Autoblog

When you've got a name as well established as Jeep, you hardly need to sell vehicles to turn a profit. You can get the Jeep name on all sorts of consumer merchandise, from a butched-up umbrella stroller to clothes and even bedding. There are more licensed products on the way, a few even making some kind of sense to tie into the Jeep brand. You will soon be able to park your Wrangler in a garage painted top to bottom, from walls to slab, with official Jeep colors. Not near home? A Jeep-branded GPS system will soon be out, and if you're not in a hurry to get back, you can stock up on officially-licensed camping gear. All of the tie-ins help sell Jeeps, or at least bolster the brand's visibility – think of it as a sleeper advertising campaign. Jeep fans will buy this stuff, and even non-Jeep owners will recognize the name and the cachet. You can even indoctrinate your kids into the Jeep brand with a vehicle that us grown-ups can't even get yet, the Hurricane. The concept-car-cum-Power-Wheels Hurricane is a hot item at Toys 'R Us, where the vehicle sells. Chrysler employees were recently treated to a display of all Jeep branded products at the company's headquarters. There were hundreds of items bearing the commonly recognized logo, with more in the pipeline. We're holding out for a new Grand Wagoneer, woodgrain ConTac paper on the flanks, and all.

[Source: The Firehouse]