Lisa Merriam

Naming

Golden Knights of Las Vegas Sued for Trademark Infringement–We Saw This Coming a Year Ago

When The Las Vegas Sun interviewed us about the new NHL  team that needed a name, I warned them about trademark infringement that would mean certain trouble. Calling the hockey team the Golden Knights was a terrible, terrible choice for many reasons (see expanded Las Vegas hockey team naming mistake post here).  You cannot build …

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Rose Hybrid Brands — Turning a Commodity Wild Flower into a Profit Powerhouse

Rose hybrid brands demonstrate how branding something turns a commodity into a valuable asset. I took a beautiful fall Friday afternoon off work to visit the New York Botanical Garden, thinking I was playing hooky on my branding business and enjoying the company of some members of my grandmother’s garden club. Yet walking through the …

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New York Chapter of American Marketing Association Name Change and New Website

I am pleased to announce that the American Marketing Association New York has launched its new website, www.amanewyork.org along with a new name. The new site has been the primary focus of the Communications Committee of the Board of Directors for the last several months. As chairperson of that committee, I commend the tireless work …

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Renaming Yale: “Ministry of Truth” Impact of Brands and Politics

Renaming Yale: An Orwellian committee in the “Ministry of Truth” model at Yale is hard at work scrubbing historical names from the campus, according to Roger Kimball in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal. The article The College Formerly Known as Yale, details how Yale University is creating a Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming (Wow! So …

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Six factors for a memorable brand

“Make your brand memorable!”  Brand experts earnestly offer this vague advice at every turn.  But what is a  memorable brand?  How can you tell if your brand is or will be memorable? You can’t spot memorability simply by looking at your brand elements.  I’ve worked on many naming and design projects where perfectly good brand …

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Choosing a Brand Name

Choosing a brand name is an early and difficult step when starting a company or creating a brand. Getting hung up on all the wrong issues can turn a tough task into an impossible one. “I’ll know it when I see it” Without defining your standard for a good name at the outset, you can …

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