November 13, 2008
Retro Brand Names and New Slogans Hit the Slopes Despite Economic Woes
Now is the time of year when skiers start heading to the stores to buy their equipment and season tickets, and this year the ski world has adopted a "why worry?" attitude towards the recession.
The thinking behind this viewpoint is that skiers are passionate about their sport and are willing to spend for it even in tough times. Over the next few weeks we'll see if that optimism is truly well-placed.
One thing is for sure, there's plenty to buy. New mid-fat skis retail between $700-$900 before you buy the bindings and the new "Grizzly" ski from marker with Marker bindings will set you back $1600. And if you're going to buy that, you may as well spring for the Swamy g.cell ski gloves with a built in cell phone for $500. I know that at least one member of our team is tempted to get both.
In addition to all the expensive new gear, Ski resorts are working hard to pull skiers back to the slopes by appealing to the "soulful" element of the sport.
In fact, Ski Idaho's new slogan is "Idaho &mdash The Soul of Skiing."
DC (an extreme sports equipment manufacturer) is also making an effort at marketing wordplay by selling snowboard's with its "Enjoy the Ride More" campaign (note that word more - in tough times, consumers are certainly searching for more).
Utah ski stores are cautiously expecting the best, but Vail, Colorado is taking no chances. They have put an extra half million into promoting the resort, referring to the national economic situation as an "emergency."
The slogan "Ever Vail" has been one output from this effort, which wonderfully appeals to the timelessness of the sport, but I would also think that bringing back retro brand names like Dynastar Twister is a smart marketing decision as well.
Skiers are loyal to their sport, which also suggests that they are loyal to their sports' brands. Offering retro brand names and promoting areas by emphasizing their emotional appeal is definitely a good way to start enticing skiers back to the powdery peaks.
The real appeal of skiing is that it is a passion handed down from parents to children and sometimes all people need is just a little reminder of why they love it so much in the first place.
Technorati Tags: Skiing, Skiing Brands, Slogans, Brand Naming, Branding, Marketing, Economic Marketing
Posted by William Lozito at 10:12 AM
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November 11, 2008
New Manitoba Slogan: Start Living
Where do I begin?
Many of you who read our blog regularly know that we go out of our way to accent the positive. In this case, it's just not possible or appropriate.
The new "Smart Living" Manitoba slogan is anything but smart. Oops, the new slogan is "Start Living," but I immediately confused it with the Smart Living magazine.
That's the least of the problems I have with Manitoba's new "Start Living" slogan.
As you may recall, I blogged several times a 
couple of years ago and spoke with Richard Cloutier of CJOB Radio in Winnipeg regarding Manitoba's "Spirited Energy" slogan.
It now appears as though someone is taking the Manitoba taxpayers for an additional $2 million ride on top of their $3.1 million dollar "Spirited Energy" spending spree.
Finances aside, these Manitoba slogans have simply gone from bad to worse. Our Canadian neighbors deserve better than this and they're smarter than this.
One of the tests for a new destination slogan is whether or not another geographic area can make the same claim?
In this instance a better question may be who can't?
Or maybe even what geographic destination would want to make the claim "Start Living?" Doesn't this slogan imply that the people of Manitoba haven't been living up until now?
In several years of blogging, I don't think I've ever used the word dumb. As a professional courtesy I will continue not to use it, but the "Start Living" slogan is very silly. Very, very silly.
As you can see, I agree with Tom Brodbeck, writer for the Winnipeg Sun, and his recent articles criticizing the "Start Living" slogan. This new Manitoba moniker is most certainly Dead on Arrival.
I think the efforts of the Premier's Economic Advisory Council reminds me of the adage, "If the only tool you have is a hammer, you treat everything like a nail."
Might I suggest an entirely new toolbox? Or carpenter?
Technorati Tags: Manitoba, Manitoba Slogan, Tagline, Spirited Energy, Start Living, Tom Brodbeck, Premier's Economic Advisor Council
Posted by William Lozito at 8:42 AM
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October 1, 2008
The Roots of Virgin's New 'Airphoria' Tagline
Virgin Atlantic has just launched a new advertising campaign centering around a neologism: Airphoria.
A spokesperson for Virgin's agency of record defined the term as "the excitement and anticipation felt before a Virgin flight."
"Airphoria" is obviously a play on the word "euphoria." It's a trifle less euphonious than its source word, but with a little practice it falls "trippingly" enough on the tongue.
It's too early to tell whether the campaign will be a success, but my own interest in this newly-coined term is its linguistic richness and probably unintended appropriateness.
Euphoria, as we all know, refers to a sense of exaggerated well-being, or in other words, a "high." Apt indeed for the experience of cruising at 40,000 feet, not to mention the effects of consuming alcohol at high altitudes.
If you break down the word "euphoria," however, it's the "eu" that provides the positive connotations. "Eu" is Greek for "well" and has a sense of familiarity because of words such as "eucharist" and "eulogy." Take the "eu" out of "euphoria" and you have "phoria," which comes from the Greek word meaning "to carry" or "to bear."
In fact, the original Greek meaning for "euphoria" was "fertility," in the sense of bearing children easily, which is slightly ironic for an airline whose name is Virgin. I'm sure the flight attendants would prefer that passengers not give birth in mid-flight, though outfitting planes as delivery wards might be just the kind of wacky stunt that would appeal to Richard Branson.
So "airphoria" (which the Greeks would have spelled aerophoria), would be "the ability to carry in the air." And any airline had better have that.
Technorati Tags: Virgin, Virgin Atlantic, Airphoria, Euphoria, Tagline, Airline, Slogan, Richard Branson
Posted by Diane Prange at 1:29 PM
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September 24, 2008
What do you think of the T-Mobile G1 brand naming?
The new Google phone is out and it has been named the "G1." Well, let me be more precise.
This is a Google-powered phone sold by T-Mobile USA that uses the vaunted Android operating system. It's official name is actually the "T-Mobile G1" leading one blogger to ask "G1, Gphone, Tphone - what will you call your Google phone?"
To confuse matters even further, HTC, the Taiwan based manufacturer of the phone, code-named it the Dream. I've rarely seen a technology device referred to by so many names.
When I first saw the term G1, I immediately thought that this must be for an old product. Why?
I was immediately reminded of:
- Apple's G-Series of Towers which ended in the discontinued G5
- Then there is the Pontiac G5 and G6
- Oh, did I mention that ASUS has a G1 and G2 laptop
- Finally, maybe this is a little bit of a stretch, but I was also reminded of the George Foreman G5 grill
While I agree with New Gadgets and Gizmos that the T-Mobile G1 Phone is not an iPhone killer, I strongly disagree with the assertion that iPhone will become a genericized brand, like Kleenex, Xerox and Band-Aids.
Just as Apple tightly controls third party developer software for the iPhone, it has a track record of vigorously defending its brand trademarks.
Technorati Tags: G1, T-Mobile G1, iPhone, Google, Pontiac, George Foreman, Computers, Cell Phones, Android
Posted by William Lozito at 8:06 AM
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July 24, 2008
Sara Lee Forced to Embrace (Overly?) Accurate Food Naming and Branding
Sara Lee's recent problems with its Soft and Smooth labeling issues speak to an interesting dilemma: when does labeling cross into the realm of naming?
It has come out that Sara Lee cannot claim that the product contains "whole grain goodness" because the bread is made up primarily of white flour: it is only 30% "whole grain," a fact that now must be made clear on its packaging. Additionally, "As part of the agreement, Sara Lee will add copy to the label stating that two slices have 10 grams of whole grain and that (the U.S. Department of Agriculture) recommends consumption of 48 grams of whole grains daily."
This has set off a bit of derision on the blogosphere, with one group suggesting that this stuff is really "White Bread For People Who Hate Whole Wheat Bread And Like Lying To Themselves That White Bread Is Healthy."
The issue of not-so-healthy food being touted in "creative" ways to customers is not a new one, but it seems all the more insidious when it comes to health (or at least healthier) foods.
It's one thing when a candy bar company, for instance, tries to get you to eat more chocolate for the good of your heart, it's quite another when you think that your purchase is either good for you or for the environment.
And food labels are notorious for being tricky to read and have traditionally been rather far reaching with their claims. Items like Fiber One Chewy Bars and Nabisco Fig Newtons 100% Whole Grain Cookies (there's that pesky whole grain thing again) have raised the ire of various consumer groups.
Cereals aimed at kids often claim to be "low fat" or "low sugar" while even "whole grain" cereals slip in sugar, salt and fat.
Responsible product naming should also be accurate product naming. And yet, is Sara Lee really that far off the mark in saying that their bread contains "whole grain goodness," a tagline that seems rather unimaginative but serviceable?
Or is the problem here the word whole? Like it or not, the bread does indeed contain "whole grain goodness" but is NOT made wholly of "grain goodness."
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) wanted to forbid the company from using these phrases: "made with whole grain," "good source of whole grain" and "now with 25 percent more whole grain," all of which do not seem overly misleading. We are, after all, talking about white bread.
Technorati Tags: Bread, Labeling, Health Foods, Sara Lee, Whole Grain Goodness, Whole Grain, Taglines, White Bread
Posted by William Lozito at 9:22 AM
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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
Posted by William Lozito at 10:13 AM
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July 3, 2008
Walmart Gets a Naming and Branding Facelift
Wal-Mart has given its brand name a facelift, dropping the old fashioned, clunky, all caps typography, the hyphen, the star and the red, white and blue color scheme in favor of a cleaner, more "dot-com" image.
Frankly, this almost counts as a name change, because we are all now expected to refer to the company as "Walmart."
They even have a new logo that looks like a sun, or a star, or maybe an asterisk (Walmart execs refer to it as a sunburst that "looks organic"). The idea is to get an image into the consumer's mind much like the Target logo, although Walmart's strategy is to appear friendlier.
They also have a new slogan that was unveiled last year: "Save Money. Live Better" which coincides with the company's attempt to equate low prices with a better, healthier life. Brand New has tracked all of the Walmart naming since 1962 and feels underwhelmed by this naming shift. And while the change seems precipitated by some troubles the company has had recently, many feel that the change was at least ten years overdue.
Walmart has some serious PR issues to contend with in my home state of Minnesota and they certainly need to work on their profile.
The Huffington Post reports that its corporate image suffered the third biggest drop on the Harris Interactive Poll over the last year. So a facelift is probably long overdue.
I'm not expecting any major strategy changes from Walmart, a company that is very successful in being blandly able to offer low prices to the consumer. Its name recognition and immediate association with its most powerful selling point, low prices, is unparalleled and I would expect the company to profit during the economy's downturn.
Finally, the Walmart "sunburst" reminds me of Apple's "loading" symbol.
Technorati Tags: Walmart, Wal-Mart, New Slogan, New Logo, Harris Interactive Poll, Corporate Image
Posted by William Lozito at 12:39 PM
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