Brand

In the early 2000s in North America, the Ford Motor Company made a strategic decision to brand all new or redesigned cars with names starting with "F." This aligned with the previous tradition of naming all sport utility vehicles since the Ford Explorer with the letter "E." The Toronto Star quoted an analyst who warned that changing the name of the well known Windstar to the Freestar would cause confusion and discard brand equity built up, while a marketing manager believed that a name change would highlight the new redesign. The aging Taurus, which became one of the most significant cars in American auto history, would be abandoned in favor of three entirely new names, all starting with "F," the Five Hundred, Freestar, and Fusion. By 2007, the Freestar was discontinued without a replacement. The Five Hundred name was thrown out and Taurus was brought back for the next generation of that car in a surprise move by Alan Mulally.○1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_equity

McCarthy and Perreault (1984, p. 619) feel marketers use odd prices because of the belief that consumers respond more favorably to these prices, perhaps because consumers perceive an odd price as substantially lower than the next highest even price. A random perusal of other introductory marketing texts indicates that other writers share this opinion. For example, Kotler (1980, p. 410) writes that many sellers believe that buyers favor odd prices over even prices. Instead of pricing a stereo amplifier at $300, the seller will price it at $299.95 or $295. Presumably, the customer perceives this odd price as a $200 price rather than a $300 price, or perceives it as a discount from the full price. Evans and Berman (1982, p. 538) point out that the evidence justifying the use of odd and even prices has been founded on "feelings" rather than research data. Stanton (1981, p. 264), while outlining the seller's basic belief in odd pricing, indicates that there is little concrete evidence to support sellers' beliefs in the value of odd prices.