[Originally published on The B2B Brand Debate]

You’ve probably heard by now that Starbucks is abandoning its own brand name at an existing Seattle location, replacing it with the descriptive “15th Ave E Coffee & Tea.” This is part of what may become a nationwide “un-branding campaign,” in the words of the Huffington Post’s Marc Gunther. Starbucks made the announcement weeks ago, and so far, consumer reactions are mixed.

The driving forces behind this decision seem clear: declining sales, due in large part to the global recession (trading in expensive espresso for cheap home-brewed coffee is an easy budget cut for most), and growing resentment due to perceived monopolization—”those unique [local coffeehouses]…being beaten out of business by big nasty Starbucks,” as Kit Eaton put it in Fast Company. These two challenges are in no way specific to Starbucks, and are in fact hurdles frequently faced by many successful brands in a range of industries (Microsoft and Google—including their business-to-business efforts—are two easy examples).

…Read More…

I love these stories about the brand names that almost were (or, in some cases, names that were actually used for a short time). For example, The Gap was almost Pants and Discs. But I always wonder if they’re true or apocryphal. You’d be surprised—apparently the oft-told and widely believed story of the Chevy Nova’s failure in Mexico is fictional.

Here’s a quiz on some other almost-names from a reputable source: mental_floss magazine.

To find out the answers, you can buy the magazine, do some research online, or contact me (via links to the right). I’d love to see a master list of these, including stories of why the names changed. Maybe something for Wikipedia, or a naming firm’s blog. In the meantime, I’ll post any that I find here and tag them with “changing names.”

No posts from me until week after next. Click the image above for the work of Ji Lee. Highly recommended.

First off, thank you to the people at Lexulous for reminding me of pending moves in my non-existent ongoing games. Seems like a bit of a desperate marketing attempt reminiscent of “You’ve already won!” junk mail. Secondly, “Lexulous” is a godawful name. It replaced “Scrabulous” in September of 2008 due to legal issues with that name’s similarity to “Scrabble.” …Read More…

A few months back I almost wrote a post about what a terrible idea Bud Light Lime was. Now it seems to be doing well, but I’m resisting the temptation to pretend I thought it was a great idea all along. Too many of us in branding succumb to this temptation—the desire to claim we could have predicted things after they’ve already happened. Brand fails? Must’ve been a terrible name and package design. Brand takes off? Great logo! Great name!

(By the way, if you have frustrating/funny examples of this behavior in action, I’d love to hear about it.)

…Read More…

Scene: Rob and a friend wait for the molasses-powered elevator at the Sheraton San Diego. The emergency exit floor-plan is posted nearby.

Rob: “Egress?”

Jim: “Yeah. It’s the opposite of ‘ingress.’”

Jim was right. “Egress” is the opposite of “ingress.” I was impressed by the demonstration of verbal aptitude. But he’d also failed to see my point.

Jim, realizing why I’d pointed it out: “Oh, yeah…I don’t know why they didn’t just say ‘Exit.’”

This sign reminds me of at least three thoughts to keep in mind for those of us tasked with choosing the right words. …Read More…