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Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:27 pm
by 0uatiOW
Mark78 wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:57 pm Wonder if they considered Wardy before settling on Tribus? 😂
They were “Ward Bros.” for a very brief moment, between the initial missives and launch of the actual brand. At the time I wondered whether they’d been on the receiving end of an injunction. Pure speculation of course. I think Tribus is a better name than Ward Bros, but not terribly taken with their watches and actually turned off a bit by their marketing, though in fairness I’m probably outside he demographic of their target market.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:27 pm
by jkbarnes
Being an English brand, it seems only fitting to me that they should rebrand with a name that can be expressed in iambic pentameter. Maybe something like “C.Ward, Fine Watches, Maidenhead, England.” That just rolls right off the tongue!

x..../......x....../..x......./..x.../.....x.../
C Ward, Fine Watches, Maidenhead, England

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:42 pm
by simmo140
When people have noticed my watch and asked the brand, the reply "It's a Christopher Ward", despite them maybe never having heard of it, has gravitas. It's a reasonably "posh" name. It ain't Dave Smith is it?
I do believe the name itself could be omitted from the watch face and replace with just CW. This would make placement easier as it takes up less room, and the rebrand would only take a font change.
Matthew Humphries Design use MHD as their watch brand for example.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:44 pm
by Kansas City Milkman
How about something nice and modern like: watches4u 8)

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 4:00 pm
by Amor Vincit Omnia
welshlad wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:59 pm A lot of this comes down to which syllable we each emphasise when we say "Christopher Ward". When I say it, the syllables are fairly uniform with a slight emphasis on both the initial "Chris" bit and "Ward". So three triplets followed by a single beat in 6/8 time. If you emphasise the "Ward" then the Addam's Family rhythm fits better. If you emphasise and stretch the "Ward" then you're back to Beethoven's 5th.
Yes, I thought about that, Steve. If I just say Christopher I think I would put a stronger emphasis on the first syllable than if I said Christopher Ward, where I know that I would put a much stronger emphasis on the second word. When quoting both names the three syllables of Christopher would, I think, be fairly even. At least, to my ears.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 4:25 pm
by JAFO
You would get over all the problems with "Chris Ward", but I don't think it has the right level of gravitas.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:07 pm
by Viognier
stefs wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:50 am Personally I think the name is too well established and should be left alone. CW have had dabblings with rebranding in the past and a change of name / identity would be a step too far and damaging at this stage
+1 This. To "un-do", by walking away from 15 years of Christopher Ward branding, makes no marketing sense to me.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:54 pm
by Lawrence
In business matters you never ever put your own name on a business because when you sell the business it still has your name on it. And you may not like the direction the company goes on after your departure. It's even more irritating for the founder if they are forced out.

Having said that from the perspective of the company post departure of the founder they have a decision to make, rebrand or keep the name, they obviously will feel differently from the founder (I realize that in this case there is more than one founder). If the founder has a very serious public moral failure (think Peter Nygaard or Harvey Weinstein) then it's very difficult to distance the company from the founders name and a forced rebranding is often in order.

CWL have now established the name and the business as it is and it would be expensive and very difficult to rebrand at this point AND to keep the emotional attachment customers have for the brand which is very powerful.

Much of the 'mystic' of the brand is tied to the name.

Many businesses continue to thrive after the founder(s) have left and I suspect CWL will continue to do the same under the current branding.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Fri Feb 19, 2021 7:34 am
by thomcat00
I happen to like the name Christopher Ward. That the man is no longer with the company isn’t that big an issue for the company. After all Messers Rolls and Royce are not doing much with the manufacturer these days and their namesake company is doing alright. ;)

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:56 am
by Seahorse
I am pretty new to CW watches. The super compressor brought me in (not bought yet, though).

So as an 'outsider' who has NOT become blind to shortcomings in company processes i can say, that the name christopher ward was (and still is) quite off-putting to me. :thumbdown:

My brain always connects it with brands like daniel wellington and the like - which really isnt a compliment. Aesthetics aside.

So the reason i didnt get a super compressor yet is
a) the name
b) the not very nice looking endlinks on the C65 metal bracelet

Image

I´m trying hard to overcome (or at least learn to ignore) those two points, though! :D

Greetings!

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:27 pm
by timor54
Seahorse wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:56 am I am pretty new to CW watches. The super compressor brought me in (not bought yet, though).

So as an 'outsider' who has NOT become blind to shortcomings in company processes i can say, that the name christopher ward was (and still is) quite off-putting to me. :thumbdown:

My brain always connects it with brands like daniel wellington and the like - which really isnt a compliment. Aesthetics aside.

So the reason i didnt get a super compressor yet is
a) the name
b) the not very nice looking endlinks on the C65 metal bracelet

Image

I´m trying hard to overcome (or at least learn to ignore) those two points, though! :D

Greetings!
Welcome to the forum.

The name, and its position, is much discussed here with many people agreeing with your dislike of it. It is what it is and you will either buy a CW or not.

I agree with you about the Super Compressor bracelet, it looks wrong to me as well. The first time I saw it I could not understand why it was brushed the way it is. Personally, I think the style of watch is better suited to a strap; in particular a rubber tropic.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:29 pm
by Seahorse
simmo140 wrote: Sun Jan 31, 2021 3:42 pm I do believe the name itself could be omitted from the watch face and replace with just CW. This would make placement easier as it takes up less room, and the rebrand would only take a font change.
No way! That´d only make it worse/cheaper IMHO!
Image

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:33 pm
by undetterred
TBH when asked about my watch I'm wearing,I tend to reply it's a 'chris ward'.
A Google search under Chris or Christopher ward brings the same results for anyone curious enough to take further.

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:44 pm
by Seahorse
timor54 wrote: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:27 pm The name, and its position, is much discussed here with many people agreeing with your dislike of it.
I agree with you about the Super Compressor bracelet, it looks wrong to me as well.
Nough said! 8)

Only 10 more watches sold due to a better name and branding would already give them 10 grand to be wisely invested beforehand...

Re: What’s in a name?

Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 5:31 pm
by jimbo
For me, if Christopher Ward himself was described as "Posh" to his face I'm sure he would laugh. As a Liverpudlian football fan with a distinctive accent I suspect he would find it amusing.

For rebranding and the name There may well be legal issues non of us are privy to.

If I had any say I always believe less is more, so switching to the twin flags or "CW" as the logo would be the way to go. But, logo's and letters take time to be recognised.

The Rolex "crown" and "Omega" symbol are very successful examples of this. But have taken many many years along with countless others we could all recall to show it can work.

I imagine CW himself is happy to have his name on the brand provided he gets a cut of the profits, but what if it all goes wrong and his name is connected to the company yet has no say in what happens there?

At the moment I imagine there are many people who are connected to the "House of Windsor" who are horrified at what is going on in that "firm", but, that is another issue :)