branding FAILs

I applaud retailers who cater to their local customers, but a Walgreen's in Nashville completely missed it with this one.

This particular Walgreen's is just a block or two from the two primary private schools in the region: Ensworth and MBA. Ensworth originally fashioned itself after Princeton with a similar shield, orange and black school colors, and the Tigers as their mascot. (Go Tigers!)

Ensworth is relatively new (established 1958), but MBA was founded in 1867. Not only did my father and two older brothers go to MBA, but we ALL had the same English teacher. As did most, if not al,l of Nashville's prominent local leaders and businessmen (and Governors and Senators for that matter). MBA, formally Montgomery Bell Academy, is a local institution. But rarely and only formally does anyone call it "Montgomery Bell Academy". Occasionally, it may be referred to as "Montgomery Bell," but basically it's MBA." In Nashville, MBA is a school, not a degree. It's something transplants have to adjust to.

No one has ever, ever, referred to the school as "Montgomery."

There is a Walgreen's located near Ensworth and MBA, whose campuses themselves are only about two hundred yards from each other. I applaud that they sought to market to their local students with pep rally gear such as seats, cups, and megaphones. But you would think that if they were to make the effort to order specialized products, they would bother to get the name right.




"Go Tigers" is perfect for Ensworth.  MBA does not have an animal mascot. They are The Big Red. In all sporting events, MBA supporters cheer for "Big Red," or cheer/chant "Roll Red Roll!" I imagine it would be ridiculously easy to figure this out before ordering merchandise. Megaphones and flags reading "Montgomery!" makes it sound like they're cheering for Mr. Burns on The Simpsons.

On a similar note, I noticed this generic knockoff while shopping at Lucky the other day. Seriously? The closest similar name you could find for a Reese's cereal was this?





"Cocoa Peanut Butter Spheres"? Where is this marketing department? I'm applying for a job—clearly I'm better than anyone they have.

Who is ever going to cry, "Hey Mom! Can I have Spheres for breakfast?!"

I would have gone for something like "The One-Two CRUNCH!" With a subtitle of "Cocoa and peanut butter puffs!" (Provided that "puffs" is a suitably generic noun and not a proprietary name in the food biz.)