Starting a business, launching a new product or simply looking for a new start; those are a few of the reasons that lead people to seek names for their brands. Once the decision to look for a name has been made, the next obvious question is: How do you name a brand? In the past, traditionally, most companies would take their founder’s name – usually because the companies would be passed from father to son for generations. On top of…
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Most brands are present on the Internet. It is obvious that the closest the domain name (website address) is to the brand name, the easier it will be found on the web. Unfortunately, for brand holding corporations, it isn’t always easy to name their website using their brand name because the domain names aren’t always available. A domain name must be registered with the competent authorities to have the right to be used exclusively. But registration works on a first…
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A brand name isn’t necessarily a neologism. It isn’t rare for a word to be used as a brand name (ex: Apple, Windows, Bonobo, etc.). This can lead to legal issues when this word is used by another brand for one of its products. Is this a word and therefore everybody can use it or is it a protected brand name? The general principle, known as “the Principle of Specification”, is that a word, a household name can only be…
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Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do? Test your knowledge thanks to the sixth part of the True or False series. René Lacoste (1904-1996) was a French tennis player whose victories in both national and international tournaments were notorious during the 1920’s. His tenacity on the tennis courts gained him the nickname “the Crocodile”. When the first tennis shirts were produced, René Lacoste took to wearing one on the courts and personalised…
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Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do ? Test you knowledge thanks to the fourth part of the True or False series. In 1893, North Carolinian pharmacist Caleb Bradham creates a cola aimed to cure dyspepsia (more commonly known as indigestion or stomach pains). The drink he creates is composed of caramel, sugar, aromatic extracts and carbonated water. Bradham names it after himself, Brad’s Drink. In 1898, Bradham changes the name Brad’s…
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Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do ? Test you knowledge thanks to the third part of the True or False series. This American brand was named after a French explorer: Antoine Laumet. Missioned by Louis XIV to explore America, he lands in 1683 in Acadia (a Canadian province) and claims the title of Antoine Laumet de Lamothe, sir of Cadillac. In 1701, he founds Fort Pontchatrain, now known as Détroit, which…
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Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do ? Test you knowledge thanks to the second part of the True or False series. The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in Chicago. One of the 3 founders, Gordon Bowker, who had once been a writer before making a career as a businessman, wanted to name the place Pequod, after the hot-air balloon in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. But another founder, Terry…
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The feeling towards the mergers and acquisitions market seems optimistic for 2014, with most investment banks reporting growing numbers of deals in the pipeline. These landmark events for firms aim to create synergies, and brand value is a crucial factor, however only around half of these attempts actually succeed. One of the most common reasons for failure is conflict between the two entities, and it’s no surprise this is linked to the biggest killer for brands – brand confusion. Clear,…
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Fiat entered the American market in 1908. At the time, it wasn’t yet known as “Fix it again, Tony!”; the nickname was actually crafted some 60 years later in the 1970s and 1980s when some Fiat owners reportedly encountered problems with their cars. From then on Fiat got a reputation for making unreliable and poor quality cars. The nickname “Fix it again, Tony!” was coined as an acronym for Fiat and intended as a joke. However it stuck, to the…
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Gianluca Billo, Managing Director of Nomen Italy, tells us about the macro naming trends in fashion in his column “Naming Trends” in the Pubbico Today. The fashion world has developed, over time, two major naming trends, identifiable with two well-defined types. The more traditional brand made ??of a name + surname (or surname only) is reminiscent of high fashion and has become a genre, a code: name and surname of the creator, designer, entrepreneur, reference to the house. Whereas…
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