Watch Out What You Name That Thing!

Last Sunday's ad for the "Club Renaissance" downtown high rise condo project got me thinking. I wonder who names these towers and if they put any research into what these names may connote, both with positive and negative associations.

Club Renaissance takes the cake. Slated to be one of the tallest residential condo towers in Nevada with 60 floors and standing 705 feet high, the project developers might have done some homework into what others are doing using the name "Club Renaissance".

Try doing a Google search on Club Renaissance and you'll immediately find out that "Club Renaissance" is K-W's premier gay and lesbian night club. Or maybe you'll look further down the search results to see that "Club Renaissance" composed the most influential leaders in the business and social community in Detroit, but has been closed since 1978 and only recently re-opened in 1998. Nothing like a high rise being associated with a failed project, right? Then of course, there's also the Mickey Mouse Club Renaissance as well. How many people want to be associated with a Mickey Mouse Project?

It may be me, but I don't think it's unreasonable to think people will type out "www.clubrenaissance.com" for information on the Las Vegas project - and trust me, I don't think the developers will like what they'll see... and I certainly don't think people buying into the project want this connotation either.

Based on an article found at the Las Vegas Review Journal, developer Philippe Pageau-Goyette wants to build the least-expensive high-rise condominium in Las Vegas and attract mostly local residents at his $400 million Club Renaissance project downtown.

The condominiums are designed to serve the needs and lifestyle of active professionals working and playing in downtown Las Vegas. The first floor of Club Renaissance will be retail space, and the top floors of the building will feature a 15,000 square foot country club and fitness center with a rooftop sun deck and infinity-edge pool.

I'm sure it will all work. However, I predict that when all is said and done, we'll be referring to this project by a very different name. And perhaps those in Philippe Pageau-Goyette's marketing department will thank me for it.