At the turn of the millennium, marketer Kenneth Walker will be seeing lots of zeros. Not only will he be seeing the numbers 01-01-00 everywhere, he'll be seeing lots of zeros coming behind dollar signs.
Walker has figured out a way to cash in on the millennium: His company, Walker Group/Designs, obtained a registered trademark for the numerals 01-01-00.
Using those numbers as a marketing theme, Walker has launched his millennium line of clothing and novelties at more than 200 department stores in Japan, and more than 4,000 in the U.S. As of October, shoppers have forked over more than 10 billion yen for such items as his 01-01-00 key rings, pens, T-shirts and active wear. There are also wristwatches with an alarm that will sound only once.