Pens, stationery, glassware and towels will appear on the market in the next few years bearing the most famous name in cricket, Bradman.
The valuable trademark, used successfully for more than 70 yea…
Pens, stationery, glassware and towels will appear on the market in the next few years bearing the most famous name in cricket, Bradman. The valuable trademark, used successfully for more than 70 years to sell cricket bats, pads, gloves and bags, is to be tested in the wider commercial arena. The Bradman Foundation, which runs the Bradman Museum at Bowral in Australia and owns the rights to the name, has agreed to license it for use outside the cricket world, beginning with giftware. If this proves successful it will almost certainly be extended to other lines, probably including clothing. The marketing move is part of an expansion of licensing deals, both in Australia and overseas, to help fund the foundation“s growing activities, says its chief executive, Mr Richard Mulvaney. Bradman products, including ceramics, are already in production in England, and the foundation also has plans to develop Bradman products in India, where Sir Donald is said to be revered, and in South Africa. Asked how the name of a sportsman retired for more than half a century could possess this kind of selling power, Mr Mulvaney said that throughout the cricket world, a market of well over a billion people, the name Bradman was equated with excellence. “To anyone in the cricket-playing nations the name still means the pinnacle, the very best,” he said. “The overall message it gets across is an ideal one it conveys an idea of decency, honesty and high standards.” This was why the foundation“s honorary solicitors, Allen Allen and Hemsley, went into battle last year to stop various commercial organisations adopting the name, and why the foundation was considering legal action against others, including one or two who had been using the name for some time. “There“s been a big upsurge of interest in Don Bradman over the past five to 10 years, and if we weren“t so vigilant there“d be a lot of people using his name for their own financial benefit,” Mr Mulvaney said. Despite Sir Donald“s illness late last year, he still maintained a day-by-day interest in the Bowral museum and the foundation“s other activities.