I was in-world today and guess what guys? RaC is rebranding to a name I can’t even begin to pronounce.
***** RaC is rebranding toLaqroki*****
The renovation of our store will bring a few changes with it, except for a new build we will also change our brand name from RaC to Laqroki. So what else can be expected from the reopening?
**more after the bump**
I am actually pretty surprise at the move. When I first got a notice from the RaC Update Group, I was shocked. Who in the world would change such a recognizable brand of RaC to Laqorki Laqroki. When I first got a notice from the RaC Update Group a few days ago about renovations and the RaC sim closing down for the renos, I did not think much of it; but who would have guessed that the brand will have a complete make-over as well?
With such a recognizable and well-known name such as RaC (which is already a strange name by itself since it means “Raspberry and Cow”) to another strange name Laqroki, it makes you wonder what is Mallory Cowen thinking about for her brand? (Obviously, she wants people to be able to recognize the name upon sight, not necessarily be able to pronounce it out loud. –Ten)
With the changes to the brand name, there are also changes to the way they are selling their skins. This is a quote from the notecard:
** Single skins! **
Single skins is something many, many people have requested, and we are very happy to announce that Laqroki will offer the whole skin collection, both for men and women, in singles by the opening of the new build!
I am wondering, will this be a good thing for the newly re-branded Laqroki? When I first started buying skins from RaC, the price of 4000L really irked me to no end, however they are changing their sales strategy with a new name. What future is in store for the new Laqroki brand? I know this is a blog entry, not a philosophical page, but one cannot help but wonder at all the changes going on in the RaC Laqroki brand.
I would like to end this blog entry with this…
Although we’re renaming the sim and store name, the location will still be the same (i.e. your old landmarks will still be working). [...] We are aiming to open up some time this weekend, we will send out an invitation to all subscribers as soon as we know the exact time and date.
Whoa. I need to sit down.
Well, it never bothered me that she sold single skins b/c I’d rather pay 666 on average per skin than 1000 per skin in a single set.
That’s just me, of course… I only wear Tess. I contemplated switching to Fleur b/c the skin I got prior to St. Patricks Day rocks but the asset database lost it and it’s gone forever.
Anywho, thanks for the post about this because my IMs were capped and I didn’t get Mallory’s group notice.
Weird. Generally when people rebrand it’s to a name that is more easily recognisable. Great news about the single skins though.
Oh, this one’s really easily recognizable, Steph.
Problem is, I can’t fugging pronounce it. I tried. My tongue trips up over itself.
Recognisable if you see it, sure. Memorable enough that you could type it into search and find it? Definitely not.
I don’t think I’ll be able to type that up in search without looking up the name somewhere or without misspelling it and search correcting it for me.
I honestly think it’s such a bad move. RaC had a better ring to it than Laqroki (did I spell that right? *check* Yeah I did).
-Portia <3
Maybe it’s from studying Latin for years or something. But I don’t see the difficulty in pronouncing it.
But I still prefer the RaC name.
I’m sure their stuff will continue to be great, but this is an insane move on their part. “Raspberry and Cow”, weird as it was, still sounded like a boutique on the New York strip. Laqroki sounds like… well, it has no punch, obviously. RaC was pretty much the perfect name. I don’t know what they’re thinking, throwing something like that out the window. I’d kill for that kind of marketing auspice.
I’ll still shop the hell out of them, but I’m also wondering what Mallory’s thinking.
I hate RaC, so I guess it means nothing to me. I have a hard time understanding why TaP (they are still TaP in my head, even though I know they’re different now) changed, and I am generally weirded out when people change their businesses branding when nothing behind the business (new partnerships, etc.) don’t change as well. So the reasons behind this elude me too I guess.
I rekon people will started calling it “the shop formaly known ar RaC”
I do that with the shop formaly known as TaP…………….
Latin has been toted in recent years as a dead language. With so many people saying “Whud up yo?”… now is definitely not the time to bring back Latin if you wish for people to be able to Google your shop.
I guess three-letter acronyms are out of vogue, Phoenix?
maybe they’ll have “RaC” or something in the description for the new brand (didn’t Fleur do that by putting TaP as a keyword?)
I can’t help but think of some kind of weird crocodile type shoe or a far off tropical country when i hear “Laqroki” though lol. but it does have the effect of armidi.. if you search on yahoo/google, Laqroki is pretty much it’s own unique SL brand now cause nothing else on the web is even CLOSE to that word. probably be easy for them to get a custom last name with the brand if there was a need for it
Yeah, I just googled the word… luckily, “RaC” is the only thing that comes up.
Does that mean this is a word that doesn’t exist?
Yep I did google Laqroki yesterday, only my entry in my personal blog came up. I wonder if there’s more?
-Portia <3
Everyone knows that RAC skins are some of the worst in SL. This rebranding and change just confirms that their business was doing badly and could not survive the way it was being run.
You need good quality products and a great sim to survive in SL now.
Whoa, I never really reply to these things because I am fine on the sidelines and just getting the news. But Fudge, seriously, worst in SL???? Are you undercover for some competitive brand? Because thats just crazy talk! Anyone who pays attention to the entire body of details, head to toe, knows that RaC has some of the best work out there. I’ve only found a few skins where the face is a little lighter than the body there, but thats it.
Anyway, I’m a little stunned they changed their name as well. What’s the point??? I wouldn’t care for me, personally, I have the LM. But RaC’s Ida was the first big skin pack I bought in SL and I wouldn’t have found it without hearing the name and typing it in search. Three letters, no matter how bizarre the meaning, is a lot easier than Latin. I hope this isn’t a big problem for Mallory
@ Isabella
I agree with Fudge – I don’t know what the product quality is like with RAC compared to others, but I work for in Marketing in RL. Brands and Companies don’t rebrand unless there is a serious problem.
If the brand is working and people are buying and like the brand – you wouldn’t change it.
Sounds to me like RaC was having some serious issues. I wouldn’t have thought the brand they have chosen will fix this and certainly isn’t what I would have chosen to do.
Maybe there is something going on underneath the surface with RaC. I wonder if Mallory Cowen will release a statement as to why she decided to rebrand.
I’ll have to keep up with it.
-Portia <3
Laqroki is opening at 11AM SLT in the RaC sim today (April 19) so you better check it out. *tear* I’ll be at work!
-Portia <3
The great thing about SL is that you can rename your shop however you choose, whenever you choose, and it doesn’t necessarily mean your business is tanking… you just got tired of acronyms, or whatever you named it in the first place.
I’m considering re-branding [CRAP], but then I think… why? What’s the point? The “brand” is still true to the original intentions… and it still makes people chuckle to search for [CRAP] in their inventory.
in all honesty i rekon her main reason was the singel skin issue. SHe probably thought by changing this changing the name might get ride of the 4k for 6 similar skins stigma
STIGMATAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!11
*laughs*
-Portia <3
for me it’s more searching in inventory – I can type RAC easily – laprokdodid I can’t…
I’ll never find it….
I’ll switch back to Minnu or Scarlet. Single skins are good though, so good on that one
ok, sorry about the necropost, but I wanted to make sure my theory wasnt a fluke before i said anything.
So, what’s most interesting to me about this is that Mallory seems to have bowed out of the classifieds arms race. For as long as i’ve been in SL, RaC’s been in the top 3 or 4 classifieds, with the prices for the top spot steadily rising to over $1000 USD a week. Now her only ad is a single 200L spot. Now the top ad is going for a whopping L$380,000, with the top skin ad being Beauty Avatar at L$370,172.
My guess is that the price of top classifieds placement has gotten so ridiculously high that it no longer pays for itself in sales. So RaC’s old business model of driving high traffic through ad placement doesnt work anymore, so she’s switched to a more boutique style business model with single skins and more makeup options because she needs to have repeat business and word of mouth. In which case, a new brand name makes sense.
And that goes along with the latest economic figures from LL, which show a slowdown in new registrations, but existing residents spending more time and money in SL. Expensive advertising makes more sense in an expanding population, but with a steady population, repeat business is key.
But then again, I could be reading way too much into it and she might simply be sitting out the classifieds for a couple weeks until LL gets their transactions issues squared away and will be back in the race next week.
*hugs Annyka* I miss your intelligent comments.
And honestly what you’ve said, I’ve never actually thought about it. I will have to look into that and see what’s up with the classified ads.
I think it’s insane ANYONE is spending that much money on ads. It’s gastronomical.
-Portia <3
Gastronomical? More freakish and naive. :O
Only if it doesnt pay off in sales, but it is gastronomical in that it makes my stomach kind of queasy thinking about that kind of money. That’s kind of ad spending is on par with medium-sized RL business. I bet the average car dealership spends less per year than some of these top advertisers.
RL conventional business wisdom says that advertising should be about 2-5% of a company’s gross sales. Now given that a SL business has very little overhead costs, I’m sure this figure could be quite a bit more, maybe like 20-25% of overall sales, but any higher than that really is insane. I can’t possibly imagine that Abranimations is selling over 1,200,000L worth of animations a week.
That’s the problem with the classifieds bidding system. The ads are really only effective if you’re in the top 5, but with prices skyrocketing out of control, it becomes extortionary just to keep up. Its turning into a high-stakes gambling game. I’ll be very curious to see just how high it goes before the bottom drops out on these folks and they find themselves in some very real world debt from trying to keep their SL businesses running.