North & Duotone - Your Questions Answered by CEO Till Eberle

[sonny2727]

doesn't matter how you spin it ...this name is stupid ..
this is what happens when a bunch of kitesurfers given up their day job and dabble in marketing...
BTW: did you know that Google wasn't called google ...it was ...backrub.... thank god they did change the name..
people who think names don't matter live under a rock or have no idea of branding or psychology behind names..
Kitesurfing is a mature industry and every kite is made of same materials in few factories so branding and marketing is where the battle is and North made a big mistake...

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the- ... ?r=US&IR=T

[foilholio]

Nice article. Personally I don't think the name is very good, too many syllables. 2tone would have been better, Ion as already establish would have been much better. Before if Ion was instead North I would have been more likely to buy from them, such is brand power. It will be interesting to see if a brand can fail merely from a significant name change. I don't think that can happen though in isolation to other things. Brands are often built from their products. What I would say will be a contributor to the downfall of Dtone is the blindsidedness of the likes of Ken Winner to things like foil kites. Already they lose their most lucrative customers to foilkite brands.