Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Finally Decided To Start A Clothing Company

Posted by Anonymous on 500 Points
okay so i finally started to piece together a Shirt line after a year of planning. that will target young kids, teenagers, and young adults. mostly ages from 15-25 i would say. every name i wanted in past ive come to find out they were in use already or trademarked already. so my brand will be for an urban street wear audience, with skateboarding and surfing and graffiti art being its sole audience. i have finely limited it down to 3 names. Gifted City Clothing Co, Tenth WonDer Clothing, and Bright EYEdeas clothing. that's the best i can come up with and i want some opinions on the names of how catchy and how good they flow, please be brutally honest because i have capital to start and looking for honest opinions before i dive in. thank you so much, and hey if you have a name that you thing fits then feel free to list it, thanks!!!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on Accepted
    Firstly well done for defining your niche.

    Have you asked the urban streetwear/surfing/spraying communities if they want shirts of the kind you intend making? An elementary step, yes. It's one that is often missed.

    Whatever you choose, do test it first before launching anything. Again, elementary. Spend $300 and save $30 000.

  • Posted on Author
    well i am amember to quite a few different forums and i am trying to get the most opinions out of this i can before i prepare to launch. i have asked numerous amounts of people that fit into my targeted audience alot liked the names. and others did not just try to see if any different responses here, thank you
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Accepted
    To be completely honest, none of your three name options will appeal to skateboarders, surfers or taggers ... they aren't "street" enough names to make a connection with this target audience.

    You need a cross xsports/street name liked "amped", but of course it is taken as a domain dot com. So try variations such as "Amped (something)".

    For example, ampedlab.com is available.
  • Posted on Author
    Yes I know completely what your saying, but I guess I worded is wrong in a way, of who I want wearing it. Diamond Supply, LRG, Crooks and castles are all major urban wear that skate boards/surfers wear, and both thoose names have nothing to do with skateboarding or sports at all, there just catch names with good logos/designs that people feed into because they are popular
  • Posted by Moriarty on Member
    All of your suggestions (apart from LRG) tap into the imagery of your target group.

    "i have asked numerous amounts of people that fit into my targeted audience alot liked the names"

    What answers did you get? What did they like, and what did they not like. Did any of them actually *like* the names you have chosen - or did they just hum, dither and try not to answer?

    What about something like Hydraulic Ramp, or Junction Power both of which tap into the feeling of power that you get when on a board. I have a laser dinghy, and that is pretty fast and despite its size feels very powerful.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    So Diamond Supply could just as easily be "Emerald Supply" and have success.

    I live in the OC and remember when LRG was launched. It is a core brand. My theory is that LRG also read as Large, as in clothing sizes, hence it's appeal and recall for the core audience. As you know, the formula in this segment has been to get accepted as a core brand and then expand internationally into big department stores, e.g. Quicksilver, Hurley and Billabong.

    My first clients were Hang Ten and Lightning Bolt circa the seventies. If you would like to discuss further, you can check out my profile for contact info.
  • Posted on Author
    I deff will I would like to discuss more with you, and what exactly do you mean by core brand? I'm not sure if I know what that means
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    To me a "core brand" is a cool brand, like Stussy in the 80s . It's cool because when you go to the beach the guys surfing and riding skateboards are also the guys wearing t-shirts and caps with the currently interesting core names/logos. They wear the brands available at the local surf/skate shops, and usually unavailable at any department store. In fact, there was a time that when a brand "sold out" by distributing through department stores, especially in the mid-west, yikes! then that brand would begin to fade amongst the core audience (not true today).

    Core is grassroots, founded by real surfers and skaters for surfers and skaters, by surfboard shapers and deck makers, the participants, not the watchers.

    Hope this helps.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on Accepted
    Gifted City Clothing Co - Sounds more feminine than your target market.
    Tenth WonDer Clothing - My fear is that a competitor could confuse your market by creating Ninth WonDer Clothing (etc.)
    Bright EYEdeas Clothing - My favorite of the three
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    FYI -
    Shawn Stussy pioneer in surf/urban design starting again, this time from Tokyo:
    https://www.s-double.com/timeline
  • Posted on Author
    Well I am not a surfer but do skateboard, and I want my lines in Stores like zumies and pac-Sun, and Tillys, and web sites like Karmaloop and attract that type of crowd
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on Accepted
    Why not just use your name? Or your initials? Branding is about authenticity, it's about a promise made, delivered, and kept, and it's about that promise being believed in and about it being celebrated.
    The most authentic way you can stand out is by being yourself.
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    Skateboarding has a much broader branding appeal than surfing because everybody has access, you can skate anywhere in the world. I believe skateboarding is still in its infancy as a sport and action lifestyle. There continues to be discussion about a skateboarding Olympic summer event, much like the snow boarding winter event. We'll see what happens.

    All the branded sites you posted are excellent outlets. Online shopping has completely changed this marketing segment as it continues to evolve. You can add these branded sites to your list:

    https://www.swell.com

    https://www.surfstitch.com

    https://www.ronjonsurfshop.com

    https://www.tactics.com

    https://www.surffanatics.com

    https://www.jackssurfboards.com/
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    A little more about "core branding". Below is a summary of Gotcha brand's "More Core Division" branding.

    
"At the end of the ‘80s, Michael Tomson, an international surf icon and founder of Gotcha, created More Core Division, aka MCD. The MCD brand was built around the very best surfers, those who pushed the limits of sport, attitude, style, and behavior ...

    

MCD surfers were known for their style and attitude in the water as much as out of the water. Their cars, tattoos, clothes and way of life set the tone for a whole generation of athletes. Surfing was no longer just a sport. Now, it was a personality, a behavior, a defining attitude. 



    By 1992 Michael Tomson was becoming increasingly aware that a key portion of the surfwear market was underserved as surf fashion became homogeneous and many considered it mainstream. Tomson decided to separate MCD from Gotcha in order to preserve authenticity and creative autonomy for the extremely opinionated innovators spearheading the design direction."



    source:
    https://www.mcd-surf.com/history.asp view
  • Posted by SteveByrneMarketing on Member
    A little more about "core branding". Below is a summary of Gotcha brand's "More Core Division" branding.

    "At the end of the ‘80s, Michael Tomson, an international surf icon and founder of Gotcha, created More Core Division, aka MCD. The MCD brand was built around the very best surfers, those who pushed the limits of sport, attitude, style, and behavior ...

    MCD surfers were known for their style and attitude in the water as much as out of the water. Their cars, tattoos, clothes and way of life set the tone for a whole generation of athletes. Surfing was no longer just a sport. Now, it was a personality, a behavior, a defining attitude.

    By 1992 Michael Tomson was becoming increasingly aware that a key portion of the surfwear market was underserved as surf fashion became homogeneous and many considered it mainstream. Tomson decided to separate MCD from Gotcha in order to preserve authenticity and creative autonomy for the extremely opinionated innovators spearheading the design direction."

    source:
    https://www.mcd-surf.com/history.asp

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