Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Belve Is A Bunch Of Bull


Belvedere and Peter Arnell recently launched a campaign to promote the adoption of the nickname 'Belve' when ordering drinks out at bars. Their aim is to create a universal slang term similar to Coke or Chevy.

Having a short, memorable name is important when it comes to the “bar call,” said Peter Arnell, chairman and chief creative officer at Arnell in New York, referring to the moment when a customer at a bar asks the bartender for a drink to be made with a brand-name liquor. Saying “Belve” instead of “Belvedere” makes for “a consumer-friendly bar call in this sound-bite world,” Mr. Arnell said, and suggests that those who say it are “in the know.”

I have no problem agreeing with Arnell that memorable nicknames come in handy when ordering drinks, but you can't just force a name with $10-12 million in ad dollars. Kleenex is a perfect example. They never asked to become the standard reference to tissues. It just happened. The Belvedere name is unique and already has a strong, classy reputation. I would have rather they focused on embracing their name rather than diluting it into something unfamiliar.

Read the rest at The New York Times

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