Benefit Description Strategy in Use

The Linens 'N Things brand name is a benefit description strategy, having the desired result in the name itself. There may also be association going on as well. To me the apostrophe means something missing. Curiously, a new trademark, Linens-n-Things, has been added to the original. This was done in 2001 according to TESS (2008, p1). The original trademark was granted in 1970.

The Internet may have impact on brand names, especially because of naming guidelines by mega websites and also for search engine selectivity. An example is Wikipedia (2008, 1). It discourages the use of apostrophes. Also, when I do a search on Yahoo for Linens ‘N Things I get over five million hits whereas when I search for Linens-n-Things I get 500 thousand.

On a more personal level, just my opinion, the use of an apostrophe as in Linens ‘n Things leaves me with a sense in the back of my mind that the wording is hastily thrown together. Linens-n-Things conveys completeness like A-Z, this through that.

There is also a benefit description strategy in play with Land Rover. It says this is a product to roam over the land – road or no. It is an association for travelers. The Land Rover models have also all been Royal Navy warships: HMS Defender, HMS Freelander, HMS Discovery, and HMS Rover/HMS Ranger (Range Rover.) The names may also conjure associations with the successful history of the British Navy. They are all also “indubitably” British. To me these venerable names reinforce the original brand motif , ruggedness. This is an integral theme in the advertising of the vehicles as well. On Yahoo I typed in “Land Rover” rugged, and 636,000 return pages had that combination. (see Land Rover UK)

However, the U.S. models have a different naming convention – LR2, LR3, LRX using the initials of Land Rover. The warship names do not convey upscale to me, rugged yes, upscale no. Perhaps there is a move at Land Rover USA away from the rugged off-roader that proved itself in Africa to a more upscale and profitable SUV that would sell well where people know little of British history. (see Land Rover USA)

There is a multi-tier brand here, the corporate brand name is Land Rover, and a product brand name is Defender or LR2. Duncan (2005, p 82) says that as companies grow and add product lines, they extend their brands to these new products. Here the Land Rover corporate and product brand names convey the overall theme – traveling where you want to go. The British model brand names add to the theme with ruggedness and the success of the British navy. The models are named after ships that roam the seven seas, consistency with the corporate and product brand - rover, traveling where you want to go. The U.S. brand names may be adding to ruggedness the association of upscale.


References
Duncan, Tom (2005). Principles of Advertising and IMC. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Tess (2008). Trademark Electronic Search System. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved on May 23, 2008 from
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=7lm57p.1.1

Wikipedia Name (2008). Wikipedia Naming Conventions. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved on May 23, 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:NAME

Yahoo. Search Retrieved on January 23, 2008 from http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu94is5dH0mkAQk9XNyoA?p=%22Land+Rover%22+rugged&y=Search&fr=yfp-t-501&ei=UTF-8