Trademarking Numbers as Brands

Martin Lindstom of AdAge’s Brandflash highlights a unique naming strategy by the French automaker Peugeot.

Back in 1963 when the Porsche launched its new 901 model they received a legal notice from Peugeot. The French automaker informed Porsche that it had a trademark on the concept of auto brands comprised of a three-digit number with a zero in the middle.

Porsche was forced to change the name of its vehicle from 901 to 911.  In fact Peugeot has branded its cars with this kind of number structure beginning in 1929 with the Peugeot 201 which maintains this naming distinction to this day.

So what can we learn about Peugeot’s number trademark? Lindstrom points out three lessons marketers can take away from this unique naming structure.

1. Maintain sub-brands that have clear links to the parent brand
For example all McDonald’s products start with “Mc”.  Everything from “McFlurry” to “McSundae” always reminds customers that the product comes from McDonald’s. All Absolut vodka products from Absolut Citrus to Absolut Ruby Red are spelt wrong. Absolut owns the misspelling of the word. And finally Apple owns the “i” in front of all of its products.  So make sure you have a naming structure that links back to the parent brand.

2. Make sure you own it
Apple made this mistake just before launching the iphone and had to go into serious negotiations with the owner before securing the naming rights.

3. Keep the brand name consistent
Beware. If you adapt a new naming structure you risk destroying the brand link that could have been created.

As Lindstrom points out what’s interesting about brand names is that we can’t really remember a lot of information as consumers, therefore it is essential that we repeat ourselves.  That’s why its so important that everything we say links back to the original brand.

Brand Infection

Take a look at this picture taken at the Missouri School of Journalism. Apple all day everyday.

What about Apple Inc. is so infectious? The formula for success seems to be incorporate good design elements with a single idea. In Apple’s case, think differently.

What i’ve noticed is that good design equals good business.  The best brand’s make little observations about people and deliver on a promise.  Apple makes computing simple. Other brands like Method strive to be a role model in a bottle, and Dyson makes a better vacuum.  All strong ideas brought to life by even stronger design.

In each instance all the brand’s communicate simple ideas through compelling design. Good brands also redefine categories. Thanks to Dyson, vacuuming has now joined grilling as the one household chore that men can get excited about, Method has made household cleaning products beautiful and Apple has made computers simple.

But these ideas don’t have to apply just to products and services, they can be applied to people.

The next time you are out shopping think about what you want people to think about you just from your appearance, and then try and describe yourself in 5 words or less. If you can do those two things, you may be on your way to creating your own infectious brand.

Ok, easier said than done but like all things, infectious brands are always a work in progress.

furniture brands

Gizmodo had a nice set of cough pillows designed to looks like the Apple’s OSX operating system. There is something quite nice about people taking brands and making it their own. I think that all brands should encourage this type of adaption of their brands because they serve as constant reminders of the value of these brand in our lives. Maybe i’ll create a little Brooklyn Industries symbol pillow or beer dispenser to remind me of the favorite brand.