“I have a great name for a goat grazing business, and I’ve already created the logo/purchased the URL/created an LLC. Do I have to use the Goats On The Go® brand if I become an affiliate? Can I cross-promote with my own brand?”
These are common questions from potential affiliates as they consider joining Goats On The Go®, and they’re also some of the most difficult to answer in a way that leaves all parties with shared expectations going forward. Why? Because the differences between what is allowed by the affiliate agreement and what is not are subtle. So in the interest of clearing up confusion and avoiding conflict, here is a Q&A you can refer to whenever you’re unsure.
Q: Why is it important to use and protect the Goats On The Go® brand?
A: There is tremendous value in lots of tiny companies banding together to offer their services under a single brand. If done well, all of the companies sharing the brand benefit from goodwill and positive exposure built up collectively by all the affiliates. We have a “brand identity” established in the marketplace — a momentum that can carry us all forward and give us an edge over our competitors. By becoming an affiliate you told us you want in on that.
Q: Cut to the chase. Can I use my brand or not?
A: The quickest, simplest answer is “no” — at least not for the purpose of offering and providing a targeted grazing service to customers. When you signed your affiliate agreement you got access to lots of information, training, and support, but at the core of the agreement you signed-on to license the use of the Goats On The Go® brand for your targeted grazing business.
Q: Okay, but just because I paid for the right to use the Goats On The Go® brand doesn’t mean I have to use it, right?
A: You’re right, sort of. You don’t have to promote, offer, or deliver a targeted grazing service with the Goats On The Go® brand. We don’t require you to make a dime. But, when you became an affiliate you agreed not to compete with Goats On The Go®. If you promote, offer, or deliver a targeted grazing service under another brand name you will be competing with Goats On The Go® (paragraph 3a in most of your agreements).
Q: What if my brand isn’t about targeted grazing, but it’s sort of related?
A: It depends on what “sort of related” means, but here’s a common example. An affiliate owns a farm that raises goats. They use the goats for a targeted grazing service which is offered and delivered under the Goats On The Go® brand. So far, so good. They also invite customers to their farm for goat petting, goat yoga, and goat hikes, often using the same goats used in their targeted grazing service. They promote and sell the goat-aided relaxation services to customers using the brand “Easy Goats It.” All good. Because the “Easy Goats It” brand hasn’t been used to offer or deliver a targeted grazing service, the brand doesn’t compete with Goats On The Go®.
Q: Can I cross-promote my brand with Goats On The Go®?
A: Yes, as long as your brand is complimentary to — not competitive with — Goats On The Go®. Let’s continue with the previous example. “Easy Goats It” has a website that gets lots of traffic from stressed out people who think goats walking on their backs during a yoga session will help them unwind. These people also tend to have wealth and own property, so the affiliate decides to promote their Goats On The Go® targeted grazing service on the “Easy Goats It” website. Again, no problem because they are distinct services offered under distinct brands. The services are simply sharing space on the same website. We’d recommend putting the services under unique menu buttons to avoid customer confusion, but otherwise there are no issues.
Q: Can I bundle all my goat-related or farm-related businesses under the Goats On The Go® brand?
A: No. You can cross-promote as described in the previous answer, but section 1 of your affiliate agreement grants a license to use the Goats On The Go® brand only for targeted grazing services. You might have two-sided business cards with one brand on each side, or hold an open house where you’re handing out brochures for every business you’re involved in, but the GOTG brand needs to be clearly — and only — attached to your targeted grazing service.
Q: The legal name of my business is “Acme Goat Grazing, LLC.” That’s the name on my bank account, that’s the name on my insurance policy, that’s the name I file my taxes with. Are you telling me I can’t offer targeted grazing as Acme Goat Grazing?
A: Let’s distinguish between a brand and a business entity. Sometimes they are the same and interchangeable, sometimes not. They don’t need to be. The business entity is necessary for all sorts of official business dealings, but the brand is designed for offering, promoting, and delivering a specific product or service. For example, the company Proctor & Gamble doesn’t promote any products under that name but you will immediately recognize the names (and even envision the logos) of dozens of brands that P&G owns — Pampers, Tide, Bounty, Charmin, Gillette, Old Spice, Febreeze…the list goes on and on.
You can do the same with your business entity. You can be “Acme Goat Grazing, LLC DBA Goats On The Go® Atlantis.” DBA means Doing Business As. Check your state’s regulations regarding the setup of a DBA, but it may be as simple as filling out a card at your bank to ensure that customer checks written to Goats On The Go® Atlantis get deposited in Acme’s account.
Q: I already created a website for Acme Goat Grazing, LLC. What now?
A: It doesn’t matter that your website is paid for with Acme’s credit card or that it says “Copyright 2023 Acme Goat Grazing, LLC” in the footer. All that matters is how the targeted grazing service is presented. When in doubt, ask yourself this question: “When a potential customer views my website, will they believe they are hiring Goats On The Go® Atlantis or Acme Goat Grazing?” We’re going for the former, not the latter. You have access to Goats On The Go®’s logos, Brand Manual, and professional photo portfolio. Use them to make the brand prominent on your site.
Q: I already created social media accounts for Acme Goat Grazing, LLC. What now?
A: This one is a little more gray. We understand that as the GOTG affiliate network has grown, more and more iterations of “GoatsOnTheGo” have been snatched up for social media handles. If you want to use your business entity name for your social media accounts instead of some version of “GoatsOnTheGo” we ask you to find other ways to draw attention to the fact that your targeted grazing service is offered as an affiliate of Goats On The Go®. Start by using the Goats On The Go® logo as your profile graphic. In your bio say something to the effect of “Acme Goat Grazing, LLC is a proud affiliate of Goats On The Go®.” Use “#GoatsOnTheGo” at the end of your posts. Add the GOTG logo to the corner of photos you post. Finally, link to GoatsOnTheGo.com or to your own website that clearly brands your service as Goats On The Go® (see question above). There’s no exact recipe here, but we want to see a good faith effort to embrace and promote the Goats On The Go® brand.
Q: I’m all in on using the Goats On The Go® brand! Are there any best practices or common mistakes I should be aware of?
A: If you read and follow the guidelines in the Brand Manual, you should be good. You can even print out a copy of the manual to give to your print shop or graphic designer. Still, we do see some common mistakes that you’ll want to avoid:
Crowding the logo. Respect the logo’s space! Don’t put other words or graphic components too close to the logo. Think of the logo as a photo on the wall with a thick, transparent frame around it that cannot be touched by anything else on the wall. Details in the Brand Manual.
Dismantling the logo. Accept our logos for who they are! Download the logo files from FarmLaunch.me and use them as they come. If you scale them up or down, do so without changing the proportions. Do not separate the goat from its environment of green block and blue words. This will make the goat very sad (and it’s a practice reserved for Goats On The Go, LC and its founders).
Dropping your caps and R’s. When writing the brand name in text, always capitalize the first letter of each word and use the ® registered trademark symbol [Goats On The Go®]. Your English teacher would cringe, saying that “on” and “the” are not important words and should not be capitalized, but you never really liked your English teacher anyway, right?
Thank you all for doing your best to promote and advance the brand we share!