Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the requested appeal of Harjo v. Pro-Football, Inc., the nearly two-decade old trademark case seeking cancellation of the U.S. Trademark Registrations owned by the NFL franchise in the Nation’s Capitol. In doing so, the highest Court in the land, has permitted the laches ruling to stand. Basically, permitting dismissal of the action given
What’s G? For Gatorade, G is Gruesome
Gatorade’s efforts to re-brand as “G” have been a dismal failure. It seems as if the brand management staff at Gatorade consumed a few too many cold beverages while making this decision, and I’m not referring to refrigerated Gatorades.
The history of the G re-brand has its roots in 2007. Unit sales were flat in 2007 compared with 2006, after three years of double digit growth, according to market research firm Information Resources Inc (IRI). More poor results followed in 2008 despite product innovations and brand revitalization efforts (here and here). In January 2009, Gatorade started the G re-brand. The G re-brand has done nothing to improve Gatorade’s bottom line. In fact, it has harmed the bottom line.
The decision to modify a brand name should not be taken lightly. A brand name communicates the essence of the brand to consumers. According to Rick Baer, Professor of Marketing at Thunderbird School of Global Management and former Global Brand Manager with Colgate-Palmolive and Dial Corporation, a brand name “should conjure up all the associations and images you want for your brand”. Does G accomplish that? The answer is a resounding no.Continue Reading What’s G? For Gatorade, G is Gruesome
Holiday Inn’s Relaunch: Do We Have a Problem, Houston?
–Dan Kelly, Attorney
Time for me to play dumb consumer and ask an honest question. What is the conventional wisdom in relaunching or revitalizing a brand: do you tell consumers that you’re doing it, or not?
I suspect that there is no universal answer, but Holiday Inn’s “relaunch” has admittedly caught my attention. (It caught Steve’s attention here.) Every morning on the way to work for the past several months, I have passed a billboard for Holiday Inn stating, “We’re making big changes.” Since my first viewing of the billboard, my brain has always followed with a thought along the lines of, “Well, you must have needed it.” Why would a company mess with success?
More commentary after the jump . . .Continue Reading Holiday Inn’s Relaunch: Do We Have a Problem, Houston?
Supreme Court Asked to Review Washington Redskins Trademark Case
Back in May, I wrote a piece entitled “Re-Branding Madness in Washington” Overlooks Obvious: The Washington Redskins,” discussing the trademark cancellation action that I filed on behalf of seven prominent Native American leaders back in September 1992 (Harjo et al v. Pro-Football, Inc.), and calling for the football team to “hire a branding
Re-Branding and Pink Elephants: Doesn’t “Drury Inn” Need a Name Change?
Trying my consumer’s hat on for size this Labor Day, I’ll ask the question: Would you pay good money and choose to stay a night or two in the hotel pictured above, without having a personal recommendation from a very, very good friend?
Me neither, says my wife, for our family.
Did the name have anything to do with your decision? In other words, might you be leery of weary desk clerks, eerie hallways, and dreary rooms, at the Drury Inn?
We were. Sorry, Drury Inn.
But, with far more cheery sounding and well-known national hotel brands readily available like Courtyard, Crown Plaza, Hilton, Hyatt Regency, Westin, Sheraton, Hampton Inn, Residence Inn, and Holiday Inn (or, should I say, H?), do you really blame us for our uninformed theory?
Remember my family road trip this past summer that revealed a trend toward single letter chewing gum brands and a discussion of non-verbal logos that can stand alone? Well, on that same trip, driving through the heartland, along the various interstates we traveled, we noticed Drury Inn after Drury Inn, a hotel chain we had never encountered before. We stayed a few nights in downtown St. Louis, near the above-pictured Drury Inn, but we never had the interest or courage to take a closer look.
Actually my wife felt even more strongly about it than I did, she thought that the various Drury Inns we saw (from the outside) looked and sounded, well, quite dreary. Apparently we aren’t the first to make the “dreary” word association with Drury Inn, especially among those who have expressed online their rather negative experiences in spending nights and money (on the inside of one) (here, here, here, here, here, and here). One could say that deciding to use a name so easily a target for a hotel chain starts to make the resulting wounds look self-inflicted.
Sorry again, Drury Inn.
Recognizing the practice of many popular national hotel brands to select and adopt brand names that evoke feelings of comfort and pleasure (Courtyard, Holiday Inn, Days Inn, Sleep Inn, and Comfort Inn), I was left rather intrigued with the peculiar naming decision involving Drury Inn, at least enough to take a closer look online. Armed with a Wikipedia reference along with the hotel chain’s website, I was surprised to learn, having never head of the brand before, that it has been around since 1973, it has 130 locations in twenty states, and it has won some awards too.
Now, while Mr. Drury, and other family members, might defend use of the family name based on the recognized success and longevity of their business, someone less emotionally attached to the surname might ask where the business would be with a better brand name for a hotel chain.Continue Reading Re-Branding and Pink Elephants: Doesn’t “Drury Inn” Need a Name Change?
It’s Time to Rebrand Branding
Like most people, I look forward to summer with great anticipation. But amidst the sunny skies and good times there is one thing I dread: BBQ chitchat. I am no wallflower, I just know inevitably it will circle to the question I fear most, “So, what do you do?"
Stuttering, I produce the blandest description, jolting the conversation to a halt. I start with the simple truth, “Branding.” Which generally is met with a blank stare, so I go a little deeper, “I mean, Brand Consulting.” The raised eyebrow forces me to admit defeat: “… uh… marketing?” People politely nod at my conversation killer, turn to my fiancé, and squeal, “Tell me more about being a pilot!”
What I do is challenging, creative and, frankly, really cool. My inability to meaningfully describe it is shameful because I consider myself an expert at helping others succinctly express what they do. Although I’ll take some blame, ultimately I look to the entire branding industry as playing a large role.
The industry has grown and become more recognized, and it’s also become simultaneously diluted and confusing. “Branding” clearly needs to take a dose of it’s own medicine and rebrand itself.Continue Reading It’s Time to Rebrand Branding
W H O, R U? Exposing Single-Letter Trademark Envy in Hotel Branding
Hotel chains appear determined to own single-letter trademarks anymore. Yes, the lodging industry appears headed toward serving up a regular bowl of alphabet soup you might say. Do you recognize any of these single letter hotel marks?
Continue Reading W H O, R U? Exposing Single-Letter Trademark Envy in Hotel Branding
Chief Wahoo ≠ Louis Sockalexis
Last week I blogged about how the Cleveland Indians could save some face by re-branding Chief Wahoo:
Turns out there are some who believe that Chief Wahoo is a “tribute” to or the logo actually pays “homage” to Louis Sockalexis, who Baseball Almanac has reported to be professional baseball’s first American Indian player.
“Chief Wahoo” Re-Branding Underway? A Painful Lesson on Saving Face
A picture can say a thousand words; so does a face. The same is probably true of non-verbal logos, including the several federally-registered “Chief Wahoo” logos, shown above (all apparently still in use by the “Cleveland Indians” professional baseball team, according to their latest trademark filings).
So, what do they say to you?
My take? I can think of quite a few words to describe them, but none includes the word “honor,” as is often the claim made by those in favor of keeping Native American mascots.
From my perspective, “Chief Wahoo” is the non-verbal equivalent of the Redskins racial slur that I blogged about last week.
Last month I blogged about Non-Verbal Logos That Can Stand Alone, and while “Wahoo” certainly can “stand alone” as a non-verbal logo, unlike the famous Nike Swoosh and McDonalds Golden Arches, “Wahoo” should simply “stand alone” in the corner of a dark closet with the door shut and locked.Continue Reading “Chief Wahoo” Re-Branding Underway? A Painful Lesson on Saving Face
“Re-Branding Madness in Washington” Overlooks Obvious: The Washington Redskins
Re-branding occurs all the time.
Re-branding occurs in business. Remember when Bell Atlantic became Verizon? Andersen Consulting became Accenture? How about when Philip Morris became Altria?
Re-branding occurs in politics too. Just days ago, Judson Berger discussed a kind of “re-branding madness” consuming Washington, D.C. right now: “Terrorist attack is out. — ‘man caused disaster’ is in.” Our friends at Catchword Branding had a lot of fun with the political re-branding of Swine Flu.
Re-branding even occurs in the world of professional sports. Remember when the NBA franchise Washington Bullets became the Washington Wizards in 1997 out of concern that the Bullets name of some twenty-three years (1974-1997) had acquired “violent overtones”. How about the recent re-branding from the Seattle Supersonics to the Oklahoma City Thunder? Even the NFL has decided to recognize Cincinnati Bengal Chad Johnson’s re-branding to Ocho Cinco.
Re-branding changes, according to Wikipedia, are “usually in an attempt to distance [the brand] from certain negative connotations of the previous branding.” So, given the widespread meaning and understanding of “redskin” as “offensive slang” and that it is “used as a disparaging term for a Native American,” given the pain the term has caused, and given that the team’s helmets sport a Native American profile and not a certain variety of spud on them, why won’t the Washington Redskins get on the re-branding bandwagon in our nation’s capital? After all, even one of the attorneys at the same law firm hired by the team apparently has spoken out, read about the details here.Continue Reading “Re-Branding Madness in Washington” Overlooks Obvious: The Washington Redskins