Dear Owners of Dum Dums,
The rock band that owned www.dumdums.com broke up in 2001, so why have you not made them a small offer to acquire the www.dumdums.com web address?
I think it is very important to your brand identity to maintain a consistent product name across all of your channels.
To change the brand name to “Dum Dum Pops” for the web address and product merchandise is so disharmonious that it devalues the product.
To not have the "s" on the second "Dum" ignores your greatest asset. A product name that is easily remembered and fascinating to the young mind.
The young mind says "Dum Dums." The associations are fast and many, a dumbbell, an idiot, a hollow point bullet, a round lollipop... I can remember my own experience as a child during Halloween, repeatedly saying “Dum Dums” with poetic delight just to hear my own voice say those words.
The point is that “Dum Dum Pops” are just lollipops – but “Dum Dums” are much more than that.
Is it only the nostalgia of one of your customers? The answer is yes. What brands have lasted more than thirty years? The ones that recognized the moment a customer was made and did not tarnish that memory.
It is the name itself that is central to maintaining a position in the market as a lollipop staple. Crazy you say? Then why would a UK band name itself after your lollipop?
Sincerely,
James E. P. Bell
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Dear Mr. Bell:
Thank you for your e-mail to Spangler Candy Company.
In checking with our marketing department, they advise that all of yourcomments are right on target. They have contacted the band and offered tobuy the domain; however, they were not interested. Although the band didbreak up, the web site is still active.
Perhaps if you sent an email to the band via their web site about theimportance of the brand name here in the U.S. it would help.We will be contacting them again also.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXX
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Mr. XXXXXXXXXX,
I doubt an email from me will change their mind because it is probably more important to the people running the site that the 700+ members still use the message board and in some way keep the fan base active.
Here are some ideas that respect their fan base, and is in line with things like the Zach's Voting Contest. http://www.dumdumpops.com/zachvote.htm
Register dumdums.uk then offer to swap with them them in conjunction with some of the following:
-Send each member of the message board a box of dumdums.
-Send the owners/admins of the site a large box of dumdums.
-Create a limited edition of dumdums dedicated to the memory of the band - is that easy/cheap?
-Get some background info on the band beforehand: What is their music like? Do
you like it? Would you consider it working with your brand? Why did they name
their band dumdums? They chose it because it resonates, but maybe not because of
the lollipop, though lollipop and pop music seem to go hand in hand.
-Send each member of the message bored (sic) that wants one a box/bag of the limited edition dumdums.
-Set up a system to capture names, address and email addresses that you can verify against the users in the system.
-Ask the administrator if they want to supply you with a list of who should get dumdums for the swap.
-Send a box to each member of the band.
-Get press for both Spangler and the Band's message board, increase traffic/awareness of both.
-Allow people to order the limited edition online at your store using a special code.
That is all I can spew out now, but if you approach them with an easy switch solution - maybe techsupport during the swap, and a gesture that recognizes the event, like a commemorative box that makes it kind of fun for them, they might go for it.
I mean really, how valuable is your brand identity? BTW on all your merchandise you should really keep the DUM DUMS look that appears on the wrappers - especially on the baseball caps.
Thanks for listening.
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[To James from Friend]
some questions:
a) are you affiliated with the band?
b) are you sure that dum dums were ever officially called dum dums? or was that just what people called them? for instance check out this old promo postcard where they are called dum dum lollypops:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Halloween-Dum-Dums-Candy-Pumkins-Postcard_W0QQitemZ6219634858QQcategoryZ29477QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
although in this postcard from the same vintage uses dum dums lollypops:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dum-Dum-Candy-Baseball-Bat-Ball-Postcard_W0QQitemZ6219634718QQcategoryZ3634QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
oh yeah, check it out, even on their own FAQ page they interchange usage. very strange:
http://www.dumdumpops.com/DDPFaqs/ddpfaqs.htm
Anyway, this is just more evidence that they should own both sites.
maybe they never cared from day one?
hmmm.
anyway, this is just more evidence that they should own both sites.
:)
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[From James to Friend] You are an awesome researcher! You have blown the lid off this whole dum dum fiasco!
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Mrs. XXXXXXXXXXXXX,
My apologies for the incorrect salutation in the previous email, but I just wanted to follow up to clarify that I had made an incorrect assumption regarding the brand identity.
A friend did some research then sent me some links from eBay that totally dispel my belief that DumDum Pops was a tactical decision based on the url for DumDums being taken by the rock band.
Based on these images from eBay, and your own packaging, "Dum Dum Pops" and "DumDums" have been interchangable for a long, long time, maybe as far back as 1906. Though acquiring the URL is probably even more important because you have sustained both names for quite some time.
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[From Friend to James]
well, i don't want to freak you out... but i was just reading this:
http://www.americanprofile.com/issues/20050313/20050313_4507.asp during which the spangler owner refers repeatedly to these pops as dum dums. and most tellingly:
" Spangler, whose individualized Ohio license plate is Dum Dums, recalls driving down the West Virginia Turnpike in 1998 handing out Dum Dums along with his ticket at each toll booth. “By the time I reached the third booth, word had spread that the Dum Dum car was heading down the turnpike,” Spangler says, laughing. “When I reached out the window to hand the toll taker my ticket and money, she said, ‘Excuse me, sir, but do you have any cream soda?’ So people are definitely loyal to their favorite flavors.”:
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[Friend to James]
somebody make me go to bed...
http://theimaginaryworld.com/gumbag03.jpg
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Mrs. XXXXXXXXXXXXX,
I must apologies again, for I have made another error. Based on the company time line established in your corporate website, I see that the original brand was indeed named Dum Dum Pops and purchased in 1953 from the Akron Candy Co. of Bellevue, Ohio.
http://www.spanglercandy.com/spangler/aboutus/timeline.php
Clearly at some point the Pops was dropped in order to fit on a package or placard of some kind and the "S" was moved to the second "Dum".
I feel that the structure of my fascination with regards to Dum Dum Pops versus DumDums has been built on a false assumption and therefore my analysis has become suspect.
Thank you for your time. I will no longer be bothering you.
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