BRAND MATTERS
Big Brands Think Small
This month, for a change of pace, we offer news snippets from the world of branding.
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Robert C. Sprung |
Two recent transactions underscore the move by large consumer-products companies into the socially responsible and natural products arena:
Colgate just purchased 84% of Tom’s of Maine, makers of all-natural products, for $100 million.
The same week, L’Oréal announced its acquisition of The Body Shop.
The conglomerates’ moves are not without risk. Critics point to Ben & Jerry’s, which some feel has weaker brand differentiation after being acquired by Unilever in 2000.
Speaking of Ben & Jerry’s, the ice cream firm gained unwanted publicity recently with the name of one of its flavors: “Black & Tan,” news agency Reuters reports. It seems as though Ben & Jerry’s should have done a bit of cross-cultural testing of the product name. In addition to referencing a British pub drink, Black & Tan is also “the nickname of a notoriously violent British militia that operated during Ireland’s war of independence.” A Ben & Jerry’s representative has apologized for the gaffe.
HOW KEY IS A .COM TO YOUR BRAND?
Conventional wisdom says you must reserve the “.com” instead of “.net” or “.biz,” but a new study by Lexicon Branding and comScore Networks indicates that .com is not necessarily preferable. According to the study, people do have a bias toward .com domains, but actual user behavior shows what matters most stands to the left of the dot.
In the study, respondents were exposed to four test Web sites, each differing only in its domain suffix. “Our overall conclusion is that a business would do well to create the most-effective name it can and secure it, no matter what the domain suffix,” said the sponsors.
ANNALS OF TRADEMARK PROTECTION
Google has been learning a hard lesson in international trademark protection. Already forced to call its e-mail system Googlemail in Germany, Google has been challenged by British firm IIIR over rights to the Gmail name in the United Kingdom. Google is meanwhile assigning addresses there ending with “googlemail.co.uk”, Reuters reports. IIIR seems to think the Gmail name is worth £25 million.
CHINESE BRANDS COME OF AGE
Two illustrations of Chinese brands show increased confidence on the global stage. CNN reports on the aggressive expansion of fashion house Shanghai Tang and its move to “change global perception from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Designed in China.’” The company, a majority of which is held by Swiss firm Richemont, plans to grow from 19 stores worldwide to 30 by 2007.
The New York Times reports that China-based Lenovo, which acquired IBM’s PC business, has moved aggressively to drop IBM’s name from the product. Four ads in the Winter Olympics failed to even mention Big Blue; “IBM” now appears only on laptops. The Times quotes Wharton professor David Reibstein: “It feels like a premature transition. Lenovo may be strong in China, but it is a nonname in the West.”
AN AD IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
On the lighter side—The International Herald Tribune reports on a new fad in The Netherlands, which shows that there are always new ideas in promoting your brand. The paper reports that the Web site hotels.nl has enlisted the help of some 144 sheep, on whose backs are placed “royal blue waterproof blankets” displaying the company’s logo. The company has plans of ramping up to 25,000 sheep.
The Tribune quotes the mayor of one small town that has tried to stop the advertising, claiming it violates a restriction on highway billboards: “We have to stop this. If we start with sheep, then next it’s the cows and horses.”
