We are boomerang carnets®

Some months ago, we thought it would be interesting to, once a month, feature a service mark from our Intellectual Property portfolio to describe what we do by explaining that service mark’s purpose.  We are a small company headquartered in the middle of the United States of America, Chicago-area to be exact, and our customers are in all fifty states. We’re also in the U.K. in partnership with the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, since 2015.  Early on, back in the ‘90s, we began utilizing service marks registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to protect our innovative services while marketing them.  It is vital to differentiate yourself from the competition and protect innovations with registered service marks.  In 2022, we will celebrate our 35th year in business, 1987 - 2022!  We can hardly believe it, but in that time, we have acquired over 40 service marks, and each has a unique story and purpose.

This month, we are featuring our company brand name, boomerang carnets®.     

In 2005, the company was looking for a way to re-brand itself from Corporation for International Business to something more identifiable with carnets.  With the excitement of the newly registered boomerang freight® that so clearly identified the temporary exports of the ATA Carnet customs document, the name “boomerang freight solutions” was born.  “Hello, boomerang freight solutions, can I help you?”  What could go wrong?  Not only does boomerang freight describe the goods on an ATA Carnet document but, the word boomerang is the same in every language!  It sounded great in theory but in practice it bombed.  With nearly every incoming call, the question was asked “Are you a freight forwarder?”  We are not a freight forwarder; we are an ATA Carnet service provider. 

So, we had this problem of customer confusion at the very start.  Branding is a process of trial and error and finding out what works takes time, patience, and creative energy.  With the success of boomerang freight, our marketing department knew the word “boomerang” had to be in the name.  Over time, every combination using “boomerang” was put forth until finally, the simplest combination “boomerang carnets” sprang forth and that was it.  Once decided, a new logo and merchandise was created to launch it.  “Boomerang carnets, can I help you?” was direct and unmistakable to everyone who called in, visited our website, or engaged with us online or in person.  Our customer care team liked saying it too!  Now, boomerang carnets® is registered in both the U.S. and the U.K. as our company brand name.

Do you need an ATA Carnet?  Call boomerang carnets® 1-800-ATA-2900 |1-800-282-2900 or email us.

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