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GAP announced today that their latest bad idea, F.A.T., is fat no more. Here was our take on GAP’s “fourth brand” (get it?), when it was announced two years ago:
Forth & Towne is the name of Gap’s new store for women over 35. What aspiration is the name tapping into for women in this middle-age demographic? We don’t know. But it’s worth noting that they chose to present the name with an ampersand instead of spelling it out as pronounced, a la Forth And Towne. Why is anybody’s guess.
In the article, Gap President Paul Pressler weighed-in, calling F.A.T. a “sizable opportunity”.
Oy. We love the smell of hubris in the morning.
In our continuing series of Obfuscating and Circuitous Process Diagrams, we give you the U.S Department of Defense’s own “Verification, Validation, and Authentication problem solving process”. If this doesn’t scare you, nothing will (click to enlarge):
Quiznos now has around one-fifth the number of stores Subway has, but is the number one sandwich store in terms of growth while Subway continues to tread water. It’s time for Subway to get bold and reinvent, or die.
Perhaps they could run with this campaign:
From All Headline News:
Playboy, like many other magazines throughout the nation, has not done so well on Wall Street with shares falling about 18 percent in 2006. Wall Street is not forecasting much improvement for 2007.
Wall Street may not be impressed, but those outperforming contrarians at Rochester, NY-based money management firm Manning and Napier (cheap plug for my dad’s firm) are sticking with what they know, the Playboy brand:
Virge Trotter, an analyst with Manning and Napier Advisors, said, “People have questioned the long-term ability of Playboy to survive but we think it will survive. We like the plans they have in cable and licensing and the valuation is cheap enough that not a lot has to work for the stock to rebound.”
All it will take is a few million snowbound Upstate New Yorkers…
Igor and Eat My Words are hosting an extravagant affair for those in the naming business. It’s happening on February 13, and the confirmed guest list includes sentient beings from Catchword, Salt, Landor, Interbrand, Metaphor. Lexicon, Idiom, Imagineering, Stoked Brands, etc.
So if you work at a naming firm or you are a domesticated farm animal, or both, send us an email and we’ll try and get you on the list.
THE MENU
- Pesto baked brie & imported cheeses with fresh fruit, rustic breads & olives
- Miniature filet mignon with balsamic caramelized onions & Roquefort
- Spicy crab & scallop cakes with a cilantro lime aioli
- Mini phyllo cups filled with spinach sun dried tomatoes feta cheese & olive tapenade
- Smoked salmon wraps w baby spinach sweet onions & goat cheese
- Marinated mushrooms, roasted beets, artichoke hearts, grilled asparagus platter with a roasted garlic saffron aioli
- Ahi tartars on crisp wonton chips with wasabi aioli & tobiko caviar
THE NAMERS
- Abnu, Wordlab
- Alexandra Watkins, Eat My Words
- Alton Wright, Wright Brands
- Amy Sherman
- Andrea Michaels, Acme Naming
- Anthony Shore, Landor
- Aaron Hall, Catchword
- Burt Alper, Catchword
- Carol Miller, Red Pentameter
- Daniel Edelstein
- Eunice Park, Landor
- Dave Hurlbert
- Deborah Schatten, Brandese
- Frank Binney
- Jay Jurisich, Igor
- Jonathan Littman, Simmer Branding Studio
- Lisa Awrey
- Marc Hershon, Simmer Branding Studio
- Maria Cypher,Catchword
- Mark Gunnion
- Marty Neumeier, Neutron LLC
- Nan Budinger, Metaphor
- Nancy Friedman, Wordworking
- Reed Kirk Rahlmann
- Sandra Lee Messer
- Shannon De Jong
- Steve Cecil, Wherewords
- Steve Manning, Igor
- Steve Price, Lexicon
- Susan Manning
- Susan Carp, Imagineering
- Tate Linden, Stoked Brands
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Abuelita is a well known, longstanding brand of hot chocolate in Mexico, despite the picture of the woman (?) on the label who looks likes she is trying to trick you into drinking poison.
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Posted by Steve on
February 27th, 2007 - 9:16am |
Igor + advertising + branding + company names + language + naming process + pop culture + product names |
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