- How Stock Investors Can Play Holiday Travel
- Time Lapse World Series Is A Great Play
- Hirschhorn: Greed...or Fear
- My Top 10 Tech Toys for the Holidays
- iPhone a Better Gaming Platform Than Android?
- May Day For Dendreon
- 100% Mortgage Financing From USDA
- Holiday Tipping: Who And How Much
- Deep Discounts Should Make It a Very Tech-y Holiday
- The Richest Members of the US Congress
- New Consensus Sees Stimulus Package as Worthy Step
- Wall Street Jobs Slow to Return Despite Record Profits
- Thanksgiving Week Stuffed With Economic News
- Black Friday Deals May Not Signal Retail Comeback
- Investors to Goldman: Be Less Greedy
- UPS Sets New Rates For 2010
- Victoria's Secret Hopes to Rekindle Desire for Lingerie
- 'New Moon' Takes Record $72.7M Box Office Bite
ABOUT THIS BLOG
|
This blog will look at the winners and losers in the retail space. Who has the right strategy to capture consumer dollars? It also will look for trends in consumer spending and how that will impact the economy.
Text Size 
 |
Why? The ESDC is the economic development arm for the State of New York and it owns the trademark to the marketing campaign ''I (love as symbolized by a heart) New York.' They did not give Gucci permission to use the slogan. Gucci's CEO already met with the agency and negotiations are continuing this week. Take a look at the Gucci campaign here.
Gucci designed around 600 of the bags to commemorate the opening of its 46,000 square foot NY flagship. The proceeds from all sales will go to the Playground Partners Central Park Improvement Program. In other words, Gucci [owned by PPR which trades in France] doesn't financially benefit from the design itself. They do hope that the NY-store exclusive would help drive traffic to the new flagship.
Here's what I find strange: (1) a NYC agency is supposedly challenging the sale of a bag whose financial proceeds benefit the city itself and (2) the agency markets tourism and commerce in the city yet doesn't want a luxury brand to promote the image of a chic-trendy New York.
The point of dispute is that Gucci did not give ESDC a cut of the proceeds and that the agency was not given a head's up about the luxury company's intention to reference the trademark. It seems to me that this is either a case of overeager litigation or plain shortsightedness. The ESDC owns the trademark and sells it to 47 different licensees.
The kitchyness of the Gucci design is that a common slogan (referencing one printed on plastic grocery bags and t-shirts) and that it is embossed on a luxury bag that costs hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. That said, the chic marketing tactic is a win-win for marketing of the city and marketing of the company. We'll keep you posted on how the dispute plays out.
Do you think that the ESDC has a case against Gucci? Take the poll and write to me what you think.
On a separate note, a second market for the limited edition bags has now sprouted up online. The bags were given out in gift bags at the launch party on Wednesday and then were put on sale last Friday when the store officially opened. Will the resale market add another element of complication to the case? After all, the resellers are the ones making money off the bags. Gucci never did! Check out ebay's collection.
Questions? Comments?
- Technology can make or break a fortune in the world of alternative energy.
- Many people are facing the holidays with substantially smaller incomes. Here’s how some are adapting.
- Jim Cramer is a proponent of stocks that pay healthy dividends, and here are his top five dividend plays.
- From salt, to lip balm to envelopes, it turns out that bacon flavoring can sell almost anything.
- The homebuyer's tax credit jacked sales for a while, but 2010 is looking weak. Now what?
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes