Things are rough all over. Some towns have got it so bad, they want to start from scratch while others are just fighting to be recognized for what they are.

Stockton, California, has more than 290,000 residents, making it the 13th largest city in the state. Recent times there have been, like many other places, pretty rough. The Redding Record Searchlight reports that a group of residents are so fed up with the whole thing that they are on a mission to simply rename the town.

While it isn’t clear how serious they are about it, the group has at least created a "Rename Stockton” Facebook page that writes the following as its description: “The city has a bad image. Instead of tackling the problems, lets just come up with a new name! Crime is up! Foreclosures continue! The city is broke! Stockton, California can't get a break these days. But fixing the problems...that would take lots of hard work. Instead let's just "rebrand" and come up with a new name for Stockton!

Some names that have been offered by one visitor include Green Valley, North Modesto, Prosperity, and Hugtown, “in recognition of the troubles.”Continue reading...

We recently looked at the coalitions of brands joining forces to voice their opposition to how ICANN is ushering in its so-called dotbrand URLs (aka its new gTLD, or generic Top-Level Domain program that lets trademark holders pay for the right to add their brand name to their web addresses, such as .nike or .coke) in January. Now you can add a few more.

The U.S.-based Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (or CRIDO) led by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has added six major marketers to their ranks, including the world’s largest retailer and second-largest food company. Walmart, Kraft Foods, adidas, Reebok, Toyota and the J.M. Smucker Company have joined CRIDO, bringing the total number of companies and industry groups to 93.

“We are very pleased that six more leading marketers representing an extremely broad range of business sectors have joined forces with CRIDO to oppose ICANN’s TLD expansion program,” commented ANA president and CEO Bob Liodice. “This growing coalition sends a very clear signal that there is serious dissatisfaction with ICANN’s program from across the entire Internet stakeholder community.”Continue reading...

Overstock.com announced in January that it was rebranding its URL to O.co as a speedier online shortcut to its wares. In June, it unveiled the new name and logo at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland, CA (above) in time for a U2 concert, a signage change that following Overstock's six-year deal in April for naming rights to the home of NFL's Oakland Raiders and the Oakland Athletics MLB franchise.

"Our customers associate 'O' with Overstock.com, which made the transition to O.co seamless. As a Savings Engine, this is the next step in adding more visibility to our shortcut," said Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne in a press release. "Naming the facility O.co Coliseum demonstrates our commitment to seeing through the execution of the new domain."

"Overstock.com is clearly at the forefront of digital marketing and their decision to use a .CO domain in such a big way, underscores their willingness to lead the market and to disrupt the status quo," commented Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet SAS in the same release. "With the exponential growth of mobile commerce, where shaving milliseconds means gaining a strategic competitive advantage, customers around the world can now reach the company's products and services quickly and securely by simply typing O.co — the shortest possible URL in the world."

Now, however, the company is backing off from the new name because customers couldn't find its snappy new URL.Continue reading...

Let's say you're a brand that needs a new logo. Where do you start? Do you do a web search for "logo redesign services" or "logo + agency?" Or do you go to the URL that best describes your needs?

Logo.com, which just spent $500,000 to acquire — wait for it — logo.com, is counting on the latter.Continue reading...

New York's disco group whose classic dance hit YMCA has become "a staple at nearly every ballgame, wedding and Bar Mitzvah," according to their publicist, responded to today's news that the YMCA is rebranding to its nickname: the Y.

Village People (unlike the Y, they prefer no "The") sent us the following comment from the road. (Yes, they're still touring and performing year-round after 33 years.)

“We are deeply dismayed by today's announcement from the YMCA that they feel a name change and a rebranding are in order after 166 years. Some things remain iconic and while we admire the organization for the work they do, we still can’t help but wonder Y.”

They won't change a letter in their song, which they'll keep performing as written and beloved. (We'd be disappointed if they did.) The organization, meanwhile, explained its new branding at a press conference in Washington, D.C. today.Continue reading...

General Motors' Chevy vs. Chevrolet flap could be an example of what marketing staffs do when they’re still, sort of, in between bosses — at a company that changes CMOs a lot.

GM sales and marketing is still serious about taking the trouble to eliminate “Chevy” from the company’s official (advertising and marketing) vocabulary, although now, after a massive public uproar, they'll scrap the Chevy "cuss jar" and take a more lenient view on employees and customers (beyond their control, anyhow) using the beloved nickname.

Either way, it was clearly a bad idea for GM to be devoting energy to stamping “Chevy” out of the “Chevrolet” brand vocabulary.Continue reading...