Every business needs a memorable, top of category brand name. When your customer and prospects think of a business, you want them to think of you first. Some call this TOMA — top of mind awareness, so when someone thinks of floor covering, for example, your company name — your brand name — pops up in their mind.

Category leaders, from car repair to insurance agents, generally are the most successful businesses. More people remember their name and they ‘win’ in the battle for share of market. read more »

Watson Furniture Group is turning 51 years old this year, and for the past few years the business has grown both organically and through acquisitions. As the company became home to a third line of products last year, it became clear it was time to rebrand.

“We were treating our three divisions as boutique brands with little in common with each other. The rebranding will help with continuity,” said Creative Services Manager Michael Shipley, who has been leading an in-house rebranding team for the past year.

The company is getting ready to roll out its new brand any moment, and, among other things, will have a new name: Watson. read more »

The YMCA launched a nationwide rebranding effort last year, and members at the local branches have been witnessing various changes over the last few months. The Christian-based health and well-being nonprofit has changed its umbrella organization name to the Y (as it has been nicknamed for years) and has introduced a new color scheme and brand identity including a new logo. As part of the process, the Y has fine-tuned its focus on three core areas: youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. read more »

When Kitsap Bank celebrated its 95th anniversary in 2004, the locally owned financial institution had more than half-billion dollars in assets and deep community history. But over the years, the brand had been diluted a bit, with various departments within the bank using inconsistent logo and collateral materials.

“We have a great story — safety and soundness, longevity, locally owned by the same family for over 80 years (nearly 90 now), and our strong commitment to community,” said Shannon Childs, senior vice president and marketing director. “However, we felt we could do a better job telling it.” read more »

Remember Coors’ Rocky Mountain Spring Water? How about Colgate’s kitchen entrees? Bic underwear? No? Don’t worry, you’re one of millions of consumers for whom these product names don’t ring a bell.

Brand flops like Cosmopolitan magazine’s yogurt, Gerber’s baby food meant for adults and the infamous “New Coke” are proof that even with multimillion-dollar marketing budgets and an army of pros, companies are not immune from coming up with not-so-clever ideas. read more »

If you are like most business professionals, you’ve had it hammered into you to memorize a 60-second elevator speech that will captivate your spellbound victim and have them handing you over a check before the 9th floor. You’ve fussed about saturating the words into your mind so you can recite them at the speed of light without even blinking once. I have three words for you…

Take the stairs! read more »

The Kitsap Pumas team is only going on its second season but it’s already a recognized name around the Kitsap Peninsula. The success is evident in the numbers, too: The team (which is part of Kitsap Soccer Club) had sold 15 season tickets by this time last year, and this year, with the season still more than a couple of months away, 175 season tickets have already been claimed. The number of preregistered players for tryouts doubled, and the sponsorships this year have doubled so far and may triple by the season start.

Even for the first year, the team saw pretty good interest from the fans. With an average 1,200 spectators per game, the Kitsap Pumas were fifth in the league for attendance.

“That’s pretty good for the first year,” said Robin Waite, Kitsap Soccer Club owner. “Our objective is to double and triple everything this year.”

Waite, a former co-owner of the old Division read more »

During nearly 30 years creating advertising for some of America’s largest brands, we routinely produced television commercials costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and then watched them go on the air pushed by millions of dollars of media advertising. read more »

Many businesses, no doubt, dream of becoming a household name like Nike or Starbucks. But until they do, some experts caution, businesses should be careful about how they choose a name. It takes a lot of effort — and money — to get consumers to remember a brand, and even someone as ubiquitous as McDonald’s spends millions of dollars to make its catchy tune “You deserve a break today” roll off the lips of consumers on cue. read more »