Won't You Take Me to Shoppingtown?

Westfield America Inc., an Australian shopping mall company, strikes again buying a stake in North Bridge Mall on Michigan Ave. in Chicago.

"As a part of the deal, the Nordstrom-anchored center will be renamed Westfield Shoppingtown North Bridge, a branding campaign that's a key part of the company's rapid expansion, sources said."

I believe this is now the 4th Chicago area to get the Westfield Shoppingtown name, along with the malls formerly known as Old Orchard, Hawthorne and Oak Brook.

I just don't get this idea to brand a group of malls. For one thing, the malls are not all that similar in regards to their design, their target shopper, etc. They range from mainstream middle class mall to super upscale; two are outdoor malls; one is an urban Michigan Ave. vertical mall.

More importantly, people don't use the "Westfield Shoppingtown" name! It sounds rediculous and it's pointless in regards to giving any sort of description of location. Imagine the conversation:

"Hey, let's meet at Westfield Shoppingtown."

"OK. Which one?"

"The one on Route 60."

"OK. That's the one that used to be Hawthorne, right?"

"Right."

But people don't like things being more complicated so they're just going to continue to say:

"Hey let's meet at Hawthorne"

"OK."

So what's the point of spending dollars on a branding campaign that's going to do nothing in change what the consumer calls the place, and doesn't give any cohesive brand image? I'm wondering how long before the Westfield Shoppingtown name comes down.