How Does a Trademark Evolve Into a Holiday Brand? Name Brands at Christmas

Building Trademarks Into Holiday Brands

As the second decade of the 21st century comes to a close, many consumers appear happy to have a holiday season to help place focus on good, cheerful things and away from the thoughts of what 2020 had to offer the world.  Likewise, large brand owners have managed to continue to provide a plethora of advertisements to help consumers focus on holiday cheer, while working to catch profits in the biggest time of year for consumer spending.  So, do some brands make Christmas?

Holiday Brands: The Marks that Built a Christmas Following

Building a name brand with a coveted and loyal consumer following is every growing company’s wish for success.  And during the holiday season, when consumers are most easily carried away with ideas of what creates an ideal holiday event, memory, or feeling, consumer brands often advertise to pull at heartstrings or conjure “needs” for emulating the perfect holiday with their products.  Brand advertising at a grand scale is expensive, but highly effective when done properly.

Some brands have not only built household names, they have managed to use campaigns around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year season to help them become somewhat synonymous with the holiday season, and in consumer minds, as staples to help round off the season properly. The following are some of those brands that typically invoke holiday thoughts:

WILLIAMS-SONOMA

COCA-COLA

BUTTERBALL

STARBUCKS

HALLMARK

HONEYBAKED HAM

How Do Some Trademarks Become Holiday Brands?

Some products and services just happen to be more popular and in demand during the holiday season.  However, some companies devote significant effort and monetary spend in the creation of special holiday campaigns over the years to help engrain Christmas thoughts and holiday feelings in consumers about their trademarks and brands.  Companies seeking to build holiday brands will often build trademark portfolios and ad campaigns specifically for the season.  However, not all trademarks will last the test of time.  Therefore, filing for trademark protection often makes most sense when companies intend for a long-term investment than a one-year campaign. 

For example, it’s expected that as the holidays approach, we will see the commercials with the COCA-COLA® bears drinking cola in the snow, we can get bright colored holiday cups at STARBUCKS®, and we may receive a HALLMARK® card in the mail.  Even more so, are the expected holiday foods and drinks that are shared, many with well-known name brands that consumers have made their gotta-have, go-to staples.  But what makes consumers loyal?  It’s not just a commercial or a clever name.

Companies that spend the required time and expense for building these holiday brands also devote continuous effort to maintain the product quality and service consumers have come to expect. Such efforts include continuous trademark enforcement as well as prevention and quashing of third-party counterfeits that can easily tarnish a brand.  After all, we as consumers allow these brands to become our “holiday brands” because we get to trust them for quality and value, in addition to the commercialism that helps build the holiday feelings associated with them.

Other Christmas and Holiday Related Stories

  • Happy Holidays: Funny Christmas Trademarks

https://www.klemchuk.com/ip-law-trends/694-happy-holidays-funny-christmas-trademarks

  • Christmas Patents of 2016 – Market Exclusivity and Christmas Decor

https://www.klemchuk.com/ip-law-trends/christmas-patents-of-2016

  • Traditions for the Holidays

https://www.klemchuk.com/culture-counts/traditions-for-the-holidays

  • Christmas Songs in the Public Domain: Do You Need a License to Sing?

https://www.klemchuk.com/ip-law-trends/christmas-songs-public-domain-do-you-need-a-license

For more information on Trademark Protection, see our Trademark Services and Industry Focused Legal Solutions pages.


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Law, Blog, TrademarksClaudia Alvarado