Phoenix Project Entry 1: A New Concept for Discounter F. W. Woolworth

F. W. Woolworth AdSAVANNAH – Entries are just out in the Savannah College of Art & Design’s Phoenix Project, an yearly contest of Prof. Sean Trapani, a specialist in branding and copywriting. The idea? Take an old brand and reinvent it for today.

A full gallery of all the entries is at Phoenix Entries; we will be writing an item on each entry as well. Here, the entry for Woolworth’s.

It’s a new concept for the venerable F. W. Woolworth Co. from students Michael Miano and Joe Amodio. F. W. Woolworth is one of the top searches for old brands on BrandlandUSA; the brand closed in the late 1990s in the U.S. and closed in the U.K. earlier this year.

Brand problem: Mostly non-existent in the U.S for over 30 years. They closed down because they widened their retail focus to include most household items as well as clothing for men, women and children– eventually dying out against the big box stores.

Brand solution: Redefine the Woolworth brand, using its legacy in apparel, and reposition Woolworth’s as an online retailer of goods for the metropolitan businessman. This brand would compete with online retailers such as Land’s End and L.L. Bean. But instead of using an outdoors metaphor, the new brand would use the concrete jungle.

Thoughts from BrandlandUSA readers?

Author

  • Garland Pollard

    J. Garland Pollard IV is editor/publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

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