not run the ad.

This kind of advertising, I think, is ultimately detrimental to the brand. While I will concede that Weatherproof has found a great image to use, it's pretty obvious that the President isn't a pitchman for any clothing company. One blogger reacted in "shock" at the photo, and then asked "Besides, what are we in China?".

Yes, this gets lots of attention but I'd say it's the wrong kind.

The company briefly sold this item as the "Obama Jacket" alongside the image. This is murky water in the legal sense, and according to at least one attorney, a "fight not worth fighting".

To me it smacks of sleaziness and makes the company look tawdry. I think there are better ways to associate your brand with a President - using PR, for instance, or possibly limiting the association between President Obama and the jacket to the online and offline catalogue.

President Clinton, for instance, will always be remembered for wearing a Timex Ironman watch, which he donated to the Smithsonian. Timex was very careful to not exploit the Clinton's image in such a crass way and the presidential association has lasted.

Why didn't Weatherproof simply place a few articles commenting on the fact that Obama traveled to China wearing an American made, inexpensive, dependable garment?

The company boasts on their web site about using "avant garde" marketing strategies but this is just dumb. The irony is that, right now, as a consumer, I don't even know which coat is the one Obama wore and I wouldn't mind checking it out. I'm sure I could spend another ten minutes figuring it out, but why bother?

Technorati Tags: BarackObama, Weatherproof, Image Conflict, Times Square, Billboard, jacket,

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December 23, 2009

Steve Nash Turns From Basketball to Naming and Branding

I'm going to blog about Canadian NBA player Steve Nash today, who is
gracefully turning himself into a meaningful brand name. He is nowhere near as big a name as Kobe Bryant or many other high profile athletes, but he is congruently building himself into a brand name as his professional basketball career winds down.

His new move is to take over the Fitness World chain and turn it into "Steve Nash Fitness World," this after starting with one fitness club only a few years ago.

He has also endorsed a line of Nike's using recycled material called "Trash Talk" (get it?) as well as a line of skin care products. He is well known for his philanthropic image and his genuine belief that people should become more fitness oriented.

The new buyout puts his name on 16 additional locations across Canada, and while the biggest competitor (Good-Life Fitness Centres Inc.) has a cool 200 locations, I would keep an eye on Nash.

Here is a guy who walks the talk. All of the brands endorsed have a common denominator of fitness and health. He's genuine and he means business. This is a nice change.

Technorati Tags: Steve Nash, Fitness World, Nike, Phoenix Suns, Endorsement

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October 28, 2009

Place Naming and Product Branding: A Symbiotic Relationship

Think about these famous brand names:

• Kate Spade


• Vineyard Vines


• Chanel

Each one proudly proclaims their origins.

The words Kate Spade on a product are almost always followed by the words "New York."

The labels on Vineyard Vines products share space with the words "Martha's Vineyard."

And Chanel perfumes elegantly bear the name "Paris" on the packaging.

The reason for this is obvious: these places add instant cachet and equity to the brand name. Chanel may be sold all over the world, but to buy a Chanel product, for millions of consumers, is to buy a piece of Paris. Likewise, Vineyard Vines products carry the tag and the Martha's Vineyard name with pride.

The point is, the brand's place of origin - or supposed place of origin - carries an instant attraction.

All three of these brands have associations with the cities they tout on their labels, but a moment of consideration is in order. What, exactly, is so "New York" about a Kate Spade bag? They are designed in New York, but many are manufactured in China.

I am also reminded of Apple Computer, whose packaging reads "Designed by Apple in California" (I have it right here beside my Mac), but we all know the stuff is built in China.

Similarly, Vineyard Vines does have a shop on Martha's Vineyard, but much of their business, and certainly their manufacturing, is done off-island.

Ditto for Chanel - the perfume is made in California, of all places.

Consumers like to have brands that have a distinct relationship with a supposed country of origin, but its likely that the connection is tenuous at best. The brand is essentially catching a free ride off of the equity of the place name they have chosen to associate themselves with.

It may be that the people who manage the New York, Paris and Martha's Vineyard brand names might want to have a word with Kate Spade, Chanel and Vineyard Vines, but the fact is that this is a symbiotic relationship. The more products and services that want to associate themselves to a place, the better it is for the place itself.

However, there should be at least some real connection to the place you want your brand associated with.

I can go visit the Vineyard Vines store in the Vineyard, or explore the Kate Spade design studio in Manhattan online, and Chanel has a well-known presence in Paris.

So long as the brand can say that it has at least a foothold in the place is associates itself with, customers will perceive it as authentic.

Technorati Tags: Place Naming, Place Branding, Kate Spade New York, Chanel Paris, Vineyard Vines Martha's Vineyard, Place Name Branding

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October 26, 2009

Olsenboye Girls Clothing Naming May Succeed Despite Odd Brand Name

There is a lot of excitement in the blogosphere about Olsenboye, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's new JCPenney's line, which pre-launches today.

This junior line will be available in 600 JCPenny's stores, receiving a large amount of support from an enormous marketing campaign. According to WWD Retail:

The effort kicks off Monday with an Olsenboye truck cruising around New York selling merchandise and giving out cupcakes, balloons and pins, and empty racks in 50 high-profile stores will be covered in Olsenboye shrouds. Beginning Nov. 6, Olsenboye will be available on jcp.com and in those 50 stores, including the Manhattan flagship, for a limited time.

The new line will also compliment the twins' higher end offerings known as The Row, and Elizabeth and James, but of course will carry lower price points.

As for the name Olsenboye, this is supposedly the twins' "ancestral name," but it does end with "boye," which pretty much sounds like "boy." A strange choice for a girls' fashion line.

This is the kind of name that makes me raise my eyebrows, and if anyone outside of the Olsen twins had selected it, I'd say that it was a terrible choice. But the Olsen twins seem to be a law unto themselves.

As I have said before, they are pushing adult fashion sophistication into the tweeny world. Despite the odd naming choice, this new brand may be positioned for success.

Technorati Tags: Olsenboye, Olsenboye Brand, Clothing Naming, Clothes Naming, Olsen Twins Clothing, Mary-Kate and Ashley

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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

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October 8, 2009

Stride Rite Company Naming Gives Way to Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group

The Stride Rite group will be doing business as "Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group," an integral part of its parent company, Collective Brands Inc. The news was made official yesterday at its Annual Investor Conference in Kansas City.

There will be "no change to the time-honored Stride Rite children's footwear brand or the Stride Rite Children's Group."

Collective Brands Performance + Lifestyle Group includes Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Keds and the Stride Rite Children's Group, along with Stride Rite, Robeez, Keds Kids, Saucony Kids and Sperry Top-Sider Kids.

According to one exec, "The new name best describes what brings us together - a collection of fiercely independent performance and lifestyle brands with unique personalities and strong marketplace positions, each focused on distinct and targeted customer groups. As well, as a result of being part of Collective Brands, we have a renewed and strengthened business model leveraging powerful infrastructure designed to platform our brands and businesses for maximum success in the global marketplace."

Collective Brands was formed in 2007 when Payless ShoeSource bought the Stride Rite Corp. and Collective Licensing International. Collective Brands, the parent company, will keep its name.

So this might go down as rather "meh" news save for the fact that this is a pretty savvy move that has caught the attention of investors. This is a strong company whose stable of well known brands seems to be on an upswing.

Each brand is well known, to be sure, but none of them are really category leaders. Their existence under the Collective Brands seems to give them critical mass.

Technorati Tags: Collective Brands, Performance + Lifestyle Group, Shoes, Payless, Stride Rite

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September 18, 2009

Legends in Athletic Apparel Naming and Branding to Bury the Hatchet?

Classic feuds in business are legendary. Think Pepsi and Coke, or Apple and Microsoft or...Adidas and Puma?

I have written before about how the Dassler brothers literally split the German town of Herzogenaurach with their 60 year old feud. Rudolf Dassler and Adolf Dassler started out making athletic footwear in their mother's kitchen and had a falling out during the war. Adolf went carried on the Adidas (Adi-Dassler) brand. Rudolf made Puma. And the brothers never spoke to each other again. Even the workers for each respective factory kept their distance from each other.

The two rival companies are having a friendly soccer game this coming Monday. This may signal the end of this long feud and (dare we say it) the beginning of a beautiful friendship. The game is in support of the Peace One Day organization.

But can peace ever prevail over this rivalry...even though the brothers have both died?

If they do manage to bury the hatchet, Nike had better watch out.

Maybe Steve Jobs and his crew should call Bill Gates and challenge the senior people there to a game of Ultimate Frisbee? Such a move would rock the computer world.

Technorati Tags: Puma, Adidas, Dassler Brothers Feud, Shoes

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August 31, 2009

Barefoot Product Naming and Branding is a Paradox

The growing trend in running barefoot tempts me to make a few jokes about the cost of running shoes during the recession, but I will desist. Fact is, however, that there is a growing segment of the population that likes to run au natural, and of course, the footwear companies have found a way to cash in on this.

In other words, they want to make footwear for people who want to run barefoot. Which is sort of like making swimwear for skinny dippers.

The brand name that really attracts me is the Vibram Five Fingers. These shoes look pretty cool, but let's return to the name.

Five Fingers.

For footwear?

Some call these the "barefoot alternative," or the closest you can get to knowing how it would feel like to run a marathon like Fred Flintstone.

These shoes, which really have taken up some serious headspace among aficionados of natural running, already have a plethora of catchy nicknames like "VFFs" and "Vibes," but there is just no getting around the fact that feet do not have fingers - they have toes!

But, alas, the Vibram Five Toes just sounds, well, weird. So, somehow or other, the name seems to work.

Nike is also getting into the mix, offering a stripped down sneaker called the "Free 5.0," but as far I can see, it looks like a plain old running shoe. And nothing Nike offers is "Free."

Now, here's the funny one: the Vivo Barefoot.

This one is really a plain, old shoe that sort of looks like a pair of Grasshoppers. There is nothing "barefoot" about it.

Obviously, these names are illustrative of the difficulty in naming a product that, by most degrees of logic, really should not exist.

Technorati Tags: Vibram Brand, Running Naming, Footwear Naming, Vibram Five Fingers

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August 28, 2009

Can Catchy Product Naming Save Crocs from Extinction?

If you haven't heard, the Crocs brand is in deep trouble.

This is a brand that seemed headed for extinction, but like their namesake, have proven that with the help of a little strategic naming they are a brand that can endure the toughest of times. Recent "business improvements" have given Crocs a chance to actually pull itself into the black by 2010.

The Crocs strategy mainly consists of promoting sub-brands, as well as naming around particular product attributes. In fact, new naming may save Crocs:

• The Crocs Beach sounds a little less frightening, but beside having a different name, they are essentially the same thing as Regular Crocs.

• Crocs Cayman are Crocs that further push the "beach" idea (in fact, the water motif is big across the entire web site"). But again, these are pretty much the same thing as regular Crocs, just a little more narrow to stop the wiggle when you walk.
• As of yesterday, they also offer a new "retro" version called "Crocband."
• While the Kids Crocs all feature characters we know and love, like Nickelodeon's Dora, Spongebob, and Batman.

However, Crocs main competitor lives across the border in Canada and is called Holeys. And while Crocs have become commonplace in our consumer vocabulary, possibly even becoming generic, it's not hard to see how its Holeys chose their name.

A recent article explores the competition between the two companies that seem to sell extremely similar products. But just like Crocs, Holeys appears to be refining their naming architecture.

Holeys also appears to be focusing on its sub-brands, which includes the Critters line for kids that is becoming more popular than the Holeys brand name.

In addition, their new Coastal Boot, as well as their Weatheralls, Drifters and Dreamerzs, don't have any holes at all. Holey Moley!

As a simple idea that went from a consumer craze to a free fallin' concept, a small bit of intelligent product naming may just be intriguing enough to save the foam footwear business.

Technorati Tags: Crocs, Holeys, Crocs Naming Architecture, Holeys Product Naming, Naming Strategy

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August 14, 2009

Gap, Levis Naming and Branding Harness History

Gap is making a huge push to reclaim the cool branding space with its 1969 Premium Jeans line. This has the theme "Born to fit": am I the only one who immediately thinks of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" and the cover to "Born in the USA," which, alongside the Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" must be the last word in iconic denim rock album art? 2009 marks Gap's 40th year in business and they are celebrating by moving away from TV advertising and instead touting their new web site (borntofit.com) and "many nontraditional elements which include a Facebook page, video clips, a realistic online fashion show on a virtual catwalk and an application for the iPhone called the StyleMixer."

The jeans cost under $70 and are a hearkening to the company's "heritage denim". Gap is hoping to use these (pretty cool, sex looking) duds to lure back customers who might have been tempted away by $100+ styles. This major revamp of the company's brand has a lot riding on it: denim accounts for 20-30% of the company's sales. These are "environmentally responsible" jeans that you can get in an array of styles, including "destructed."

Other classic style names that seem like sure winners: Always Skinny, Real Straight, Sexy Boot and Boyfriend. Gap has designed a whole bunch of pop-up stores only selling jeans that are appearing close to their more expensive rivals.

Levi's, meanwhile, has also tried to build equity off its past, which goes much further back than the Gap. It's chosen the Biblical, procreative sounding "Go forth" campaign which Creative Review notes is very close to the award winning Wrangler campaign in feel. "The campaign has been designed to connect the 150-year-old brand with the youth of today, tapping into the fact that this generation is patriotic about the US and optimistic about life," says Dan Pankraz.

They've even hauled in Walt Whitman's "O Pioneers" to drive the point home, but some bloggers are unimpressed: Words About Things says of the new tagline "Go Forth But Don't Prosper." Advertising Age is even more harsh, saying bluntly that "Levi's Target Unlikely to 'Go Forth' and Buy Its Jeans."

I have to say I like the idea of Walt Whitman reading poetry online, but am not sure if he'd be into shilling for Levi's. This is stirring stuff if you are an English teacher who likes classic denim, but I'm not sure it will resonate with the students.

Technorati Tags: Gap, Jeans, Wrangler, fashion jeans, Born to fit,

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August 3, 2009

UNIQLO: A Retail Brand Naming Strategy That Just Works

A recent comparison between the Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo and The Gap leads to the relieving thought that a well managed brand can thrive even during extremely difficult times.

Uniqlo is an Internet driven brand name that thrives on interactivity that is currently establishing a national presence in the USA at an unbelievable rate.

Their brand name awareness strategy is catching on and bloggers and consumers alike are taking notice. Customers are designing logos, downloading free avatars available online and getting real insight into "what is going on behind the brand."

The new logo and the branding agenda reflects "the ultra-contemporary cool aspect of Japan, its pop culture rather than something traditional and Japanesey" and promotes a "beauty conscious, ultra rational style" that I think is truly cosmopolitan.

German fashion designer, Jill Sander, has also been involved with the brand, creating a cool sub-brand called +J.

What we are seeing here is a brand name that is trying not to just compete with other clothing labels, but with some of the other big brands known worldwide, namely Toyota, Honda, Sony and Panasonic.

All of this sounds strikingly similar to the Gap of a few decades ago.

Uniqlo is attempting to make inexpensive clothing fashionable, cool and trendy again, something the big names at the mall really stopped doing years ago. It's coupling high fashion branding with low fashion clothing.

And its working.

Technorati Tags: Uniqlo, Brand Strategy, Uniqlo Clothing, Brand Naming Strategy, Clothing Brands, Naming Clothing

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July 30, 2009

Saks Fifth Ave Embraces House Brand Naming (But Doesn't Want to Admit It)

Saks Fifth Avenue is embracing the house brand concept with a new line of menswear called The Men's Collection. This means that House Brands have moved from the fluorescent universe of 7-11 and Walmart to the well-heeled world.

But Saks is avoiding the term "house brand" because it is "too lowbrow" according to the Wall Street Journal's Christina Binkley.

However, house brands are good enough for Macy's and Nordstrom's, in addition to many top UK brands.

The new Saks line will compete with brands that have become exorbitantly expensive in recent years and have also found the audacity to open competing stores (that's you, Gucci).

Bloomingdale's is also following suit by offering "Bloomingdales: The Men's Store," with labels priced at 30% or even 40% less than designer labels. This makes them interesting bargains for those who can't live without Saks and Bloomies, but can't afford their more expensive price tags.

Saks has had private label brands before and discontinued them, but this move is clearly meant to retain customers who are strapped for cash, but still desire that Saks cache.

Although this move makes great sense for today's economy and for future business. In fact, Circuit City's own house brand, firedog, may be worth $14 million more than the Circuit City brand itself.

It seems that the low prices and comparable quality of house brands, has given them a unique place in today's current economic climate.

Technorati Tags: House Brand Naming, Saks The Men's Collection, Private Label Names, Circuit City Firedog

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May 19, 2009

Woody Allen's Payday Follows an Unauthorized Promotion of American Apparel's Brand Name

American Apparel has to pay Woody Allen $5 million for the unauthorized use of his likeness and name.

However, American Apparel's founder, Dov Charney, defended his use of Allen's image on a billboard dressed as a Hasidic Jew from the film Annie Hall (1977) as protected by the First Amendment.

The billboard clearly implies that Allen sponsors the clothing line, which he does not. In fact, Allen doesn't seem to endorse any American products or services.

In a statement shortly after the settlement was reached, Allen said:

American Apparel calculatingly took my name, my likeness, and image and used them publicly to promote their business. ... I hope this very large settlement will discourage American Apparel and others from doing this type of thing to myself and others in the future.

American Apparel apparently threatened to bring up Allen's various personal scandals in court in an attempt to illustrate that "corporate America's desire to have Woody Allen endorse their product is not what he may believe it is." Allen, for his part, painted the ads as "sleazy" and "infantile."

Charney is now claiming that he "harbor(s) a sense of remorse and sadness for not arguing an important issue regarding the First Amendment, particularly the ability of an individual or corporation to invoke the likeness of a public figure in a satiric and social statement." He argues that the billboard is actually not an advertisement at all, because "no merchandise is shown or described, and no price is quoted."

Yes, but the American Apparel name is certainly apparent (lower right, behind the fence). Nike and Coke pay people like Tiger Woods and Michel Jordan millions to put their names bedside the likenesses of these popular celebrities.

I'm thinking that Charney took a calculated risk, and one thing is for sure, the brand name now has meaning for millions of Woody Allen fans who before today had probably never heard of it (Allen himself claims to be a stranger to the brand name).

Who knows, $5 million may be well worth hitting that elusive target market. I wonder if Charney has done that calculation?

Technorati Tags: American Apparel Brand Name, Woody Allen, Endorsements, Brand Names

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April 17, 2009

Is the World Ready for Octomom Brand Naming?

There are some moments in the naming and branding business that are quite inspirational. There are others that are amusing. And then there are those that makes us roll our eyes.

The news that Octomom, aka Nadya Suleman, has trademarked her celebrity name in order to create a product line and documentary is one of those eye rolling moments.

I must admit that she is wise to do so, of course, because there is probably equity in her name that will forever be associated with prodigious (and prodigal) stupidity, cupidity and selfishness.

However, the Octomom brand name probably has a fair chance of selling diapers and baby clothes to those looking for novelty or people who have twins, triplets, etc.

The documentary, which will follow her kids until they are eighteen, will probably also find a viewership, but one has to wonder wether we will get to watch for eighteen years or will have to wait eighteen years to see how things turn out for this unusual family?

The problem (and here is the real hair puller) is that the name has already been spoken for by a video game company. Mobile developer Super Happy Fun Fun (a company name that is another eyebrow raiser) has an OctoMom game for iPhone that is currently called "Fertile Myrtle," which has been described as "much classier," whatever that means.

So its Octomom vs OctoMom and Fertile Myrtle, is it?

TGIF.

Technorati Tags: Octomom, Brand Names, Brand Naming, Fertile Myrtle, Nadya Suleman

Posted by William Lozito at 8:27 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 31, 2009

Vineyard Vines: Brand naming Co-Opts the Prepsters

The Off the Cuff blog recently quoted an irate consumer, bemoaning the fact that the brand name Vineyard Vines seems to incorporating a luxurious lifestyle into their brand solely for material gain: "I myself just cannot accept a company that blatantly exploits the place I've summered all my life," said the plaintiff who labeled himself "Upset." In other words, how dare people from off island buy these pastel colored garments with trust fund money?

Despite Mr. Upsets' reservations about the exploitation of Martha's Vineyard, the Vineyard Vines brand is simply an example of really well thought out lifestyle branding, where the products fit the aspirations of the buyer perfectly.

Ralph Lauren must look at Vineyard Vines and gnash his teeth and the Izod alligators doing flip flops, because this stuff just sells.

It's one thing to create surf/skate labels, but trading on preppiness is just taking things too far! Oh, come on...

Never mind that people have personal web sites called Preppy Petit and Cardigans and Clogs that hijack the lime green and sunset pink that is de rigueur for the Holden Caulfield crowd. Never mind that we live in a country where, let's face it, if you want to be known as a true islander you just have to plunk down enough cash for a cottage.

Vineyard Vines is an example of how a company overcomes the seemingly insurmountable difficulties of lifestyle/luxury branding. To do it right, you need to create a brand that is bought by insiders and outsiders alike.

People who live on The Vineyard actually do buy this stuff, while outsiders who couldn't find the island on a map buy it as well.

Luxury branding and naming embraces the fact that people who buy brands like Vineyard Vines make the conscious choice to embrace a lifestyle that others gravitate to instinctively. They have focused on the core market, and have made customers ask, "Does this product reflect who I want others to think I am?"

Starbucks, Harley Davidson, and Apple do this every day of the week. And McDonald's would love to do it.

This is, of course, a sanitized version of what it means to be preppy. It is a carefully commercialized simulacrum of the real life led by those born into money.

As for me? I'm going to order one of those great ties. It should be here in Minneapolis in two days.

Technorati Tags: Vineyard Vines, Martha's Vineyard, Preppy Brands, Apparel Naming

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December 18, 2008

2009: Private Label Brand Naming Hits the Clothing Trade

I have written about the rise of private label brand naming in the food aisles and I'm not surprised to see that 2009 will most likely see a rise in private label clothing brands.

Private label brand names in clothing stores "have their own identity - and their own discerning fans - instead of being a cheap trick to spark a little foot traffic."

It had to happen. Fashion has become fast. No-name brands can get the new styles into the stores faster than the well-known brand names, and they can do it for less. So there's no reason for large clothing stores not to take advantage of this.

Macy's now has INC, Charter Club and Style & Co. Saks has Clothes(Real) and Nordstrom's has Classiques Entier and Halogen, which represent a great deal of Nordstrom's overall sales - try 15%.

Note how carefully these brand names have been created and positioned. The strategic naming that gets appended to private label brands rivals that of much larger brands, just on a minimized scale. With private labels we are naming a product to appeal to a few thousand shoppers, rather than a few million.

I have noted that even the Big Box retailers are now using brand name designers, which goes to show that private labels bring fashion for the average consumer to a whole new level.

A Cotton Inc blog states it pretty simply:

With private label, retailers are able to customize their lines to target specific groups of consumers who shop at their stores... A third of women who shop in department stores are 25-55, and many private label programs are aimed at this group.

Private label clothing allows each store to create products and brand names for a distinct customer base. The news about these house brands can be spread through social media channels, while also helping build the store's brand at the same time.

Technorati Tags: Fashion, Fashion Naming, Private Labels, House Brands, Brand Naming, Naming, Clothing, Branding

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November 26, 2008

J. Crew's Madewell Brings Back Depression-Era Brand Naming

Surprisingly, in the midst of a looming recession, Mickey Drexler, J. Crew's CEO, has made the decision to position the new Madewell brand name to appeal to younger, edgier customers.

Drexler bought the Madewell brand and typography from a defunct clothing mill in New Bedford (Madewell Manufacturing Co., which closed in 1989). With a brand name from the past, the new line is designed to have a retro quality that will appeal to the savvy shopper looking for clothes that are simply "made well."

I was also intrigued to see that Drexler actually bought the name after leaving Gap and then leased it to J. Crew for one dollar when he joined them in 2003.

I see that many sites refer to the company as Madewell 1937 (can't help but note the depression-era date attached to the name), which part of the brand's URL.

Customers seem enthusiastic about the new brand, with one saying "Madewell 1937 is to J. Crew what the Gap is to Banana Republic," at least in terms of pricing for designer brands.

The product naming offered by Madewell also fits with Dexler's hip and eye catching positioning with names like High Line knits, Hawke fleece, and New Haven chinos.

Madewell even has its own facebook page which is clearly aimed at the high school and college female demographic as displayed by their "denim dedicated" events like Denim After Dark.

I always like to see a good name come out of retirement and I find it interesting that one that hearkens back to a tough era in our past is gaining traction so quickly.

Another point of interest is that the savvy Drexler may work for J. Crew, but he owns this particular brand name. With the current state of the economy, customers will be looking more for quality, reliability and heritage in their brand names more than ever before. If quality truly is the key factor in today's market, Drexler may have found another winner with Madewell.

Technorati Tags: Madewell, J. Crew, Brand Naming, Mickey Drexler, Product Naming, Naming, Designer Brands, Madewell 1937

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October 16, 2008

Wigwam's New Brand Architecture and Product Naming

Have you looked in your sock drawer recently?

Kind of a mess isn't it? Mine is anyway.

The Wigwam sock line, all 138 styles, certainly wasn't a mess, but definitely had expanded into a challenging portfolio for retailers to work with.

Strategic Name Development partnered with Wigwam, one of the few, if not the only, major sock manufacturer that can still claim "Made in the USA," to create a common naming nomenclature for its extensive line of 138 sock styles.

The styles were grouped into 5 competency areas:

• Sport


• Snowsport


• Outdoor


• Health


• At Work

The assignment included brand architecture, product naming and a packaging copy system to accompany the award winning packaging created by MSLK Graphic Design.

Some of the consumer-friendly language is reflected in the new product names like:

• The Big Easy


• Diamond Dancer


• Blue Ox


• Snow Whisper Pro

In fact, that consumer-friendly language included a new twist on "Made in USA" to "Proudly Made in Sheboygan USA." For those of you who may not know, Sheboygan is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan in Wisconsin.

Technorati Tags: Wigwam, Socks, Sock Naming, Product Naming, Brand Architecture, MSLK Graphic Design, Sheboygan

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August 7, 2008

Spanx Spanks A Dying Industry With Sexy Naming and Branding

One rarely sees a product where product naming is as crucial as it is with Spanx.

Spanx makes shapewear, which translates to pantyhouse, bras and girdles to the rest of us. Now, I know that no woman under the age of 80 wants to wear a girdle anymore, but shapewear, well, that's a different story!

And pantyhose? Forget it.

But a "Slim Cognito Mid-Thigh Body Suit" is a completely different matter . . .

This product includes something known as The Great Divide, which, well, let's just say it's flattering to a woman's posterior.

If that's not your thing, how about High Power control pants, favored by the likes of Madonna and Gwyneth. What modern woman doesn't want more power and control in her life?

Spanx also offers "super slimming smoothing power" and assures buyers by saying "don't worry, we've got your butt covered."

This company, which is something of a start up miracle, doesn't even sell bras, they sell the "Bra-llelujah 'All-Hosiery' comfort bra."

Yes, the name is saucy and the product is pure retro, but it is a textbook case (possibly the textbook case) of how reframing a "dead" product with good naming can create a new market.

Hosiery and girdle makers everywhere take note, Spanx just spanked you.

Technorati Tags: Spanx, Shapewear, Slim Cognito Mid-Thigh Body Suit, Bra-llelujah, Fashion, Women, Spanx, Product Naming

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July 10, 2008

Joseph Abboud Learns the Hard Way About Naming, Branding and Goodwill

Famed designer Joseph Abboud is offering two new fall collections next month bearing the names Black/Brown 1826 and Jaz, a luxury menswear brand that is a clipping of the word "Jazz," originally suggested by his daughter.

The reason he doesn't have his own name on the label is because he's not allowed. He lost naming rights to his own name after selling his fashion company in 2000 for $65.5 million to JA Apparel Corp, which now owns "associated names, trademarks, etc., including Joseph Abboud, designed by Joseph Abboud, JOE, JA, and similar or derivative terms."

After the seven-year non-compete clause had expired, Abboud pushed to use his name "in an informational way" to indicate that he was the designer of Jaz. In fact, he wanted to have a tagline that said "a new composition by designer Joseph Abboud."

The courts have ruled that he cannot do this legally. He is only allowed to "be himself" and make media appearances as himself, but he cannot use his own name to promote goods and services.

That's harsh, but as the Likelihood of Confusion blog asks, "why did he think he was getting $65.5 million?"

This is the inherent danger in using a personal name as a trademark. When things go wrong, as they did for Mr. Abboud, you lose the rights to your name for your next venture.

But what is interesting here is the technicality around what the word name means legally. The court seems to have interpreted it stringently but fairly. The key clause in the contract states that Abboud agreed to sell "all of [his] right, title and interest in and to: ...names, trademarks, trade names... and the goodwill related thereto."

This really leaves little room for argument that $65.5 million deal stripped Abboud not only of his trademark, but use of his name and goodwill. Michael Lechter of the Start-Up Blog says that the lesson here is "if you (or your attorney) are careless in drafting the agreement, then you may lose the benefit of your reputation as well."

Technorati Tags: Fashion Naming, Fashion, Joseph Abbound, Jaz, Black/Brown 1826, JA Apparel Corp

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June 17, 2008

British RAF Strafed By Product Naming and Branding Laws; Red Baron Laughs

Britain’s Ministry of Defense is threatening to sue a UK retailer for using the Royal Air Force (RAF) logo, referred to as a roundel, on a set of boys’ linen. This easily recognizable symbol has been used at least once before by members of the early sixties Mod movement.

It is interesting to note that the term Mod does not come from the acronym for the Ministry of Defense (MoD), but instead is derived from the term Modernism, which reinstated itself as Modism.

The RAF logo was used in the sixties by The Who, who still use it, and decades later by bands like Oasis and The Jam.

Even Snoopy has used the symbol, as the RAF is well aware.

Every school kid knows that Snoopy flies an RAF Sopwith Camel in his imaginary duels with The Red Baron. In fact, you can fly it yourself in the Snoopy vs. the Red Baron video game.

My feeling is that the RAF is going to lose this fight because their symbol is already very much in the public domain. Rock bands and fashion houses use it, cartoon characters use it, as well as video games. It is also pretty safe to assume that the linen is designed around British guitar heroes and not war heroes because the linen features pictures of guitars.

Interestingly, it turns out that the RAF can only use the insignia on “non clothing items” and the symbol itself, as any bi-plane pilot from the World War I would know, was originally used by the Royal Flying Corps (army) and the Royal Naval Service.

The RAF as we know it, only came into existence in 1918, the same month that the Red Baron was shot down.

As a matter of interest, the US Air Force seal is protected by law from uses not specified by the Air Force and is a registered trademark that requires a commercial license agreement if you want it for your own linen line.

Technorati Tags: Royal Air Force, RAF, Snoopy, Red Baron, US Air Force, Seal, Symbol, Mod Movement, Linen

Posted by William Lozito at 7:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 2, 2008

Is Hip-hop Branding and Naming Becoming Mainstream?

A new report analyzing the young urban consumer in the U.S. suggests that hip-hop has gone mainstream and “crossed over to suburbia.”

The target market for the hip-hop industry is now 37 million young urbanites, ages 12-34, who had a aggregate income of $594 billion in 2007, which will grow to $684 billion by 2012.

These urbanites put a “high priority” on brand loyalty and the top brands are those that have a direct connection with hip-hop artists, specifically brand names featured in song lyrics as well as on music videos.

Immediately Jay-Z's dissing of Cristal and big-upping of Armand de Brignac in a 2006 music video comes to mind, as well as Lil Jon’s venture to brand name wine from the Little Jonathan Winery.

Don’t laugh. Russell Simmon’s Phat Farm, Kimora Lee Simon’s Baby Phat label and all of the clothes designed by Sean-John are in demand.

Rolex, Lexus and Gucci have also decided to climb aboard the hip-hop bandwagon.

Hip-hop urban clothing is the new uniform for the streets, segmented into classic and modern styles.

Hoodies, for instance, are no longer an underground clothing item. The baggy clothes by Artful Dodger, Supreme Jeans, and True Religion are taking center stage, while “Nike Dunk SB, Nike Air Force One (AF1), Adidas Shoes, Puma Shoes, [and] Prada Shoes” have been claimed by hip-hop brand naming.

Along those same lines, a popular Japanese brand name is “Bathing Ape” or “BAPE” and is reportedly on its way to the malls.

Today, WuChess launches as a source of “online chess for the hip-hop crowd." The name was formed by the combination of Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA and chess social network ChessPark.

Hip-hop is even causing trouble for Dunkin' Donuts when hip-hop's fascination with the kiffiyeh led to some controversy after celebrity chef Rachael Ray wore one in a recent commercial.

I'm sure that hundreds of thousands of people learned what the name actually kiffiyeh means last week. Including me.

This scarf seems to have caused endless trouble for the Dunkin’ Donuts brand name because of its alleged association with terrorism.

Fact is, when Dunkin’ Donuts and Chess are affected by hip-hop brand naming, it’s time to listen up.

Technorati Tags: Hip-hop, Phat Farm, Rachel Ray, Baby Phat, Jay-Z, Lil Jon, Rolex, Lexus, Bathing Ape, Bape, WuChess, Dunkin Donuts

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March 10, 2008

Tom Ford Gets Bond Brand Naming Blessing

I think that its fair to say that there are some brand names that the average American consumer would never have heard of if it wasn’t for James Bond. Think about the Lotus Esprit S1, or possibly the Aston Martin, and almost certainly the Walther PPK or P99.

The recent news that Tom Ford will be getting the nod to make the tux in the new Bond film is likely to help bring the designer further out of the Gucci spotlight and onto his own stage. Getting your brand naming entwined with Bond’s just makes sense.

The actual name of the new movie, Quantum of Solace, is based upon a 1960 short story by Ian Fleming. The movie will bring back many old friends from Casino Royale and none other than Amy Winehouse will be singing the title track.

Paul McCartney, who sang the title for 1973’s Live and Let Die, says “I definitely wouldn’t do it again. I have been trying to think of something to rhyme with ‘Solace’ and all I can come up with is ‘Wallace’! I don’t envy whoever is going to write the song!”

Technorati Tags: James Bond, Tom Ford, Casino Royale, 007, Live and Let Die, Quantum of Solace, Ian Fleming, Tux, Brand Naming, Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney, Aston Martin

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March 6, 2008

Olsens, Abbey Dawn Offer Glam Tween Fashion Product Naming

I am a big admirer of the Olsen Twins brand name (Mary-Kate and Ashley) and the way in which these two women have leveraged their brand naming into a number of fields.

They are writing a book entitled Influence that will feature numerous photos of the two girls who have become walking brand names and have carved out a serious niche for themselves in tween fashion branding as well as in more mainstream clothing, for example, The Row.

Possibly inspired by the Olsen Twins’ success, punk rocker Avril Lavigne is getting all “girly” and is set to offer the Olsen Twins some competition with the introduction of her Abbey Dawn collection. Abbey Dawn being her childhood nickname.

The Olsen Twins, however, are, well twins, leading some bloggers to wonder if sibling branding may be a powerful trend. Witness the rise of the Olsen Twin’s siblings’ line Elizabeth and James and Twenty8twelve, a clothing line from Sienna and Savannah Miller: “The name of the brand comes from Sienna Miller’s birth date (December 28th).”

The fact is, product naming for tween girls is is getting just as cut throat as high street fashion and using entertainment icons to do the job seems to be a great way forward.

Technorati Tags: Fashion, Product Naming, Olsen Twins, The Row, Avril Lavigne, Abbey Dawn, Elizabeth and James, Twenty8twelve, Sienna Miller, Branding, Savannah Miller, Influence, Tween

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February 27, 2008

Asics Brand Naming to Break Out

Businessweek has an article up about Asics, the preferred brand name for serious runners.

It seems that the company wants to branch out into more fashionable realms to break out of its niche, but most people see the Asics name standing for serious running wear, not leisurewear, even when it is already emblazoned on things like backpacks.

The name Asics is an acronym for “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano” (ASICS) which means “Sound mind in a sound body."

I think the Asics name, while quite erudite and meaningful, sounds a little technical for the fashion crowd, although, I suppose, it is no stranger than Adidas.

I did think that its retro sub brand, Onitsuka Tiger, had quite an interesting story behind it and might even have a better chance of gaining naming traction.

After all, people are already wearing that name.

Technorati Tags: Asics, Running, Shoes, Onitsuka Tiger, Clothing, Adidas, Brand Naming, Apparel

Posted by William Lozito at 7:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 12, 2008

When are Brands Refreshed and Revived?

I am always interested in the nuances of revamping a company’s brand naming or product naming. Fact is, a lot of the big branding news this year has come from brands that have updated their images, or changed them altogether.

The fashion world is busy bringing back names from yesteryear. I have already written about Halston making its USA comeback, now it seems in London, Ossie Clark (actress Sienna Miller pictured right in an Ossie Clark dress) and Nutters, from the sixties, are back on the catwalk.

The New York Times suggests that even the mafia could use some rebranding. And often age or changing tastes do create room for a brand refresh.

But the biggest reason that brand names we love get changed is acquisition. Honest Tea is soon to fall under Coke's control and that will affect how customers perceive it, which will, whether the company likes it or not, change the perception of Honest Tea from alternative to mainstream.

The one brand that is begging to be rebranded is Ford Mercury, or “the love that dare not speak its name” according to Robert Farago. It has to either be totally rebranded or else simply killed.

Technorati Tags: Branding, Mafia, Coke, Honest Tea, Ossie Clark, Sienna Miller, Nutters, Ford, Mercury, Fashion

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February 11, 2008

American Living Brand Naming Brings Ralph Lauren to The Rest of Us

Ralph Lauren's American Living will be launched at J.C. Penney’s today.

Launching interesting, unique in-house brand names is part of J.C. Penney’s strategy to gather a larger and more upscale customer and it seems to be working.

Some may think Lauren is slumming by going to J.C. Penney’s, but ultimately the strategy will work not least because it emulates what Martha Stewart and other big name brands have done, using high-end brands to elevate the J.C. Penney brand.

Lauren seems incapable of putting a wrong foot forward since the Ralph Lauren look is something that has permeated American culture.

This is clever, under the radar product naming. The internet has been full of the news that Lauren is behind this move, and the American Living products are Ralph Lauren in everything but name.

For those of us who want the look of Ralph Lauren without the price tag will probably head to J.C. Penney’s this week searching for a deal.

Technorati Tags: J.C. Penney, Ralph Lauren, Brand Naming, American Living, Fashion, Naming

Posted by William Lozito at 7:30 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 5, 2008

Woolworth’s Lolita Brand Naming a Cynical “Mistake”

The news that Woolworth's in the UK had to pull a bed with Lolita brand naming for pre-school girls has been met with hoots of laughter across the blogosphere after the company claimed to not be aware of the literary allusion to the sexually predatory pre-pubescent girl in Vladimir Nabokov’s famous novel, which was not only made into (at least) two movies but also referred to in the song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by the Police.

Sorry, but it is difficult to believe that this was an inadvertent mistake, or that the brand naming was introduced without somebody raising an eyebrow.

Maybe, just maybe, the people who created the Filipino cookie in the Netherlands were unaware that there is an entire group of people out there who would be offended by a tagline like ‘Are you as Tasty as a Filipino?'

Fact is, brand naming for pre-teen girls has become a virtual porno playground. Bratz dolls (pictured below) are now flagrantly sexualized (and encourage the kids to be bratty) and Playboy is now making its way into school wear.

Blue Milk has a great blog talking about the corporate pedophilia that we are subjected to daily and the “billions of dollars of marketing aimed at kids whose childhoods are being cynically abbreviated, stolen for profit.”

But who really cares, right?

Technorati Tags: Woolworth's, Lolita, Bratz, Brand Naming, Filipino, Police

Posted by William Lozito at 7:28 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

January 29, 2008

Sears and Halston Return to their Brand Naming Roots

The old adage “Know Thyself” is certainly true when it comes to popular brands.

Two news stories today put this into bold relief: the first is the return of glamour fashion brand names Halston and Ossie Clark, both of which died when they tried to move into popular, low brow fashion, but which have experienced a revival in recent years thanks to the likes of Kate Moss and Jennifer Aniston (pictured right, wearing a Halston dress). Maybe this time they will have learned something about sticking to their target markets.

The second was addressed by Jack Trout on Forbes.com yesterday when he wrote about the various brand names that helped build Sears: Kenmore, Craftsman, Die-Hard and Weatherbeater.

These are legendary brand names in American culture and are synonymous with the Sears brand name.

Trout suggests that allowing them to be sold by other retailers could spell disaster for Sears, adding that he feels that Sears should take over the Kmart brand naming altogether and present a united, unique front to Wal-Mart and Target.

It would be very interesting to see Kmart suddenly turn into Sears, which would immediately increase the brand name’s presence nationally. More importantly, it would be an over promise and is inconsistent with the merchandise offered in the current Kmart stores. In other words, this would be a band-aid fix.

Sometimes a brand name has to return to its origins to move forward, and remember the values customers have traditionally associated with their brand.

Technorati Tags: Halston, Ossie Clark, Sears, Kmart, Brand Naming, Kenmore, Craftsman, Die-Hard, Weatherbeater, Jennifer Aniston

Posted by William Lozito at 7:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 25, 2008

Counterfeit Brand Naming Hotspot Tries To Go Legit With SilkStreet

In what Agenda Inc. refers to as a “highly ironic move,” notorious brand naming counterfeit hotspot Silk Street Market in Beijing has applied for a trademark to its own SilkStreet clothing label and warned counterfeiters not to copy it.

In what must be the most lenient criterion for reselling a high end brand in the world, the company solemnly assures us that only traders with ““no record of selling fake or shoddy products within six months and no [customer] complaints.” can sell SilkStreet brands.

This will surely raise a few eyebrows over at Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada, who won a symbolic $1,387.00 in a joint lawsuit against Silk Street and five of its tenants, “the first case in China to end in such a settlement.”

I’m thinking that it will be really hard to convince people that you are wearing a real SilkStreet shirt.

Technorati Tags: SilkStreet, counterfeit, trademarking, Brand Naming, Silk Street Market

Posted by William Lozito at 7:33 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 22, 2008

Nike and Apple Take to the Air in Brand Naming

I have been mulling over Apple’s new MacBook Air brand name, which was announced last week at Macworld.

And here are a number of points that come to mind:

1. Mac lovers knew the name was coming (and Apple may have helped them figure it out with their “There’s something in the air posters)
2. David Pogue of the the New York Times writes that “the name ‘Air’ is particularly apt. It describes not only the laptop’s aerodynamic shape, but also its nearly complete inability to connect to cables.” I agree.
3. Some people wonder if the folks over at Nike aren't going to think this is some kind of move on their turf, with one wag asking “So when the MacBook Jordans coming out?."

Or maybe that’s not a joke: in the very same week that Jobs announced the brand naming of his new computer, Nike let it slip that their 23rd Air Jordan was set for release.

Yes, “Air” is Nike territory, but I’d add that Apple and Nike are selling to an overlapping target market. By the way, I wonder if Apple minds the recently introduced Tata Nano auto, manufactured by Tata Motors in India.

Technorati Tags: Macbook Air, Nike Air, Brand Naming, Air Jordan, Apple

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December 19, 2007

Made in India: Is the World Ready For Luxury Indian Brand Names?

You probably have not heard of India's Tata Group, the country's largest automaker and possibly its biggest brand name, but you most certainly have heard of Jaguar and Land Rover.

These two brands may soon be sold to Tata Group for around $2 billion.

This is leading many experts to wonder if the world is ready for Indian luxury brand naming. Much as Martin Lindstrom did when Louis Vuitton moved its production to India.

Technorati Tags: Luxury Brands, Jaguar, Land Rover, Tata Group

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December 6, 2007

Brand Name Evaluation - The Importance of Context

As naming professionals, we are always surprised with associations that people make with the name candidates we present.

I feel it tells us as much about the person and their view of the world as it does their opinion on the name candidate.

One very common response we hear is "That name reminds me of x."

Our response is "You really have to evaluate the name candidates in context." Take the name American Eagle, for example.

• American Eagle is the regional carrier for American Airlines.
• American Eagle is also a retail clothing chain that is located in many shopping malls.

So, if our assignment were to name a clothing chain and we recommended American Eagle, it's very typical for client to say "It reminds me of an airline" and dismiss it for that reason.

We say, "Wait a minute." How about the Ford Fusion and the Gillette Fusion razor and the V8 Fusion juice?

As you can see, the same name can co-exist in multiple categories and not be confusing since all of these brand names are presented in context.

When I go to a store to buy Gillette Fusion razors, I don't think automobiles or juice.

Technorati Tags: American Eagle, American Airline, Ford Fusion, Gillette Fusion, V8 Fusion

Posted by William Lozito at 1:51 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

December 4, 2007

Brand Naming Can Tattoo You

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If you want a sure way to get your brand naming under people's skin, think tattoos.

As the latest trend, companies are not only incorporating tattoo art into their brand names, but also creating brands that are designed to appeal to people with tattoos.

• The convenience store chain 7-Eleven has a new energy drink called "Inked," which is "aimed at people who either have tattoos or those who want to think of themselves as the tattoo type."
• Dunlop has offered free tires for years to anyone who will get their "Flying D" tattooed to their body.
• General Mills is selling fruit roll-ups that allow kids to create "temporary tongue tattoos."
• Christian Dior, Tag Heur, Aussiebum, Bling, Benefit Cosmetics are all looking into creating "tattoo logos" in India, because tattoos are a big part of Indian culture.
• Captain Morgan's new rum is called "Tattoo."

As you can imagine, people of all ages and nationalities wear tattoos, which means that you almost cannot lose by incorporating tattoo advertising into your brand.

What's next?

Technorati Tags: Tattoo, Brand Tattoos, 7-Eleven, Dunlop, General Mills, Christian Dior, Aussiebum, Captain Morgan

Posted by William Lozito at 9:47 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 27, 2007

Claseo: A Classy Product Name

Here's a new take on the concept of social shopping: clothes you need an invitation to buy. Claseo appeared in the November 15 SpringWise newsletter because of its concept, but we were attracted by the name.

While other social shopping networks have typical Web 2.0 names like ThisNext, Crowdstorm and ShopWiki.

"Claseo" emphasizes exclusivity rather than popularity.

You can tell from their name that their products, and their customers, have class.

Now, if only we could get an invitation...

Technorati Tags: Claseo, ThisNext, ShopWiki, Social Shopping

Posted by William Lozito at 7:57 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 13, 2007

eBay's Counterfeit Couture a Threat to Tiffany Brand Name

Tiffany's battle against eBay for not vigorously patrolling the sale of counterfeit Tiffany items is about to commence. The focus is on the ridiculous number of fake goods being sold by the online auctioneer.

Hermes has weighed into the battle, as have L'Oreal and others.

Despite the fact that eBay forbids the sale of these things quite explicitly, it seems that major brand names want eBay to take more responsibility for the no-good-nicks that fall through the cracks - and there seem to be thousands of them selling everything from Gibson guitars for under $3 to computers.

There can be no question that tracking what people want on eBay is a great way of tracking the world's most desirable brand names. And if eBay becomes the portal through which people undermine brand name equity of some of the most desirable names out there, then that is a real shame.

Add to that the ready availability for almost any brand name luxury good over the Web itself and it might be argued that "counterfeit couture" could very well wipe out the real thing.

Technorati Tags: eBay, Tiffany, L'Oreal, Hermes, Gibson Guitars

Posted by William Lozito at 9:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

November 5, 2007

Company Naming: Is Latin Fashionable?

According to the Wall Street Journal Spain's largest fashion retailer, Inditex SA, has plans to open a new chain for accessories. Thriftily, they're considering a name they already own: Uterqüe.

"Uterqüe" is the masculine form of a Latin pronoun meaning "each of two" or "both." This could have good connotations for shopping, as in "I'll take both," and for accessories that come in pairs, like earrings.

If anyone knew what it meant, that is. "Uterqüe" is not among the Latin words likely to be known to the general public. To those who've never studied Latin, "Uterqüe" looks a lot like "uterus" or rather, since this is a Spanish store, útero. Which might be appropriate for a store selling maternity clothes, but rather less so to high fashion.

Technorati Tags: Spain, Latin, Inditex SA, Uterqüe

Posted by William Lozito at 7:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 26, 2007

Nike's Air Native N7 Brand Naming for Native Americans

Nike's new Air Native N7 is the new sneaker brand name designed especially for Native Americans. This is the first time Nike has designed a shoe for a specific race or ethnicity. With a "culturally specific look" and a wider, higher design, it is meant to cater to the specific foot needs of Native Americans. The design sounds pretty cool: there are feathers inside and stars on the sole to represent the night sky. These are referred to as "heritage callouts," and are accompanied by "sunrise to sunset to sunrise patterns on the tongue and heel of the shoe."

The N7 name is a direct reference to the "seventh generation theory" which some tribes ascribe to, looking three generations behind them for wisdom and three generations ahead of them for legacy.

While alphanumeric naming is nothing new, particularly in the auto industry, this product reminds me of Wrigley's "5" gum brand, which depends heavily on the associations derived from the number itself (in this case the 5 senses), unlike the Milky Way 2 to Go bar.

I also must say that Nike has made a good move by addressing the needs of a small, niche market like that presented by Native Americans. It shows a kinder, gentler side of the company and underlines the interesting "core" of the brand name: "If you have a body you are an athlete."

Technorati Tags: Nike, Air Native N7, Milky Way, Athletic Shoes

Posted by William Lozito at 2:10 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 12, 2007

The Biko Brand Name Alive and Well in South Africa

South Africa marked the 30th anniversary of freedom fighter Steve Biko's death yesterday, who was killed during interrogation at the hands of the apartheid police.

Steve Biko is one of the great "might have beens" of history, and because he died in such a tragic manner and wrote so eloquently against the apartheid system, he is somewhat of a political martyr in South Africa... and now a fashion icon and indeed a brand name.

Wearing his image is now something between a fashion statement and a political statement. The commercialization of the Biko name, however, has caused much soul searching on the part of his admirers.

This reminds me of the same kind of agonizing over the use of the image and name of Che Guevara, another resistance fighter who died an untimely death and leaves a difficult legacy behind him.

It seems to me that people who buy images of Che or Biko are often not wholly aware of either figure's politics.

Their images might have become disassociated with historical reality and taken lives of their own, much as the glamorous preppy life of Ralph Lauren has done.

Indeed, Ralph Lauren, ironically, is another person who will be remembered more for the myth he created about the inspirational polo playing lifestyle than the reality of Ralph Lifschitz (Lauren's real name) from the Bronx.

The Lauren brand name, now 40 years old, is the window through which we remember the man. Perhaps he prefers it that way.

But I do think that it is worth noting that the romance of fashion may do a better job at preserving the memories of these men than the nuances of history.

Technorati Tags: Steve Biko, Che Guevara, Ralph Lauren, Brand Naming, Product Naming.

Posted by William Lozito at 8:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 10, 2007

Fashion Brand Name Collaborations Match the Boutique with the Big Box

Yesterday The New York Times published an excellent article by Eric Wilson entitled The Big Brand Theory, that talked about the new alliances between high-end fashion names and major retailers like Target and Gap.

• Lutz & Patmos very recently teamed up with Japanese giant Uniqlo
• The same boutique fashion brand name has also teamed with car giant Volkswagen to create a line of accessories for the new Eos
• Isaac Mizrahi has lent his name to Target in a line of cheap and very fashionable clothes that are designed to make middle America more fashionable
• More collaborations are to come with Gap teaming up with fashion trio Thaoon, Rodarte and Doo to bring a hint of elegance to its everyman clothing line

In August, Vera Wang announced she will create an exclusive brand for Kohl's called Simply Vera, Vera Wang by Vera Wang. The line will include sportswear, intimate apparel, handbags, leather accessories, jewelry, footwear, linens and towels.

I think this is the way forward for high-end fashion brand names, not least because nowadays knock-offs of runway styles are getting into low-end stores faster than the originals thanks to Internet technology and a new, very savvy breed of fashion entrepreneur.

Carefully matching big names with boutique names is the way, I think, to beat the copycats at their own game, and to lift the general quality of fashion in the malls.

It seems that up and coming brand names meld better with the big chain stores' needs than already well-established fashion names like Halston... although we might see Karl Lagerfeld join the trend as well.

Technorati Tags: The New York Times, Eric Wilson, Target, Gap, Lutz and Patmos, Uniqlo, Volkswagen, Isaac Mizrahi, Karl Lagerfeld, Very Wang.

Posted by William Lozito at 8:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 20, 2007

Company Naming Change Trends - The More Brands the Merrier

When a company expands its horizons, more often than not a merger or acquisition is the cause.

Last Thursday's post mentioned Rocky Shoes and Boots, Inc. literally getting "too big for its boots," changing its name to Rocky Brands, Inc. upon acquiring Michelin Footwear and Zumfoot.

More recently, Payless ShoeSource followed suit completing its acquisition of The Stride Rite Corporation and re-naming itself Collective Brands, Inc. as a result of the $900 million transaction to become the largest non-athletic footwear company in the Western Hemisphere.

"The new company name was chosen to communicate that together - collectively - these three units and their combined expertise and powerful brand portfolio create a stronger, expanded enterprise well positioned to serve a broadening base of global consumers."

Our proprietary Company Naming Changes research reveals that over a third of company name changes (34%) are initiated for this reason we like to refer to as "Dog Eat Dog." This trend continues to ring true in 2007.

If the shoe fits...

Technorati Tags: Company Naming, Michelin Footwear, Payless ShoeSource, Dog Eat Dog, Name Change, Rocky Brands, Zumfoot, Brand Names.

Posted by Kristin Konchar at 4:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 7, 2007

The Beckham Brand Name Smells of Money

The Beckham brand name is marching on even if David Beckham himself is benched with an ankle injury.

Next month US shoppers will be able to buy David and Victoria's Intimately Beckham fragrance line.

The launch quietly went off last Thursday and the perfumes have been well received so far: Intimately Beckham Man is a "modern woodsy-spicy scent" while the Woman version smells of "lilies, tuberose, vanilla, sandalwood and orange blossoms."

The ad the Beckhams have been using across the pond, however, might need to be revamped... I simply do not recognize either of them in the picture. For instance, Victoria and David on the Victoria Beckham blog shows a much rougher looking bloke covered in tattoos.

This couple clearly has an empire going: the fragrance line, which includes David Beckham's Instinct is going to ring up $100 million, and Victoria is working on a line of sunglasses and clothing which already includes the VB Rocks denim jeans.

Their photo shoot last month in a seedy hotel probably heralds a new, rougher image for the American market, illustrating that the brand name can easily change with the times, even when Becks isn't on the field.

Will it succeed?

Of course. One gets the feeling that Victoria Beckham is a savvy manager of this multimillion dollar brand name, and we will be bending it like Beckham long after David retires from football (soccer in the US) and Posh Spice is but a memory.

Technorati Tags: David Beckham, Victoria Beckham, Intimately Beckham, Rocka dn Republic Jeans, VB Rocks, Brand Naming, Brand Names.

Posted by William Lozito at 8:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 25, 2007

Saucony Name Branding Getting Corny Without Cheerleaders

Saucony has me stumped. The '80s shoe brand name has a new parent company, Payless Shoe Source, and is stepping out with a new brand identity, including a new brand name and refined logo: the brand name is now lowercase and neater looking. By the way, lower-case logos, either brand or company, appear to be a trend these days - think nielsen, at&t, unum.

OK. So far, so good.

They have kept their "Loyal to the Sport" slogan. Which is fine except for the fact that lots of their sneakers look like they are made for relatively sedentary non-runners. Who is Saucony being loyal to? Skateboarders, walkers or runners? Competitive rap artists? Which one is THE sport?

Ok, never mind. Let's move on. The real head scratcher is that Saucony is introducing a new brand "manifesto" on boxes and hangtags: "A good day is when we get to run. A great day is when we inspire someone else to run."

I'm just not getting this. It sounds like a weird take on Nike's "Just Do It" slogan, but in this case it's "Just Get Someone Else to Do It." It's right up there with that old riff on the Soloflex "No Pain, No Gain" campaign, which was transmogrified by some wags to "No Pain, No Pain."

Nobody seems to know where a slogan stops and where a "manifesto" begins, by the way.

Additionally, Saucony will use the line "No Cheerleaders Required" to promote their cross country shoes.

Well, yeah, that's right, guys. Cross-country runners don't get cheerleaders. They have never been required. Am I missing something? Are there squadrons of teenage girls out there somewhere waving pom-poms at long distance runners?

The whole point of this new campaign is to make the brand name more streamlined and congruent. This has not been achieved, people. You have an ad line, a tagline and a manifesto and not much of it makes sense.

Plus, and I hate to say it, but nobody can pronounce your company name. Is it "sock-on-ye," or "sew-cone-ee"? Surely, it's not "so corny"?

That's not very inspiring.

Technorati Tags: Saucony, Payless Shoes, New Logo, No Pain, No Gain, Nike, Just Do It, Loyal to the Sport, Soloflex

Posted by William Lozito at 9:35 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 20, 2007

Air Zoom Vick V Brand Name Grounded... Dogs Everywhere Rejoice

It's no secret that we are big dog lovers, so we were very pleased to see that Nike has suspended (hopefully indefinitely) its Air Zoom Vick V product line after The Falcons Michael Vick was caught operating an illegal dog-fighting ring.

I am amazed, frankly, that the four shoe products and three shirts bearing this person's name will remain in stores.

I simply cannot see the upside for Nike in associating its company name with this idiot, and most of the blogosphere agrees with me... one dog loving blogger has even recreated the Air Zoom Vick V to reflect Vick's cruel habit.

The Humane Society agrees, having called upon Nike to pull its Vick clothing and shoes from retailers and its web site.

Yeah, I know all about, "innocent until proven guilty," blah, blah, blah. But if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck!

Zac Bissonette points out that most sports contracts contain some kind of moral turpitude clause; I am sure Nike is smart enough to include something similar in their sponsorship deals.

Yes, Nike stands to lose $1.5 million on this after scrapping 30,000 pairs of shoes.

Look at it as an investment in your brand name, Nike.

I'm thinking "recall."

In any event, the event is rather fait accompli: Who on earth would buy anything with Vick's name on it?

Technorati Tags: Nike, Air Zoom Vick V, The Falcons, Michael Vick, Humane Society.

Posted by William Lozito at 8:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 5, 2007

Timex Brand Name Getting An Upgrade with the TX

An article on CNNMoney.com about the launch of the high-end Timex TX watch brand name heralds a new luxury watch being quietly made by the famous company that is known mostly for making a watch that "takes a licking and keeps on ticking."

The new brand is the "next chapter" for the Timex group, which is creating a niche for itself that they have named "TechnoLuxury." The watches go for between $375 and $626.

Interestingly, the TX brand name is being disassociated with the trusty old Timex brand name. The TX cannot be found at Timex outlets - they prefer to re-sell through places like Bloomingdale's or Saks - and is being presented to the U.S. market as the TX Watch Co. for "a completely new brand for a new generation of consumers." These are now well-heeled men ages 25-45, as there are no women's models yet.

Here is the mystery YouTube video that Timex claims was not made by them.

I like the TX message, since it's in the genre of text messages and TX brand is being targeted to a younger audience. And it obliquely refers to an original Timex brand.

I was also interested to learn that the Timex Group is a private, Norwegian-owned company. I had always thought the Timex brand name and company name were uniquely American, as did the Watch Report, who recently profiled the TX. At least the TX headquarters is still in Connecticut.

Timex also has acquired the Versace SA, Salvatore Ferragamo SpA and Vincent Brard SA luxury watch brand names.

This essentially means that Timex wears many faces, analog and digital, and a stable of brand names to appeal to different consumer demographics.

Technorati Tags: Timex, Watch Naming, TX, TechnoLuxury, Versace, Saks, Bloomingdale's, Salvatore Ferragamo

Posted by William Lozito at 8:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 24, 2007

The Greatness Within the Everlast and George Foreman Brands

Everlast is revamping its brand identity including a new tagline, “Greatness is Within,” that demonstrates its fight to survive in the competitive athletic apparel and sporting goods market.

The new logo won't be officially launched until later this year and includes a refreshed logotype, a new icon and corporate colors.

Women’s Wear Daily pointed out that the company was looking for a “consistent message” as it moves to “premier brand caliber.” Everlast wants to emphasize its brand assets of “strength, dedication, individuality and authenticity.”

The new icon shows a vanishing perspective apparently symbolizing “infinity.” Clearly, Everlast is moving away from it’s old “rope-a-dope” brand image into one that might conceivably compete with Nike and Adidas, shooting for “premier athletic brand status” via their 72 licensees.

I think Everlast's current image is pure boxing and not general sports and fitness. Everlast even declares on its website that its name is synonymous with boxing. When I think of the Everlast brand name, I think of Mohammed Ali and Rocky Balboa. For me, the Everlast name conjures up visions of victory, yes, but also visions of pain and blood.

The lovable George Foreman has had something to do with making boxing and boxing-related branding more approachable. There certainly seems to be "greatness within" the George Foreman brand.

In fact, Monday’s announcement that Foreman is now co-team owner of IndyCar Panther Racing makes me think that there's nothing the Foreman brand can't take on. Well, almost nothing.

George Jr., Foreman’s eldest son, commented that, "our involvement with Panther Racing offers a tremendous opportunity to bring together two championship brands and cross-promote two sports powerhouses across a diverse fan base."

This co-branding deal, or "Panther Punch", as some are calling it, has the Panther team hoping to leverage Foreman's status as a champion brand.

Is the Everlast brand destined to be a champion, too?

Technorati Tags: Everlast, Greatness Is Within, Athletic Apparel, Rebranding, George Foreman, Athletic Brand, Panther Racing, Brand Names

Posted by William Lozito at 9:14 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 19, 2007

Can The Jaeger Brand Name Make a Comeback?

It seems as if the brand managers at Jaeger want to emulate Burberry and bring a "musty" old brand name back to life.

Jaeger is a UK fashion brand name that saw its best years decades ago (Audrey Hepburn liked it) before falling into a slump — in 2002 it closed its Madison Ave. flagship store.

The brand is named after a professor of zoology Gustav Jäger who wrote a book in the 1880’s detailing how humans could benefit from wearing animal fibres. The resultant company was called Dr. Jaeger's Sanitary Woolen System and became known for wool, cashmere and angora.

I’m surprised to note that there is such an interest in a brand that has essentially failed and is so old fashioned. Yet a new generation of investors believe that its worldwide recognizability and history could give it a new life, not least in New York, where there is a search on for a new flagship store, as well as in Asia.

Is this an example of a zombie brand comeback?

Only a few years ago we saw Burberry make a tremendous comeback from the brand name your grandfather liked to the handbags Kate Moss favors: Burberry is so hot that it might even ditch its signature plaid, an integral part of its brand, I think, but customers don’t seem to miss it.

I’ve written before about brand names that never say die.

I am sure London Fog is watching Jaeger with interest.

Jaeger has a new fashion team, a new brand manager and a whole lot of new money behind it. It has a brand that perhaps never really goes out of style. If they play their cards right, they might just do it — and prove that brand name recognition and history can trump tough times.

Technorati Tags: Clothing, Fashion, Apparel, Jaeger, Burberry, London Fog, Zombie Brands

Posted by William Lozito at 2:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 17, 2007

Crumpler Wants To Be A Naming Company

If voters compare candidates like boxes of cornflakes, do photographers shop for camera bags the way they’d buy real estate?

Crumpler seems to think so, given the fact that they produce a “Million Dollar Home” line of camera bags. These range from the 1 Million Dollar Home to the 7 Million Dollar Home—and there’s a Brazillion Dollar Home, as well.

As with homes, the higher numbers reflect greater square footage. The Brazillion Dollar home holds two SLR cameras and a laptop, with straps for your tripod. The Sherpa required to carry all of that is not included in the $280 price, however.

As a recent review of the 4 Million Dollar Home points out, Crumpler is known for its unique product naming schemes. And rightly so. “Crumpler” is a counter-intuitive name for a company that manufactures bags for fragile equipment. The last thing you want your camera or laptop to undergo is crumpling.

But that’s as nothing to the names of the bags themselves. In addition to the Million Dollar Home series, there’s:

• the Bucket series
• the Bundle series
• the Customary and Sinking Barge (a name even less reassuring than “Crumpler”)
• the Whickey and Cox (sounds like a pub, doesn't it?)
• the Karachi Outpost
• the Keystone

And that’s just in camera bags. There’s also:

• a book (or beer) bag called the Hoax
• laptop bags called the Salary Sacrifice and the Dreadful Embarrassment
• a traveling bag called the Status Belly
• a cell phone/accessory bag called the HooJah

The product descriptions are, if anything, crazier than the names. Which seems to be a big part of why they’re popular as far away as Kota Kinabalu.

It seems Crumpler uses different product names for its bags in Europe, which could get confusing. In England the bags go by completely different but equally outrageous names:

• Pretty Boy
• The Daily
• The Warm Shower
• Stripper Ripper

Maybe Crumpler employees all have a secret aspiration to work for naming companies. They certainly out-name competitors like Tamrac and Lowepro. Not that “Cyber Pro” and “Velocity” (Tamrac) are bad names; neither are “Vertex” and “Road Runner” (Lowepro).

But none of them are as memorably funky as the names of the Crumpler bags.

Technorati Tags: Crumpler, Million Dollar Home, Naming Company, Bag Names, Product Naming, Creative Names, Naming Schemes, Tamrac, Lowepro

Posted by Diane Prange at 9:14 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

May 2, 2007

Kate Moss, the Brand Name

Kate Moss’s new fashion line has drawn crowds in London and she’s coming to a Barney’s near you.

Her new collection literally brought London's main shopping street to a standstill yesterday... fans were limited as to how many items they could buy at a time.

At least one blogger says that we may be due for some "Katemossophobia," but nobody can deny that Kate Moss is a very, very bankable brand name.

Now she is headed to Barney’s in New York on May 8th, where I predict she will cause the same pandemonium she did in London.

The name Kate Moss is simply unsinkable: she is at once a celebrity name, a brand name and a product name all in one. No matter what she does or how she behaves, she seems to simply make us want more of her.

I think that we can safely say that high fashion can easily go mainstream, so long as the right supermodel’s name is attached to the clothing.

I think all this goes to show that the old adage that "any publicity is good publicity" might just be true.

Or going to "rehab" is the fashion du jour (pun intended).

Technorati Tags: Fashion, Kate Moss, Katemossophobia

Posted by William Lozito at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 6, 2007

Japanese Denim Brand Name Returns to the Source

The company behind the iconic Japanese jeans brand name, Evisu, is opening its first store in Soho, New York City. I think it’s interesting to see a foreign fashion brand come back to the original source of its inspiration, Levi's.

3Yen, the Japanese Fashion blog, notes that these are often called the “Rolls Royce of Jeans,” and the company was founded in 1988 in Osaka by Hidehiko Yamane. The brand name was originally “Evis” but was changed to the much more Japanese-sounding and much less Elvis sounding “Evisu” in 1991, “though the pronunciation and phonetic representation in Japanese has never changed.”

The logo is a stylized gull but looking at the pictures of the jeans on 3Yen I have to wonder if some less than fashion-conscious Americans might see a tipped over McDonald’s logo? I suppose one person’s gull is another’s golden arches.

The stores will not be retail outlets but centers of Asian culture and art and will offer customers the chance to “personalize their own denim”.

I thought it was interesting that the Deluxe and Heritage offerings are made on “old shuttle looms” from the 1950s. (I wonder if Levi’s sold them to the company?)

It seems that personalizing the jeans means letting an artist in the store hand paint the logo, either a small one on the back pocket or an immense one that covers the entire garment. I think this is a great example of a company engaging the consumer with their brand.

Technorati Tags: Evisu, Japanese Brand, Hidehiko Yamane, Levi's, Brand Experience

Posted by William Lozito at 8:46 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

March 10, 2007

Gap’s Boyfriend Trouser Gets the Prize for Worst Product Name of 2007 to Date

The new Gap Boyfriend Trouser product name is one of the worst examples of product naming in the last few months for a couple of reasons.

• First, the obvious: according to Yesterday’s Salad, that word "trouser" makes the brand name sound "like a British B-movie murder mystery," because people who shop at the Gap do not wear trousers; they wear pants, khakis or jeans. I’m not sure that the word "trouser" is commonly used in the singular, although it can be used as a verb (if you are British author PG Wodehouse), as in "he trousered the money."
• Second, the product name Boyfriend Trouser is not like a woman's "date dress" or her "fat sweater" or her "follow me home" stilettos. In other words, this is not supposed to be the pair of trousers you wear to see your boyfriend. Instead, it is a pair of pants made to look like you stole them from your boyfriend. As Josh Eisenberg points out, the problem here is that you are really not stealing from your boyfriend in this case.

Here's the Gap Boyfriend Trouser TV ad, in case you want to see it.

An insightful blog post on Jewess With Attitude calls for "Jewess Jeans" — Gilda Radner’s brand naming breakthrough, it seems. JWA asks some hard questions about the Boyfriend Trouser, like, do you buy the pants to "fill the void" if you do not have a boyfriend? On the other hand, JWA points out that if you do have a boyfriend, you could just steal his pants and save yourself $49.50. The JWA blogger asks if you’d be trying to make your current boyfriend jealous by wearing this brand name — suggesting to him, perhaps at a subliminal level, that you are wearing trousers stolen from some other boyfriend? Read the post.

In the meantime, two things seem clear to some bloggers: the eighties are over and with them our obsession with baggy khakis.

Brando suggests that maybe they are meant to actually "make you feel like your boyfriend." Or maybe the Gap is suggesting women wear these to help them find a boyfriend. If that’s what's happening here, it won’t work.

Technorati Tags: Gap, Trousers, Pants, Jeans, Khakis, Clothing, Apparel

Posted by William Lozito at 10:12 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 28, 2007

Federated Company Name Change to Macy’s Group Inc.

Federated Department Stores Inc. announced on Tuesday that it will be changing it’s name to Macy’s Group Inc. This is part of Federated’s larger efforts to make the Macy’s name a national brand, and comes after years of the Macy’s name replacing some of the best known names in department store history: including Marshall Field’s, a store I was especially fond of.

According to Chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren, the Macy’s name change “more accurately reflects the transformation of our business in recent years.” He added, “Today, we are a brand-driven company focused on Macy's and Bloomingdale's, not a federation of department stores.” Macy’s also got the nod for the name change because the brand name represents 90% of the company's sales.

There’s an excellent blog post up by Alexandra Biesada on Bizmology that looks at the rise of Federated and its chief rival, JC Penney. Both companies are busy revitalizing a shopping medium that once seemed dead - and bringing in younger, hipper customers by partnering with well known brand names: Federated partners with Martha Stewart and Elie Tahari while JC Penney partners with Liz Claiborne and Nicole Miller and offers in-store Sephora shops.

Federated, partly through aligning its strategy around the Macy’s brand name, has shown some very strong profits. Eli Portnoy notes on The Brand Man Speaks blog that in changing the (unknown) Federated name to the (well known) Macy’s name, the company is emulating Target's similar move and, at the same time making itself more attractive to investors.

I think that this is an excellent move on the part of Federated. As Lundgren told Women’s Wear Daily, adding the word “Group” to the name is a nod to the well known Bloomingdale’s brand name. It’s also a reflection of the way the Neiman Marcus Group operates Bergdorf Goodman or the J. Crew Group, which also has Crewcuts and Madewell in its fold.

I was interested as well to read that Macy’s in-house Hotel brand name is one of its fastest growing lines - surely what is good for the Macy’s brand name is good for this one as well.

Technorati Tags: Federated, Macy's, Name Change, Company Naming, Macy's Group, Department Store Names, Brand Name

Posted by Diane Prange at 8:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 23, 2007

Branding: Does Hip Hop Rule Madison & Vine?

Are hip-hop moguls the most innovative co-branders in the entertainment industry?

I am consistently impressed by the aggressive branding efforts by stars from the hip-hop scene. The crossover branding is pretty good, whether you are talking about Sean Combs or Jay-Z.

A very nice recent case in point is the way rapper DMX has gone from launching a DMX Authentic Line, to a line of canine clothes, to the forthcoming Earl Simmons Signature collection, the new brand name that “turns the Sean John business model on its head - selling his birth-name at a markup, instead of the Macy’s sale rack.”

Meanwhile, Def Jam Interactive and Electronic Arts have a feature built into their new video game Def Jam: Icon that allows players to purchase virtual brand name clothing from real life designers as part of their struggle to become hip-hop icons. Don’t expect to see Brooks Brothers or LL Bean in the game, however. Instead look out for clothing from Sean John (natch), Phat Farm and Rocawear.

This happens while hip hop fashion brand Sedgwick & Cedar ‘73 - a name which “represents the actual intersection where hip hop was born in 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Ave (1st House Party) and Cedar Park (1st Block Party) in the Bronx NY” - is born from a promotional mix tape of some of the hottest up-and-coming emcees.

Expect to see yet more of the Sedgwick & Cedar brand name on your sports screens as well as in your iPod: they just hired sports and entertainment agent Glen Toby to promote their name with major entertainers and athletes and are looking for more co-branding deals with other consumer brands worldwide.

Technorati Tags: Sean Combs, Jay-Z, Madison & Vine, Hip Hop Brands, DMX Authentic, Earl Simmons Signature, Def Jam Icon, Sedgwick & Cedar, Glen Toby

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February 20, 2007

Product Naming: Are Those Socks Liberal or Conservative?

Sometimes a product name carries incongruous connotations. This is certainly the case with Fox River’s Pro Choice socks. It’s a name that makes you wonder. Is there something political about these socks? Are they meant to be worn by feminists at rallies in front of Planned Parenthood clinics? Is there also a line of Pro Life socks?

In actuality, Pro Choice socks are ordinary-looking Lycra® athletic socks. Given that their other socks have names like “Explorer,” "Trailhead,” and “Fieldmaster,” it’s pretty clear the name has nothing to do with Fox River’s stance on abortion (assuming it has one). And no, they don’t have any socks called “Pro Life.” Or “Amateur Choice,” either.

For this brand, “Pro Choice” is meant to suggest that the socks are the choice of professionals. It would be more appropriate (if less intriguing) to call them “Pro’s Choice.”

While it’s not clear why these socks should be the choice for professionals, the name “Pro Choice” doesn’t seem to have stirred up any particular excitement, so it may not be that much of a misstep after all.

If you have a good example of a product name that carries incongruous connotations that you'd like to share, leave a comment to this post.

Technorati Tags: Fox River, Pro Choice Socks, Product Names

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February 12, 2007

Lingerie Brand Names For Beginners

One of my favorite things about Valentine’s day is the chance to review the various lingerie offerings out there in search of interesting brand names to recommend to my amorous readers.

Lingerie companies seem to have a taste for great names. Knickers: A Lingerie Webog is of course the first port of call, where they have helpfully posted “25 Perfect Lingerie Labels for Valentine's Day.” Lingerie brand names that caught my eye are “Eternal Spirits,” “Lounge Lover,” “Miss Mandalay,” “Prima Donna,” “Twisted Thrift” and the weirdest lingerie name: “Bela’s Dead.”

I also noted the new offerings by Love Lace but I think my favorite lingerie brand name for 2007 has to go to "Belabumbum", which means “beautiful bottom.”

It seems that the US Air Force has spent $20 million developing high-tech shorts and underwear that can be worn for weeks without washing - perfect for those of us who are so romantic that we can’t bear to part with our corsets even for two hours. This product has yet to be named but I doubt either Victoria's Secret (who just launched their interestingly named “Very Sexy For Her 2” perfume line) or Frederick’s of Hollywood will be carrying lingerie made of this stuff anytime soon.

The Fashion & Modeling blog has a great post on the dos and don'ts of lingerie buying and wearing (be yourself, work your curves) while IndieLondon has helpfully posted a Valentine lingerie buying guide that gives us some interesting tidbits: g-strings are out, they say, because women find men’s shorts more appealing, and only two percent of men find raunchy underwear sexy anyway.

Maybe boxer brand names and not silky nothings will be the big winners this year.

Technorati Tags: Valentine's Day, Lingerie Brand Names, Brand Name Underwear, Lingerie Name, Victoria's Secret, Product Naming

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January 31, 2007

Brand Naming: Are Copycat Products a Blessing?

Copying current technology seems to be a blessing and a curse in protecting a product name.

In the case of Under Armour, it is a blessing. Here is a company that simply took existing, easy to find technology and packaging, and positioned it with an easy brand name to remember (think Post-Its and Velcro).

In one bold move, the company quietly hijacked NIKE's dominant equity in this arena, despite a fairly weak slogan, I think (“Protect This House”), and some misguided target market positioning (appealing to women with a brand proposition that sounds more suited to a campaign to make Kevlar vests for the LAPD).

Word of mouth, in this case, has won over customers for Under Armour.

Compare this to the curse of the knockoff: the iPhone has its first possible clone in China, the carelessly named Meizu M8, which some bloggers think may actually be an improvement over Apple's offering. One blogger says “it was only a matter of time before the iPhone got Xeroxed,” a reference to the phenomenon known as brand name genericization.

Engadget says Apple’s lawyers should “start [their] engines.” I would add that they should possibly give Levi’s a call for tips on the difficult job of discouraging Asian brand name pirates.

What's the lesson here?

If you're selling a similar-but-different product, your brand name serves as a key differentiator. Its everything, in fact.

Technorati Tags: Copycat Product, Under Armour, Product Naming, Brand Promise, iPhone, Genericization, Naming Consultant, Differentiation, Meizu

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January 30, 2007

Levi's Getting Frayed Around Edges Over Trademark Protection

This week the New York Times noted that Levi's is one of the 10 most litigious companies in the country, partially because of its zealous protection of its famous pocket design — as well as every other trademark design feature it owns.

Susan Scafidi points out that while fashions themselves are not protected under US law, trademarks like pocket stitching and label design certainly are and those who blatantly copy Levi’s trademarks may have "bitten off more than they can chew."

Many bloggers are siding with Levi’s, who is chasing fashion houses that create jeans which feature a "patch with two creatures pulling a pair of jeans apart" as well as label placement on the back pocket. On top of this, Levi's has been after Japanese companies who create exclusive "repro" knock-offs of their earliest (trademarked) designs for resale.

There can be no doubt that part of every brand strategy is protecting the recognizable trademarks associated with it — that includes all of the above.

As the Times points out, Levi's has initiated over 100 trademark lawsuits since 2001, more than General Motors, Walt Disney or Nike. In my opinion, this is not surprising, as Levi’s trademarks are so easily copied, both purposely and inadvertently.

Part of brand naming is establishing everything that is unique about the brand and protecting it from those "inspired" by the features of the classic jeans to out and out criminals like the ones Google has to contend with. Levi’s is simply practicing due diligence.

Technorati Tags: Trademark, Levi's, Clothing, Litigation

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December 28, 2006

Pixie Dust to Gold Dust: Princesses, Tinker Bell, and The Fairies

A brand name saga is unfolding for Disney that seems to be a continuation of my September post about The Princesses brand collection.

First, just before Christmas, feminist writer Peggy Orenstein wrote an article in the New York Times entitled "What's Wrong With Cinderella" bemoaning the rise of the Princesses brand name from $300 million in 2001 to a very pretty $3 billion today.

It's on its way to becoming "the largest girls' franchise on the planet", dwarfing Mattel's "world of girl" and Saks' purchase and expansion of Club Libby Lu, with its offering of things like "Princess Phones" and "Princess-Makeover Birthday Parties."

Princesses are in, leading Orenstein to ask some hard questions about what, exactly, being a princess swathed in layers of pink frill awaiting a handsome prince is teaching little girls in the age of "third wave feminism."

Paris Hilton has latched on to the idea of being a "princess," referring to herself as an American princess fantasy and even astrologers have gotten into the act, explaining via the stars why princesses rule popular culture.

There's a lot of debate with many parents saying that it's all no big deal, pointing out that girls seem to "choose" the frilly colors, as if being a princess is a natural desire for any four year old girl. No matter how we look at it, the Princesses brand name rules the day.

Enter the new Tinker Bell, who is poised to make the Princesses look babyish.

The Tinker Bell brand name is meant to be the logical next step to the Princesses: once the girl has outgrown Cinderella, she can move towards this newly revamped, much naughtier brand name.

Already Disney sells merchandise at its theme parks, like t-shirts that say "Spoiled to Perfection" and magnets and light switch plates reading "Dark Tink: the bad girl side of Miss Bell that Walt never saw."

Think of what an eleven year old girl will look like in a Tink t-shirt reading “Mood Subject to Change Without Notice" and you get the picture. Tinker Bell merchandise racks up a whopping $400 million in sales right now, and the new movie, where Tink speaks, is set to be the launch pad for the edgier Tinker Bell and Fairies brand names.

Or not.

The Tinker Bell movie's fall 2007 release has been pushed back - it may not even see daylight until 2008 or even 2009. This must be bad news to Disney, who has already been building the Tinker Bell and Fairies names on the release of the movie.

A delay that long could see toy makers and clothing makers under serious pressure...especially those who have already begun merchandising Fairies products. We're talking $500 million of lost revenue. The problem? The movie as it is lacks appeal to older girls.

Another problem? American princess Paris Hilton's dog is named Tinker Bell, too.

It’s enough to make Captain Hook jump ship.

Technorati Tags: The Princesses, Club Libby Lu, Princess Phones, Paris Hilton, Tinker Bell, Cinderella, Spoiled to Perfection, Disney, Fairies

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December 22, 2006

Brand Naming: Trump and Gucci Go Well Together

I have been thinking about The Donald lately, mainly since he has been in the news so much.

First there has been the Miss USA Debacle that he has handled with his usual panache. YourFashionNews.Com said that "the man is an artist - and Tuesday, quite frankly, he made his masterpiece," when he publicly pardoned Miss USA for being a naughty girl. Nobody is quite sure what Tara Connor has done wrong other than get very drunk in a bar while being underage.

Trump has stamped his indelible brand name on the Miss USA pageant, essentially making it an extension of The Apprentice except with real life drama and better looking players. His public exoneration of Tara Connor at the base of the Trump Tower, the very gilded domain she had been publicly turned out of for her sins against the crown, had a sense of showmanship about it that would make both PT Barnum and Louis XIV proud.

Trump is also at war with another big name in show business, Rosie O'Donnell, for the aspersions she has cast on the Trump name. Seems that the words "bankrupt" and "Trump" shall never be seen together if The Donald can help it.

The Trump Tower, the locus of the Trump Brand, will now be the site of a gargantuan Gucci store. Yes, the venerable store on 685 Fifth Ave will be closed down and a larger, more improved version will be built on 56th and 5th.

We're talking 45,000 square feet of Gucci - three floors of it. The cost? A fashionable $80 million. The Donald has said that "I consider Gucci to be the finest luxury brand and store in the world. And It is a great honor to have them in the Trump Tower". From here on in, the Trump and Gucci brand names shall forevermore be linked in New York.

Barry Hoggard at Bloggy says he does not think that "associating the Gucci name with Donald Trump is really a plus," but I disagree. Gucci is all about ostentatious, over-the-top luxury verging on the utterly tasteless and this will be its flagship store.

What better place to put it than in a Tower named after Mr. over-the-top himself? Gucci is going BIG nowadays, with its first store opening in LAX and nobody goes for Bigger and Better than Donald Trump.

By getting its name into LAX and the Trump Tower, Gucci is trading exclusivity for pure bling - it clearly wants to move from being the Jaguar E-Type of luxury clothing and jewelry brands to being the Cadillac Escalade. In other words, it possibly wants to stop being the brand of choice for your rich grandmother and start being the brand for the nouveaux riche hoi polloi - the very people who love The Donald.

Technorati Tags: Donald Trump, Gucci, Miss USA, Tara Connor, The Apprentice, Trump Tower

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October 15, 2006

Links du Jour 10-15-06

Trademarks: Paul McCartney Registers His Name as a Trademark - He’s trying to get permission to put his name on meat, fish, poultry and game, as well as clothing, footwear, headgear and a variety of other goods.

I am reminded of the wild success of the Newman's Own and Newman's Own Organics brand names: semi-retired super celebs can sometimes become bigger food brands than entertainment brands. In Sir Paul’s case, an icon of the 1960s and 1970s, he could earn royalties in excess of Paul Newman’s $200 million to perhaps $500 million and yes, even $1 billon (although McCartney will not be around to enjoy or donate it).

Nerdlaw points out that it is unlikely that we will see many of these products. The big list is instead probably indicative of the European practice of covering many items in one application.

How about Paul McCartney headgear with an mp3 player loaded with all the Beatles’ songs?

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The Highs and Roewes of SAIC - The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC) has lost out on its bid to name its new car Rover and is for the moment considering calling it the "Roewe". Jack Yan has some thoughts on this, but I have to wonder if this coined British-sounding brand name, or neologism, would fool anybody.

Are there precedents from India or Asia?

Technorati Tags: Celebrities, Organic, Cars

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September 28, 2006

Product Naming: The Devil Wears Prada; We Like Crocs

CNN Money has a great article on the rising popularity of the strange-looking shoes called Crocs, which are also an interesting example of product naming.

The name for these pretty ugly shoes comes from the creator, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, who claims they, like their namesake, are “good on both land and water, live a long time, and have no natural predators.” Plus, when you look at a green Croc from the side it looks just like a crocodile.

Movie stars love them, as do people from every walk of life from yuppies to outdoorsmen. The brand name’s success would make a crocodile smile: in 2003 they sold 76,000 pairs to the tune of $1.2 million. The forecast is for sales of 20 million pairs in 2006, which would gross $300 million.

Crocs are eminently comfortable, lightweight and sweat proof. They are examples that pop up now and again of really ugly, comfy shoes that capture the market for a time before slithering away: think Uggs, Birkenstocks, Jellies and Earth Shoes, all of which are profiled in the CNN Money article, and all of which are truly weird examples of shoe naming.

I may be rushing to judgment, however: the mysterious writer at Searchblog finds them beautiful. On that note, Crocs are also one of the most blogged about shoes in history. There’s the Croc Shoes Fans blog and the Cute Crocs blog just for starters.

As Tim Manners of the Reveries Magazine blog points out, the inventors of Crocs (Scott Seamans, George Boedecker, and Hanson) have “created their own category of footwear,” which is known as “ugly but comfortable,” and despite the clear faddishness of the shoes and the name, they have extended the brand name to sandals, slippers and boots as well as knee pads, t-shorts, and, interestingly enough, therapeutic Crocs Rx Shoes, as well as sponsoring a beach volleyball tour.

At $30 a throw they’re a bargain and you can even put them in the dishwasher, dryer and microwave.

Try that with a pair of Pradas.

Technorati Tags: Crocs, Prada, Shoe Naming

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September 24, 2006

Brand Naming: Move Up Tinkerbell. Sorry Princesses

Princesses, move over for Tinkerbell. Ypulse links to a story in The Tennessean that informs us that Disney has permitted the Tinkerbell brand name to take pride of place over the princesses.

For some time now Disney has touted the Princesses brand name collection (Cinderella, Aurora, Jasmine, Belle, and Snow White) in their clothing, games and DVDs, but now it seems the 50 year old Tinkerbell brand name is taking over — at least as far as grade school girls are concerned.

Watch out, Barbie

Technorati Tags: Disney, Tinkerbell, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White, Clothing, Games, DVD

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September 14, 2006

Links du Jour 09-14-06

Counterfeit Chic hits the massive time - Can fashion be copyrighted? Because if it cannot, then every fashion brand name could be in trouble from copycats. Counterfeit Chic falls on the side of allowing fashion designs to be copyrighted and a Wall Street Journal article, Can Fashion Be Copyrighted?, presents opposing viewpoints.

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Trademark Application Blows LonelyGirl15's Cover - Lonelygirl15, one of the most popular names on the Internet recently, was not just some lonely girl. The Trademark blog found the tell-all trademark application that proves she was a pilot for a movie or TV show. The New York Times reports further on the creation of the Lonelygirl15 brand.

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Starbucks brings back boobies - Starbucks is celebrating its 35th anniversary by briefly reintroducing it’s old logo, which shows the bare breasts on a mermaid, and this, in turn has enraged at least one school principal. Millions of kids drink Starbucks and millions of adults are going to listen to endless boob jokes for awhile.

Technorati Tags: Starbucks Logo, Trademark Application, LonelyGirl15, Counterfeit Chic, Fashion Copyright

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September 12, 2006

Branding: It's Wahl-Marte to You

There is an interesting article in Ypulse today about how Wal-Mart is linking its brand name to high fashion at New York’s Fashion Week.

Wal-Mart is a brand name that is more associated with blue jeans than Gucci. However, fashion is facing “democratization,” according to the New York Times. Brand names like H&M, Zara and Topshop are bringing high fashion to the masses through a savvy combination of off shoring production and beating the couture houses like Gucci and Burberry off the runaway and into the stores.

Rock stars and TV stars are now frequenting low-end retailers looking for brand name apparel that in the past was hardly synonymous with glamour, but now has just as much street cred as Dolce & Gabbana.

Wal-Mart is basically emulating Spain’s Zara brand in flaunting really cheap clothes that make you look like a movie star. Democratic brand names like Miss Sixty, Energie, Killah and RefrigiWear are making millions of dollars dressing the person on the street like a model. How did they do it? Places like Wal-Mart have more reach than the smaller houses and often bring out the new fashions - cuts, colors and styles - months faster than the more expensive houses.

So, welcome to high fashion, Wal-Mart, and let’s see how you strut your stuff.

Technorati Tags: Wal-Mart, Zara, Fashion Week

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September 11, 2006

Brand Naming: Mobile Phones as Fashion Accessories

Nokia’s recent announcement that they will indeed be naming their phones rather than simply using alphanumeric designation comes as no surprise.

The introduction of the new luxury edition Sirocco heralds this new philosophy in brand naming (which reminds me of the VW Scirocco.) This announcement comes as people are thinking about cell phones, and the names associated with them, in a whole new light.

Cell phone makers have linked with famous fashion brand names to make charming, high end devices for the couture-conscious. The linkage of brand names like Motorola RAZR and Dolce and Gabbana, creating luxurious product names like the V31 D&G, illustrate an imported-from-Europe trend in cell phone naming: the perception of the mobile phone as a personalized fashion accessory rather than simply as a technology tool.

The V31 D&G is just one example of how some high end cell phone users are more concerned with making a fashion statement than simply having a neat gadget. Nokia Africa has linked the new Nokia 7230 with the high end Stoned Cherrie fashion house, referring to it as the “lipstick phone” (not metaphoric product naming: it has a mirror included for quick touch ups) and offering it in cocoa and silver colors much like Stoned Cherie’s designs.

Compare this to the new Motorola PEBL, which comes in many colors, including a limited edition Maria Sharapova model.

Chanel offers a phone strap, as do Hermes International, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, all of whom are brand names we do not usually associate with cell phones. The bloggers at Gizmodo, where techhie-cool is king, show some contempt for the new direction in cell phones but even they have to admit they’re pretty and part of the fashionably named L-Amour collection aimed at people who want a little sophistication with their phone.

I think this is a logical direction for cell phones, which have tended to become commoditized with feature bloat. We can only handle so many features on a phone. But the aspiratonal and intangible cell phone brand name is what will differentiate it in the marketplace.

Technorati Tags: Cell Phones, Couture, V31 D&G, RAZR, Sirocco, Nokia, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton

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September 10, 2006

Nau Is A Great Company Name and Brand Name

Transformation, Nau. John Winsor discusses the Nau clothing company.

John calls this a "transformational" clothing company that will meld social responsibility and good gear. Evan Orentsen at Coolhunting gives it a huge thumbs up and notes that it is being run by ex-Patagonia and North Face people (among others, including at least one person from Starbucks).

I think it’s a nifty company name and brand name. Nau means "welcome" in Maori and obviously sounds like "now" in English.

Another reason why I like the Nau company name is that it is also the prefix in English for things relating to the ocean or sea handed over to us from the Greeks — think "nautical" or "nautilus" from Greek "nautikos," meaning "sailor". This is a nice link for a company that makes rainwear among other things. Their blog is called the Thought Kitchen, which I really like as most thinking, cooking and partying goes on in the kitchen.

The company will be selling its products mostly online. They have a great name, and a great philosophy: doing well by doing good.

Technorati Tags: Nau, Clothing, Maori

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September 9, 2006

Branding: Be Like Mac

Who wouldn’t want to dress like this guy? Here’s a great piece of brand name research: a post on the product names behind Mac Guy. If you are really into Macs, then today's your day. These brand names have certainly benefited from being associated with Mac Guy. Now I want to know the brand names behind PC Guy.

Technorati Tags: Mac, Advertisements, Clothing

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September 8, 2006

Links du Jour 09-08-06

Nokia just announced the company will change its naming nomenclature, following Motorola's lead. Nokia is going to embrace brand names rather than alphanumeric naming in future cell phones after seeing the success of brand names developed by competitors like LG’s Chocolate and Motorola’s RAZR.

I have written extensively about Motorola’s naming strategy, from its treatment of vowels to its transition from RAZR to SCPL. I think Nokia is making a good move, as long as they included brand name research.

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It looks like Federated Department Stores senses the unhappiness many customers feel about the loss of beloved brand names like Marshall Field’s to their Macy’s brand, a subject I have written about a few times.

Federated is now trying to win over the hearts and minds of customers to the Macy’s brand name, in what they're calling their "biggest advertising campaign ever to support the re-branding.” I think they have their work cut out for them: some company names are hard to forget. But, time will tell.

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How should Katie sign off each newscast? Here’s your chance to contribute to Katie Couric’s recent debut: figure out a good sign-off tagline for her and send it in to CBS. Cronkite’s was “And that’s the way it is”, Murrow’s was “Good Night and Good Luck”, Dan Rather’s was “Courage”…what will Couric's be?

Readers of the Adfreak blog have some pretty interesting thoughts. Can you think of some creative sign-off taglines?

Technorati Tags: Nokia, Motorola, Alphanumeric Naming, Macy's, Marshall Field's, Federated Department Stores, Katie Couric, Edward Murrow, Walter Cronkite

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September 7, 2006

Branding: Sexy Lingerie...and Computers

Apple is just crushing the PC world with these ads featuring Gisele, and the new installment promotes both Apple and Victoria's Secret, in a backhanded manner.

Yes, an Apple is a better-looking computer, but will an association with sexy lingerie tarnish Apple's brand name? It occurs to me that Victoria's Secret and Apple have another thing in common: Bob Dylan.

Is it a coincidence that the sexiest lingerie company in the world is linking its name with Dylan and so are the sexiest computers in the world?

Technorati Tags: Apple , Bob Dylan, Victoria's Secret

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Branding: Marshall Field's Becomes Macy's

In a Chicago Tribune article yesterday, Hard-core fans stay loyal to brand, Sandra Jones reports that many people are simply not taking well to the Marshall Fields name change to Macy's.

The “Keep It Field’s” campaign is proof that a long-standing brand name like Field's can't just go away easily. In fact, one loyal customer has spent $2,000 of her own money to preserve the brand name. Some name changes make people so irate it catches on with even some of the least loyal customers, a subject I have written about before.

For more commentary about the name change from Marshall Fields to Macy's, check out our September 2005 blog post announcing the name change and the comments.

To understand the challenges facing Federated Department Stores as it re-brands stores to Macy's, check out Vanessa O'Connell's September 5th article in the Wall Street Journal.

Technorati Tags: Macy's, Marshall Field's, Name Change

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September 3, 2006

Links du Jour 09-03-06

Miller Sponsoring Protest March - Yes, the big beer brand name is linking itself to an immigration march in Chicago. It seems strange that a brand name like Miller would actually associate itself with this kind of activity, but as Adjab points out, it will give the company nationwide free coverage and will entrench itself within the ever growing Latino community, a target market I have written about before.

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Jennifer Aniston + Eminem Rapping in Next Nike Ads? - Brad’s worried it will be a Janet Jackson-like debacle but I don’t think so. Jen is funny, Janet is not. And it will be a great way to lighten up the image around the Nike brand name.

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Nielsen: Online Ad Spend Up 49 Percent in 1H06 - Online spending and spend on Spanish language TV has driven up overall ad spend. The big players are scaling back, it seems, but with the advent of YouTube and the explosion in community web sites, online ad spending has turned into a bonanza, and a crucial way to project your product name. At the same time, research has shown that simple, one or two word keywords rule the day on Internet queries. When it comes to making a searchable name, Keep It Simple, Sir.

Technorati Tags: Sponsor, Demonstration, Immigration, Protest, Advertising, Rap, Hip Hop, Eminem, Jennifer Aniston, Ad Spend

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September 2, 2006

Links du Jour 09-02-06

Don't They Have a Pill You Can Take? - Finally, somebody has felt my pain over the Yahoo campaign.

The ads we get on the site are sort of random, from a very confused big guy telling us "My Son Is Always Looking at His Yahoo" to a perky woman saying "I Have The Most Popular Yahoo on Campus."

What, exactly, is being suggested here? I'm at a loss, but it gives me a creepy feeling every time I log in, and creeping out your customers just can't be good for the product name. I am thinking seriously of getting Gmail just to avoid these weird ads. Stop the madness, Yahoo!

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Men. Who Are We? - The fact is, most of today's marketing is not reaching us. Darryl Ohrt at Brandflakes leads us to a very nice article on Businessweek that declares the demise of the metrosexual (RIP) and the irrelevance of the retrosexual male shopper.

Brand names like KB Home, Coke, and Adidas, as well as apartment brands and even vacuum brands are figuring out new ways to appeal to the 75% of male shoppers who are just not seeing themselves reflected in ads and brands.

What are we learning? Men are not being catered to in most advertising. I'd add that we shop differently and perceive stores differently. Crucial research for anyone who hopes to reach guys with their brand names.

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Tony the Tiger Plays Baseball - Kellogg's is repositioning the brand name of Frosted Flakes with its Work Hard, Eat Right and Earn Your Stripes campaign and John Winsor likes it.

Nice to see this kids' cereal brand name stepping up to the plate with the Earn Your Stripes Award.

Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs is helping built this product name into something more than just something that tastes Grrreat.

Technorati Tags: Yahoo, Men, Metrosexual, Retrosexual, Cereal, Baseball

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August 27, 2006

Links du Jour 08-27-06

VW Aims at Nostalgia Niche - And so does GM. The Rabbit, Scirocco, Camaro, and Dodge Challenger are all coming back. These are great car names from the past that deserve a second life. I must say I like the new implementation of the Rabbit logo, and agree with Third Way: the Rabbit brand name still has more cache than Golf. Go figure.

Fruity Goodness - Here’s a blast from the past with a very interesting update: the Fruit of the Loom guys are back, online, on a microsite that allows you to download Fruit of the Loom songs like You Can’t Overlove your Underwear. What can I say? These are brand icons that have a very long shelf life and have built a strong brand name. Catchy tune, too.

Digg sends C&D to DiggGames? - This is an interesting post because it speaks to the strategy behind protecting a trademark name. If you want to legally do so, you have to be perceived by the court as aggressively taking action to protect your trademark from use by both competitors and even by fans who want to set up complementary web sites using your brand name. Google did not take steps like these until it was too late, and Digg does not want to make the same mistake in protecting its mark.

Making Promises. Meeting Expectations. - Nice post and link for those of us in the brand naming business who might need a jump start in the creative process, whether thinking up a company name, slogan, logo or pretty much anything else.

Share Your Secret - I have to agree with Holly Buchanan: the Share Your Secret campaign for Secret Deodorant is making women look like tattletales or worse. Her post is mild compared to the one on Marketing Pop Culture, which slams the campaign for being aimed at “vapid, narcissistic soccer moms.” Ouch! The “Secret” in the “Secret” product name should be presented as something more interesting than a recipe for pecan pie, but I am not sure if the Share Your Secret site should go the way of PostSecret yet — a little too intense for me, but point taken.

Technorati Tags: VW, Volkswagen, GM, General Motors, Rabbit, Scirocco, Camaro, Challenger, Fruit of the Loom, Digg, DiggGames, Secret, Trademark

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August 23, 2006

Links Du Jour 08-23-06

• When Product naming goes wrong...internationally - Here’s a list from Hotelguru at the Talent Jungle of naming faux pas from around the world. Effective brand name research requires time and an understanding of various cultures, languages, and their nuances. You may already be away that the KFC slogan, “Finger lickin' good" means "eat your fingers off" in Chinese, for example. You may be less aware that Handi-Wrap, in Japanese, for instance, has a very strange sexual connotation. And some English slogans just do not travel well.
• Geox and the Seven Year Itch - Great brands that understand their promise and what they mean to a consumer can successfully extend their franchise. Bud=beer. Folgers=coffee. Geox=shoes. Laura Ries seems right on the money in her post: Geox “breathable” shoes are great. Breathable clothing, not so much. Geox means Italian shoes to people. Not shirts.
• News from Prague - What about the Plutons? - Lynn Hayes blogs about the importance of Pluto. Some are calling Pluto a "deviant" with a “large companion”. We gotta stand up for the fractured old guy. Tomorrow they’re going to rename him, and I say we show some humanity. Let’s do Pluto a naming service and get him back to planetary status.

Technorati Tags: Naming Mistakes, Translantion, Global Linguistic Analysis, Geox, Brand Positioning, Pluto, Brand Naming

Posted by William Lozito at 8:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 22, 2006

Brand Names That Never Say Die

London Fog is a brand name that means a lot to consumers. Problem is, it's the wrong generation of consumers that identify with it.

London Fog has been bought out by Iconix, a clothing brand management company. Iconix intends to make the London Fog product name popular once again, along the lines of Burberry and Coach, two other brand names that have found a second life after languishing through the nineties.

What I find interesting about this news, and the rebranding strategy behind it, is that a name with a long pedigree can come back from the dead, be repackaged, and resold to a new generation. Burberry is obviously the model to look at: once deemed the trench coat maker of choice for your grandfather, it is now one of the hottest brand names out there, worn out by everyone from yuppies to yobs.

Can London Fog do the same thing? Why not? The Burberry lesson has been heard across Madison Avenue. I think the London Fog brand name could be tweaked a little and take up where Burberry left off - as a respectable clothing line for men who do not want to be thrown out of pubs for being soccer hooligans.

What is interesting, of course, is the fact that the word “London” is in the name of this American company. One has to ask if a loaded brand name like “London Fog” is easy to turn around and sell to Americans with an expanded line. You know, Häagen-Dazs was created in the Bronx, not overseas. Hush Puppies wants to do just the same thing, and re-packaging that brand name seems to be an even greater challenge to me.

Another brand that has faced bankruptcy, officially, as of today, is Tower Records, a super brand name from a decade ago that now, in the age of iTunes, is simply no longer relevant. If it wants to survive it has to mean something totally new to a new kind of consumer.

As one writer mused today in Techdirt, the most likely scenario is that somebody buys the brand name, ditches the bricks and mortar, and uses it to sell downloads.

I’d say that’s about right: there are some brand names that just refuse to die - they just change hands. Watch this space.

Technorati Tags: London Fog, Apparel Naming, Clothing Brands, Luxury Brands, Rebranding Strategy, Burberry, Coach, Tower Records, Hush Puppies

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August 20, 2006

Links du Jour 08-20-06

• Heidi Klum Increases Her Brand Equity - Following my recent post about the "body slam" between Elle Macpherson and Heidi Klum comes this interesting piece of information about the Heidi Klum brand name. Bill Tancer has tracked hits on the Project Runway television show and found that Heidi Klum's name is now synonymous with the show's name (in terms of searches at least). An interesting case where the celebrity behind a product actually becomes the brand name itself.
• MasterCard Makes a Mini-Movie - They're airing a two minute flick on TNT that is designed to get around ad skipping. A new move in product name placement, where the main character will blatantly use the product in some dramatic situations. They are thinking about serialized two-minute shows that you watch between the shows you actually tuned in to watch. The real star of the show? The MasterCard brand name.

Technorati Tags: Heidi Klum, Project Runway, TV, Television, Elle Macpherson, MasterCard, Advertising, Product Placement

Posted by William Lozito at 9:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 28, 2006

Links Du Jour 07-28-06

• Norman's World - Tom Peters shares that a recent L.L.Bean order of his was N.I.S. (not in store.) What's interesting is that Leon Leonwood Bean (L.L.Bean) has turned over the reins to his nephew, whose name happens to be Norman Ignatius Stephen Bean (N.I.S. Bean). I don't think Norman has any plans on changing the company name.
• Concatenation of letter strings can get you into trouble - Geoffrey K. Pullum at Language Log reports on an interesting story regarding the embarassing intersection of linguistics, company naming, and domain names. Italian battery company Powergen Italia's website URL is www.powergenitalia.com. Yes, they have since changed their company name. Pen Island is a company selling customized pens, and really does have a current web site called www.penisland.com.
• Pretentious names for trim - Jack Yan talks about those tricky car names and levels denoted by letters such as L, GL, and S, or a combination, like the Camaro Z-28. These letters or words following the brand name denote how well equipped a car was. Now, Jack says, auto makers are denoting extra levels of quality with created names such as Focus Platinum, Ford Zetec, Renault Scénic, or Commodore Omega. Do you think pretentious names inform the consumer?

Technorati Tags: LL Bean, Powergen Italia, Pen Island, Domain Names, Linguistics, Company Names, Auto Names

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July 21, 2006

Links Du Jour 07-21-06

• Knight Errant - In a case of couture in court, Susan Scafidi writes about luxury brand Burberry, and how its revived knight brand logo may be just as tempting to counterfeiters. In a recent case, however, Marco Leather lost its trademark application, a copyright, and $100,000 to Burberry.
• Side by side comparison doesn’t decide likelihood of confusion - Ron Coleman points out the similarities between Louis Vuitton (LV brand logo) and Dooney & Bourke (DB brand logo) handbags and the resulting trademark infringement case. The lesson for brand name development? If the differences between two trademarks are “memorable enough to dispel confusion on serial viewing” there’s no likelihood of confusion - no trademark infringement.

Technorati Tags: Louis Vuitton, Dooney & Bourke, Trademark Law, Brand Logos, Burberry, Copyright

Posted by William Lozito at 8:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 8, 2006

Links Du Jour 06-08-06

• The Seven Deadly Domain Name Variations - Bill Sweetman at One Degree has listed the seven domain name variations to watch out for when building your domain name. Crucial and common sense brand name research.
• Adidas vs. Grand Slam Dress Code - Adidas is contesting the Grand Slam dress code that severely limits the use of trademarks on clothing worn by competitors. Some of Adidas’ own competitors have tried to get their distinctive three strip logo banned from the courts. I have found that when it comes to brand naming and brand name research, where and how your name gets out there is of paramount importance. And more often than not, your competitors are the ones trying to shut you down in the name of “fair play.”

Technorati Tags: Domain Names, Adidas, Branding in Sport

Posted by William Lozito at 8:54 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 7, 2006

Links Du Jour 06-07-06

• Visor maker offers to outfit Mt. Rushmore - Here's a pretty interesting way to publicize your company name: outfit well known outdoor monuments with your products.
• Microsoft's Playing Games - There is no doubt about it: getting your product name into a video game or two is a great strategy. It seems that Microsoft is poaching some great talent to do just that by adding Jeff Bell to its ranks, the man responsible for getting the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands into popular video games. This is starting to be a crucial part of any serious product naming campaign.
• Google Spreadsheet - It Doesn't Even Sound Right - Consumers don't use spread sheets? Managers won't sign off on a web based spreadsheet? Maybe so, but anything with the Google brand name on it seems to work. But I have to agree that from a naming perspective, a "Google Spreadsheet" just doesn't sound right.

Technorati Tags: Mount Rushmore, Microsoft, Video Games, Google Spreadsheet

Posted by William Lozito at 8:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 6, 2006

Brand Naming: Feuding Brothers Make Legendary Sneakers

The German town of Herzogenaurach has been literally split in half thanks to a 60 year old feud.

Few people know that Rudolf and Adolf Dassler, who started respectively Adidas and Puma, both hailed from this small medieval town. After years of working together building lightweight athletic shoes under the Gebrüder Dassler (Dassler Brothers) brand name, the two brothers split after a bitter fight. Adolf (or Adi), started Adidas and Rudolf, after flirting with the name Ruda, went on to start the much better named Puma.

Each company is still located on either side of the small river that splits the town in two, and because most citizens work for either one or the other companies, different schools, restaurants, bakers and shops have evolved over time to accommodate the feuding factions.

Puma workers simply do not associate with Adidas people.

The origins of the feud lie in the dark history of World War II. Both brothers were Nazi party members, but Adi was exempt from duty while Rudi trained as a radio operator and would later serve in the dreaded SS.

During an air raid, Adi, who was hiding in the family shelter, said to his wife “Here come those pigs again”, referring to RAF bombers; Rudi believed he was speaking about him and his family.

Rudi would later desert from the military and be jailed twice: first by the Gestapo and then by the Americans. Rudi always believed Adi had turned him in, and carried his hatred for his brother to his deathbed.

The rivalry – a legend in product naming history – has received new attention in the weeks leading up to the World Cup, when the two competing brand names will be outfitting rival teams:

• Puma, while smaller than rival Adidas, will be backing twice the number of teams in the Cup
• Of all the teams playing for the cup, more than half will wear one of the legendary German labels.

One piece of advice: if you do visit Herzogenaurach, don’t wear Nikes.

Technorati Tags: Adidas, Puma, World Cup

Posted by William Lozito at 10:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 5, 2006

Korea Company Naming is Going Glocal

Korean companies are slowly but surely changing over to English corporate identities, according to the Korea Times. Of the 715 companies on the KSE, 28 have opted for English brand naming, while 23 of 925 companies on the "tech-heavy Kosdaq" have done the same.

• Taepyongyang, Korea's No. 1 cosmetics and health care products manufacturer has changed its name to the AmorePacific Corporation
• Ssangbangwool, one of Korea's top underclothing corporations, will now be known as TRYBRANDS, Inc., named after its top selling "Try" line
• Mukunghwais, a bath product maker, is now Huenco, a name formed by combining the first two letters of the English words: human, environment and cooperation.

I think these kinds of changes are unavoidable as English entrenches itself as the language of globalization.

In an earlier post titled “Konglish Gives Korea Businesses a Bad Name”, I discussed the difficulty many South Koreans have writing in English. Therefore, it would be interesting to see how the other Korean companies choose to change their names to English.

Two years ago the Asia Times ran an article outlining the challenges South Asian languages face in a world run by English Web pages and English–speaking business interests.

The Asia Times introduced the idea of "glocal" English, that is English with a "local" flair. Already, more Asians speak English than any other population. English is a fluid and changing language and it is therefore expected that glocal English will likely affect and influence the way we speak in English-speaking countries.

To this end the Asia Times referenced the old Malay saying: "your mouth is your tiger".

Apparently, so is your brand name.

Technorati Tags: Asian Languages, Globalization, Anglicization, Glocal, Corporate Identity, Kosdaq, AmorePacific, TRYBRANDS, Huenco

Posted by William Lozito at 11:09 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 24, 2006

Links Du Jour 05-24-06

• Nike "Plus" Apple: Wow! - The new Nike+iPod Sport Kit is an excellent example of co-branding that I am frankly surprised didn't happen sooner. It would take about one second of brand name research to figure out that most people who own iPods own Nikes.
• Dinosaur species named after Hogwarts - Product naming usually does not extend into the naming of extinct dinos but here we see a great example of a well known brand name (Harry Potter) influencing science. And you have to admit, this dino looks like it walked out of a Potter book.
• Cadillac all by itself in Xbox Live - Cadillac just will not give up trying to appeal to younger consumers. In an interesting reversal of roles in the product naming field, Cadillac has paid a game company, the creators of Project Gotham, to use its brand name and vehicles in games. I think this is a new, creative way to reach a younger target market.

Technorati Tags: Nike+iPod, Nike, iPod, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, Xbox Live, Cadillac

Posted by William Lozito at 8:32 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 23, 2006

Links Du Jour 05-23-06

• Nike Steals Logo from Poor London Borough - This must be some kind of mistake. If so, I would imagine Nike will pay what the borough of Hackney asks. It just seems impossible that Nike did not do the brand name research on this one...
• Co-Creation and the One-Percenters - I firmly believe that it's the fanatical one percenters — that one small fraction of your customer base who just adore your brand and all it stands for — who push a brand name into being an icon. The field of brand naming takes its cues from legends like Harley-Davidson, Nike, and, more recently, iPod, product names that fans have made their own.
• SanDisk wants you to say iDon't - An interesting attack on the iPod name that compares iPod users to sheep and clones. SanDisk, a rival mp3 player company (if there really is one) has set up a site that takes the mickey out of iPod by making fun of its name, but I agree with Tim Nudd: it will do little to stop the iTatorship. The iPod is just iconic brand naming.

Technorati Tags: Nike, Logos, London, Brand Names, SanDisk, iPod, mp3

Posted by William Lozito at 12:23 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 6, 2006

Auto Product Naming: BMW is at it again

They have two new concept cars under development, code-named RFK-1 and RFK-2. "RFK" stands for "raum funktionales konzept" or "functional-space concept." The spy photos show a vehicle that frankly looks like it was designed for of Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

But this vehicle is designed to set the trend for roomy flexibility, taking direct aim at the Mercedes-Benz R-Class. Many US car lovers will note that the letters RFK have distinct Democratic overtones, making one wonder if the engineers in Bavaria are sending a subtle message to the Republicans who make up the bulk of this brand’s target market in the USA.

The alpha-numeric name of this car is in line with the established trend in luxury car and product naming that keeps focus on the parent brand, a subject I have written about in some depth in these pages: Product Naming: Luxury Brands Battle of the Alphabet.

At the beginning of the year I took a look at how even hoary old Lincoln has gone alphanumeric in its brand naming, renaming its luxury Aviator the MKX. The MKX will not be competing hard against the RFK as BMW is focusing here not on "bling" but on offering a practical "people carrier."

Cars, BMW, Alphanumeric Nomenclature

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May 1, 2006

Links Du Jour

• 3 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Building Your Brand - This one's by Clyde Fessler, former vice president, business development, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a brand name I have enormous respect for not only for its longevity, authenticity and broad recognition, but also for its good works programs. Anything the boys at Harley have to say should form an integral part of your brand research.
  
• Recycling Tires into Sidewalks - Ok, it sounds wacky but check this out---it is one of the niftiest products I have seen in a while and it's good for the environment, too. The name is just not that imaginative, however: Rubbersidewalks. C'mon! This might be where you need a good naming company to create a really bouncy product name.
  
• Hewitt and Hanes, Together Again - Jennifer Love Hewitt is pitching Hanes underwear, and kicking things off by attending a "Panti-monium" party where the guys at Adjab conjecture models will be walking around in Hanes underwear and the PR links confirm it. OK. I'm not too surprised Hewitt is connecting herself to the Hanes brand name, but a little surprised they got her to agree to partaking in "Panti-monium", which sounds like a 50's stag movie title. Hanes depends on Target, Wal-mart and K-mart shoppers to buy its products - is Middle America ready for Panti-monium?

Technorati Tags: Clyde Fessler, Brand Building, Harley-Davidson, Harley, Rubbersidewalks, Hanes, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Panti-monium

Posted by William Lozito at 8:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 18, 2006

Brand Naming: Tsubi Steps on Tsubo for the Last Time

Sydney jeans label Tsubi is the new up-and-coming fashion brand name from Oz - it even got the nod from U.S. fashion magazine W.

But its rise in the U.S. seems to be roadblocked by a California footwear company with the brand name Tsubo, who is suing the founders of Tsubi for trademark infringement in the U.S.

The Tsubo brand name has been registered in Australia since 2000 and has been informally petitioning Tsubi to change its name since its first trademark was registered in 2002. Tsubo is also taking Tsubi to court over using suspiciously similar typefaces in some of its brand marketing and a suspiciously similar logo.

Tsubi, you may recall, made its name by sending dozens of rats down a runway during the 2001 Fashion Week in Australia…and I think I smell one of them coming back to haunt them now.

If you love shoes, check out this great shoe blog. To keep current with up-and-coming fashion brands and news, read Fashion Asia, Look Online, and Fashion Blog.

Technorati Tags: Tsubo, Tsubi, Trademark Infringement

Posted by William Lozito at 11:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 2, 2006

Does the Wal-Mart Exsto Men’s Clothing Brand Name Stand Out?

Wal-Mart has just announced a new line of clothing, designed by the G-III Apparel Group and aimed at "young men with an urban flair." Its name? Exsto.

This is a fitting name (pun intended) for the image Wal-Mart wants to present. Exsto is Latin for "stand out, project, be conspicuous, be visible." Just what anyone looking for style wants to do.

Admittedly, not too many of Wal-Mart’s customers speak or read Latin. Many are Latin-American, however, and may think of the Spanish esto, meaning "this." As in "this is the one."

What do you think of the new Exsto brand name?

Technorati Tags: Wal-Mart, Exsto, Clothing, Fashion, Apparel

Posted by William Lozito at 11:55 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

March 29, 2006

Product Naming: Lego My Eggo!

I just saw an FSI ad for Kellogg’s new Eggo breakfast offering resulting from a promotional partnership of Eggo® and Lego®.

Not only does it make sense to create kids breakfast food in the playful form of a Lego, but the combination of the two product names, Eggo and Lego create a perfect rhyme resulting in a memorable and sonorous brand name.

Rhyme, after all, is a sweet emotive experience. Perfect rhymes are an American birthright. Baby Boomers like me were literally raised on rhyme. We lived in a world populated with Dr. Seuss and Mother Goose; Ring Dings and Burger Kings; Dairy Queen and Lean Cuisine.

So, when creating product names that may eventually find a promotional partner, the rhyme factor is a legitimate consideration.

Unfortunately, there are some product names that will never rhyme with anything: W, Tommy Hilfiger and Orville Redenbacker, for example, have infinitely poor prospects for promotional poetry.

On the other hand, many well-known brands, although they have yet to exploit it, possess the power of perfect rhyme that is waiting to be unleashed. Here’s just a smattering of potential product name partnerships ready to rhyme in prime time. Can you think of more?

• Barbie and Arby
  
• Wonder Bread and The Grateful Dead
  
• iPod and Izod
  
• Glade and Raid
  
• Microsoft and Ann Taylor Loft
  
• Apple and Snapple
  
• Sara Lee and Applebee
  
• Botox and Clorox
  
• Prozac and Cadillac

Note from the product naming police: Remember, you can have many Eggos, but Eggo Lego is never Eggo Legos.

For more about this new product, Andrew Becraft's blog has an interesting post you should check out. So does Nick Vagnoni, in his March 6th Slashfood blog post.

Technorati Tags: Eggo, Lego, Rhyme, Promotional Partnership

Posted by Diane Prange at 8:37 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 20, 2006

Brand Naming: A Case of a Missing Vowel

Motorola popularized it with RAZR. Reebok pioneered the concept many years ago with RBK.

I’m talking about brand names or product names that have eliminated a vowel.

Check out this interesting article in the March 19th issue of the Boston Globe that identifies many product names that have eliminated a vowel: Merchants X out A, E, I, O, and U

Technorati Tags: Vowels, RAZR, RBK, Brand Names

Posted by Diane Prange at 4:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 2, 2006

Brand Naming: Do The (RED) Thing

Marrying identifiable brands with social initiatives is not new in American consumer culture. The Live Strong bracelets are an excellent example that ties together the Lance Armstrong brand, the fight against cancer, and the color yellow that makes the bracelets stand out.

The organizers behind the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria have just announced the new brand name Red, which they plan to use to co-brand with identifiable products from Gap, Converse, American Express, and Giorgio Armani. Portions of the profits would go to the Global Fund. For instance, shirts, shoes, and credit cards would have a Red mark attached to the brand, much like a trademark symbol.

I think the campaign to associate the Red brand name with the Global Fund will be successful and that Red was a good choice of names for two reasons. First, the word red, in the medical community, symbolizes urgency and attention, think Red Cross. Red also represents AIDS awareness in many people’s minds since red ribbons have been used as symbols for that cause.

If you'd like to read what others are saying about the Red brand name, check out the Congogirl, Giselle Medina, or Globalisation Institute blogs.

Technorati Tags: Global Fund, Live Strong, Red Brand, Join Red

Posted by at 10:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 12, 2005

Product Naming: Niagara Processor Chip - Yes; Victoria's Secrets Niagara - No Way

Sun Microsystems recently introduced a new server based on the Niagara chip, which reduces the power consumption requirements by a factor of five.

I can see why the Niagara code name has stuck in the marketplace as a product name. Just as one thinks of a waterfall as cool and refreshing, this conjures up the Niagara chip's main benefit of running cooler since it requires less power.

Conversely, I do not see the Niagara branded products in Victoria's Secret. Victoria's Secret is the epitome of femininity, while the Niagara name, in addition to conjuring up cool and refreshing, also conveys big and powerful, two associations that the Victoria's Secret customers would not likely want to be associated with.

So, I say yes to the Niagara brand name chip from Sun Microsystems. It fits in with the Sun's naming architecture that includes references to nature such as its Solaris and Galaxy brand names.

But a definite no to Niagara brand name lingerie at Victoria's Secret.

Here are other blogs that discuss the Niagara chip from Sun Microsystems:

SQL Blog

Technology News Daily

Top Tech News

CNET News

Richard McDougall's Blog

Technorati Tags: Niagara Microprocessor, Sun Microsystems, Victoria's Secret, UltraSparc T1

Posted by William Lozito at 3:35 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 7, 2005

Wal-Mart in Fashion?

On Thursday, October 6th, Wal-Mart announced the launch of its new apparel line called Metro 7. The name Metro 7 reflects Wal-Mart's "urban" fashion positioning and 7 quite possibly refers to seven days of the week.

Metro 7 will stand alongside other Wal-Mart apparel names, all of which are suggestive -- Faded Glory, White Stag and No Boundaries.

The coined combination of Metro 7 represents the departure in Wal-Mart's naming convention. Understandably so, since the brand will be advertised in a four-page spread in the November issue of Vogue, as previously identified in the Laura Ries blog, alongside Polo, DKNY, Gn, and Tao .

Now I just have to convince myself that Wal-Mart clothes by any other name would wear well at all.

Technorati Tags: Wal-Mart, Metro 7, Vogue, Urban Fashion

Posted by Diane Prange at 11:43 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

October 5, 2005

"FCUK" Goes Flaccid

Apparently, it doesn’t matter what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and the last letter be in the right place. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole. I am sure the creators of FCUK were probably aware of this.

FCUK, which stands for French Connection UK, last week reported a year-end 69% plunge in pre-tax profits. The company has seen better days. When TBWA's Trevor Beattie, creator of the "Hello boys" campaign for Wonderbra, launched FCUK in 1998 he wanted it to be "the most talked-about fashion brand on the High street." One million lewd t-shirts later he succeeded. But by 2004, French Connection FCUK's wholesalers reported that they found the flagging teenage brand 'tired' and 'tacky,' and that it's 'time to move on.'

The FCUK brand name has long been the bête noire of the Advertising Standards Authority and target of an email campaign by OneMillionDads.com asking Marshall Field's to stop selling the brand and promoting slogans such as FCUK FASHION. Singaporeans also complained about the name when it appeared on the side of buses in that city.

Does the demise of FCUK signal a new trend in consumer morality? Probably not. Shock product naming is certainly here to stay, as evidenced in a recent risqué TV ad by Kimono Condoms. Shock brands get less shocking as they become mainstream and consumers look for the next in-your-face product name.

Further, what can begin as an edgy asset to a brand can quickly become an embarrassing liability...just ask the marketers who hired Kate Moss or Kobe Bryant.

Technorati Tags: FCUK, Brand, Trevor Beattie, Slogan, Tagline

Posted by William Lozito at 11:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 21, 2005

Marshall Field's: Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Brand

Today we mourn the final passing of a great brand. For some, it only died today. Yet others, myself included, have missed it for a very long time. We have missed its quintessential sense of style, its reassuring nearness and its unerring ability to make us feel like someone special. Marshall Field's and its predecessor, Dayton Hudson belong to Macy's now, not just in financial terms, but in name as well. Frankly, I preferred it when they belonged to me.

I have emotionally bonded with Dayton's for almost 30 years, since the day in 1978 when they gave me my very first credit card. I loved them for their liberal return policy, their Daisy Sales, their Santa Bears, their Christmas memories. But most of all, and more than love, I trusted them. Which speaks volumes for Dayton's since what is, after all, a brand, but a promise?

When Dayton Hudson bought the likewise Midwestern Marshall Field's a few years ago, the brand changed, but it did not die. The Dayton's name morphed to Marshall Field's with its fancy Frango mints, Field Days and Field Gear. The return policy tightened, but the sale days flourished, and some sense of regional, if not local, presence was retained.

Today, however, we lay both Dayton's and Marshall Field's to their final rest. They have been replaced by an East Coast name and logo. They have been replaced by a brand we barely know. A brand that does not share our Midwestern values. A brand that will not even allow its employees to greet us with "Merry Christmas."

I tell myself this really hasn't happened and I realize I'm embracing the first of five stages of grief: denial. Denial will soon be followed by anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. My recovery will take a very long time.

Posted by Diane Prange at 4:33 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

If the Name Fits, Wear It

Over 96% of the world's footwear carries a brand name. Generic shoes, or shoes with boring product codes just don't fit. Why?

Here's a clue: the footwear industry in the USA is a $40 billion-a-year market, and women pony up more than their share.

There's no way around it, women are passionate about shoes and this sector's product naming reflects this. They're a constant obsession in pop culture, endlessly talked about and fetishized in television, movies, song lyrics. Most notorious of the shoe-loving pop culture media is the smash HBO series Sex in the City, in which shoes are one of its main themes.

Some of the biggest brands in product naming history come from Nike. Athletic shoes represent 35% of the USA footwear market, Air Jordans are one of the top selling brands ever.

Online shoe retailers offer some luscious browsing for the shoe lover. The names you run across illustrate just how much we match our feelings and personalities with our foot apparel.

• Bombshelle offers shoe names such as Flutterby, Groovy Tuesday and Lucky Charm
• Tribeca offers products with the name Heart-N-Soul, Swing Music, Vapor and Save-Me

But wearing good shoes means being more than just sexy

• DYNY offers us Resolve, Perfect and Grand Slam
• Charles David offers Bling, Flash and Daunting alongside more cheeky names like Kiss, Frill, Pinch and Frolic

Clark's, on the other hand, offers staid, literary names such as Hemmingway, Eliot, Bronte and Poe.

Place names get big play as well: DKNY offers Sydney, Liverpool, London, Madison and sexy Melrose, illustrating what at least one has told us about female shoe lovers: a woman who loves to buy shoes yearns to travel.

Posted by William Lozito at 7:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 19, 2005

The Von that Refreshes ...

Coke's new and fashionable caffeinated energy drink, Von Dutch, is scheduled to launch in October in camouflage cans. Setting its sights on über-cool teens and twenty-somethings, it takes its name through a licensing agreement with the Von Dutch Originals fashion label.

The brand, Von Dutch, is eponymous for the prolific, hard-drinking, neo-Nazi, zany beatnik artist of the 60's and 70s.

Established post-mortem through an agreement with the family, Von Dutch clothing purposefully brings high fashion to new lows.

Von Dutch's $150-plus blue jeans, $20-trucker caps, $149 bowling bag totes, $1,000 silver belt buckles and $995 leather jackets have landed in the center of a flourishing white trash fashion trend. (Britney Spears wore a Von Dutch trucker cap for her recent nuptials.)

But the brand has recently lost some its luster among the artists' original fans who see it as overt commercialization that has ventured far from its real red-neck roots.

Since fashion is fickle, Von Dutch Originals could easily become an annoying memory and an annoying beverage name. Already there are copycat shirts reading "Von Suck". What's next? "Make it Real, Von!"

Posted by Diane Prange at 8:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 30, 2005

Do You Drive a "Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget?"

Company monikers have a way of burrowing into our collective unconscious until a meaningless combination of syllables becomes synonymous with tea as in Lipton or soft drinks as in Pepsi. And while appropriate choices may change over time, a solid handle will reward a brand with generations of buyers.

One popular tactic early on in branding was to dub a company after the founder. Nestlé, for example, is the junior of proud parent Henri Nestlé, whose given name is German means "bird's nest." This explains why the chocolate company's curious logo is a bird nest with two cheeping youngsters. Adidas also celebrates its founder - culled from Adolf (Adi) Dassler - since Adolf might be less of a selling point.

Other companies find inspiration in literature. Starbucks began life as a character in Moby Dick, although by now students may wonder if Captain Ahab enjoyed a half decaf latte before going after the whale. Verizon applied the classics, by combining the Latin "veritas" (or truth) with horizon.

A Swedish car manufacturer might have had fewer sales had it stuck with "Svenska Aeroplan aktiebolaget" (Swedish Aeroplane Company). Luckily, this was soon abbreviated into SAAB. By the way, "do you drive a SAAB?"

Hyundai and Samsung, two Korean companies, used their native language to attract international buyers. Samsung translates to "three stars" (which begs the question: is three stars the highest rating in Korea?), while Hyundai is Korean for "modernity" or "the present age." In English, of course, it means "good gas mileage."

Sharp Electronics decided to take the name of their first product when the company was launched. And that product happened to be an ever-sharp pencil.

Are there any company names that have you scratching your head as to their origins?

Posted by Diane Prange at 2:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

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