Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

hey guys,

Im just asking for your input on some motorcycle apparel brand name ideas. Its been killing me for about a year and a half now, i still cant come up with something half decent. I sell to the sports rider and the cruiser rider which makes things difficult.

Couple things that makes me different from the rest?
lowest prices in australia (value for money). developed designs. Custom made service. Always improving & making product better. currently looking into kangaroo hide apparel.

Selling at the lowest price i dont want the brand to be seen as a cheapy, but rather excellent value for money. There are 3 ways in my mind that the brand name can go.

1. A name that makes its own definition, (a made up word) and eventually it will be known.

2. A known name that relates to motorcycles, for example "daytona" motorcycle apparel

3. I have this idea of using a emotion/feeling word which most bikers feel while riding. for example: free, adrenalin etc..
That way when you see this word motorcyclist can relate to it. It will also allow a range of tshirts/jumpers etc to be bought out.

any input would help alot.
thanks
matt

Daytona is recognised as "motorcycle apparel"? Only thing that I associate with Daytona is Triumph and cars going around an oval doing laps and laps of a shir boring track...

Stick ith the knowns, Dainese, Alpinestar etc etc and if you want cred from his place look into sponsorship. Given this post is 4 posts old into your KSRC career, who knows/knows anythng about you?

Not trying to be offensive but suggest you kick back relax, enjoy the show and then perhaps start trying to plug shit after 10-20 posts when pps get an idea what you're on about, why you're here etc..

Don't worry about Mick, he obviously forgot to take his pills this morning!
As you are not actually trying to flog something and are more just asking for some ideas, I see no reason for Mick's diatribe. However, this site has varied opinions, of which the member has a right to express regardless of how rude, unwelcoming or off the mark it may be.

As for you branding. When you think about a lot of brand names which are popular in Aus, some have relevence to the industry and others are just unique or from a source. Dianese, Alpine Star, Tiger Angel, Joe Rocket all have cool sounding names. However, the names were not always popular and to some degree, it's been a great marketing and branding campaign or sponsorhips which have created that cool factor. So the more important thing is how you brand and market whatever name you come up with.

Some examples of names which sorta never made it here in Oz with any real cred.....Walden Miller, R-jays, Underdog, Black Rose and RST just to name a few. Nothing really wrong with any of the names, but they were all pretty much percieved as cheap stuff.

The name however, should create a perception. One which you want created. As an example, Collins leathers sounds English. It sounds like some long standing English leathers manaufacturer. About the only thing English is the little pommy bastard who designs it and has it put together in Korea or wherever he is currently manufacturing it! (BTW, he's actually a genuinely top bloke and dead honest)

Alternatively, something cute can also work, look at Fox's representation in dirt gear.

Some suggestions

Rhino leathers
Turtle Suits
Friction
Redline
Pole position
FWO (Full Wide Open -Racing term)

I hope you have all of those patented, Marty !

mick_dundee wrote:Daytona is recognised as "motorcycle apparel"? Only thing that I associate with Daytona is Triumph and cars going around an oval doing laps and laps of a shir boring track...

Stick ith the knowns, Dainese, Alpinestar etc etc and if you want cred from his place look into sponsorship. Given this post is 4 posts old into your KSRC career, who knows/knows anythng about you?

Not trying to be offensive but suggest you kick back relax, enjoy the show and then perhaps start trying to plug shit after 10-20 posts when pps get an idea what you're on about, why you're here etc..

Steady on Dudnee, you've been on holidays and should be well chilled. Matt has been a sponsor here for a few years, and while he hasn't posted much (4 times to be precise) he has looked after a few members and is a decent bloke to boot .... I'm not sure everybody would say the same about you

Matt, I've no real idea about marketing but I think almost anything can work if you promote it well enough (people bought Mitsubishi Starions after all )

W O T

Wide Open Throttle

How about

Throttle jockey
Legend clothing
holeshot clothing
Team Inc
Iron Horse clothing

far rider

Strika wrote:Blah Blah Blah

Some suggestions

Rhino leathers - Already in production - I own a set of these
Turtle Suits
Friction
Redline - A common name in cycling, high profile probably has more copyright then Maccas
Pole position - Think F1 and it's probably got more coyright than redline
FWO (Full Wide Open -Racing term)

Hows about...

Thick skin(s)(ed) (leather)
HCC - Hard Core Clothing
Leather Rebel (clothing /Leathers)
Road Warrior gear

Thanks guys for your input. You made me relise I cant have it both ways. Its best to have a plain and simple brand name for the cheap to middle market. A name that basically says what it is in a few words.

The idea was to have 1 brand name that did it all… But I can see now at the moment my brand will only appeal to the learner, price sensitive experienced biker, a few times a year track day biker & for the person that doesn’t fit in off the rack clothing.

I think something like fox will be a great move. Putting a picture with a word makes it a lot easy to remember. Something Australian, unique, adapting in any/most climates, strong. I keep seeing a kangaroo pop up in my mind (its leather fibres are very unique, it’s lighter & stronger than cow). Would it be deceiving having a kangaroo logo but selling cowhide? Eventually I will be selling kangaroo, but that was going to for suits in the “high end market”.

Using the kangaroo also might deceive its Australian made (green triangle Australian made & owned). http://www.exportawards.gov.au/Images/U ... format.gif
I can picture it being similar to bikiechics logo.
http://www.silverhorse.com.au/home.php
The kangaroo idea might be perfect for Australia made kangaroo leather suits. But not for the products that i have now.

Does Iron horse only appeal to the cruiser biker? or do sports bike guys use it aswell?

If this helps: I do put a lot of time and effort into the designs, features, materials to make sure it works for the targeted biker. If i come across a small stress point I ensure its altered and fixed for the next batch. Majority of my designs a plain, not too loud, upto date and comfortable. All customers that give us input is used for designing future items, so basically we supply whatever the biker requests. The brand works with clubs, donating, making custom items with their club name etc, so we are very flexible. Low overhead allows pricing to have that “too good to be true” saying put into the purchasers mind, once they receive it they are even more amazed by the quality etc… Im not sure if any of this will link to a name but that’s basically what is done.

Race Line
Block Pass
Slipstream
Counter Steer.

Acme

How about:

No Limit Leathers
Turn 1 Leathers
Podium Finish Leathers
#1 Leathers
MIA/Mia (Made In Australia) Leathers (might go well with the Kangaroo logo).

If people associate a naff name like Tiger Angel with good quality stuff then the rep of the gear will outweigh the name no problem at all. FWIW I have a textile set of Tiger Angel gear, my none-riding mates think the name is pretty lame/gay/soft cock but I don't give a shit as it's top stuff (Top Stuff/Shit/Line Leathers?).

Whatever the name is if you make custom-made sizes (I'm really short legged) post up some details when you're ready to go, always willing to support a sponsor if the price and quality is right.

Mick

At the end of the day, I don't believe it makes one iota of difference what you call it. If you look at successful businesses in general, there are plenty that have crap names.

As far as successful motorcycle brands are concerned, most of them don't have a name that is easily associated with the type of product they sell. For example:
Alpinestars (started out making ski boots)
AGV (Started out making leather seats and takes its name from its founder and the town he lived in)
Dainese (Named after its founder)

So, what is it that makes them successful? Marketing, marketing, markerting. Build yourself a reputation for quality gear (or at least, the quality expected at that price point), excellent customer service and throw in some successful sponsorship (If you're thinking of sponsoring an up and comer on an RD250LC I know someone you can speak to ) and you're half way there.

Some say that your company should reflect what you do. Whilst i think this is appropriate if you are in some type of service industry (ie: catering, plumbing, carpet cleaning), I think you need to look at something a little different to stand out from the crowd.

Personally, I quite like cartoony mix of words used in brand names such as Tiger Angel and Joe Rocket. Having said that, I think Joe Rocket have missed the boat a little with regards to sponsorship and don't think they've taken the next step to being one of the next big players.

Having said all that:
Cruise Missile
Armidillo Crash
Valkyrie X

hey arrdvark,

your right. if i had the good name to start with, it might pick up in google keywords but it would most proberbly get lost in with the rest of them. Word of mouth, reputation/proven products and sponsoring is the way to go.

awhile ago i did settle for "Matali motorcycle apparel". Its easy to remember, easy to say, not long, doesn't mean a thing in australia so the word will create its own meaning. What do you think of it?

I cant see a picture or animal with this name though.