Know-How Exchange : Taglines/Names

Sorry for the lack of info...

His Name: Garrett
Location: Orange County
Skate Park: Volcom Skate Park (Public) and Vans Park (Private)


They are starting by marketing products to friends and family. His school has offered to let him mass market to all the students (approx. 800).

We are looking for something hip, that ages 6-pre-teen kids would think was cool.

Hope this helps!

dont pick out a name that he will out grow... what happens if he strikes it big?


California Garrett's Skate Stuff

CalRett Skate

OC Garrett's Radiskate..

Good luck to Mr Garrett

Hi,
Lets first say:

GOOD LUCK GARRETT

As for the name: I would simply gor for:

"GARRET'S"
or
"Garret's Skate Ware"

It is in my humble opinion robust enough a name to resonate.

You could also impliment the postcode in fron of the name:

Like 90210 Callifornia

That would make:

"90210 Garret's"

Hope this helps,

W

What about...

Skidz or Skids -- stands for Skatewear for Kids.

There are some really good ones here! I am going to meet with Garrett tomorrow, and we'll go over the suggestions.

He really wants something adolescent edgy more than 9 year old (as he's sure he is the first mature 9 year old). But also not so edgy, that it wouldn't be right for a kid (I've thought of several in this category).

Thanks for all the help!

Dude,

You first have to ask yourself whether there's anything that a young skater is going to think is intrinsically cool about a 9 year-old skater putting some kind of word or brand on clothing.

Is the artwork so good that it's the reason? (And I mean art not a logo.) Is the kid so cool that his charisma and personality make people buy? Is he a ripping skater? Or maybe the company stands for something cool that is part of a bigger movement, and it can somehow prove it.

There are brands that had the kiss of death in skateboarding when it became more hardcore. OP (Ocean Pacific) was known as poser wear because their designers didn't know the sport and would put the wrong names with the trick being done in the art work, or the vibe would just try too hard like someone who had jumped on a bandwagon. OP might have been cool in the 70s in skateboarding, and probably always in surfing, but they missed the boat in terms of how much they paid attention to skating.

My point is, there are brands that started with a logo, who were never in the sport before, and their products aren't innovative, so they are a shell of a company. Over time, some cross that line but it is hard. Nike is just barely getting through to the generation that is too young to know that Nike didn't think skateboarding was worth their time all through the eighties and nineties.

And, I agree that while it's cool your kid is small and young and he skates, his mates are not going to want to be cool for their smallness. They want to be big teenagers who look punk rock and slam and drink hard in their favorite skate videos (and skate like they're from another planet.)

Your kid either has to do his own artwork that is rad for a 9 year old and cool by any standard in the subculture, or he has to rip like no other kid his age to stand out. The only other solution is to have the clothing line sponsor the best young skaters at the school to show that it's 'down' and not just another brand out for sales.

Push the envelope with the messaging. These kids get harassed by the cops, they see their peers getting fat who don't skate. Motivate them with messaging that is punk rock in attitude that they can identify with. That positive message to rebel is what makes the top skate companies what they are. Question everything, be an individual. NO FEAR never took off in the skate industry because skaters know they get scared doing a 15 foot rail. You don't ignore the fear, you celebrate it, fight it, conquer it and cohabitate with it.

Skaters are a smart subculture. They rebel because they are paying attention to society and demand a little more in terms of art, music, stakes, technicality, style, and so on.

Keep it true and have a purpose behind the marketing that says something skaters identify with and that's a start.