Have you ever sat drinking a vodka and cola in your one-piece novelty adult bodysuit?

…Or fastened two things together with a Hook-and-loop fastener instead of the more permanent cellulose-based, pressure-sensitive adhesive tape?

For many companies / marketeers, their ultimate goal is for their brand to be adopted by the public as the generic term for a type of product. After all: word of mouth is free! ..but some companies go to great lengths to stop this happening, as it maybe used to describe other, inferior products and/or water-down their brand’s message.

When a brand becomes a verb may sound like a lost Percy Sledge B-side, but in some cases a brand name can take on a life of its own and become a verb: it’s slightly easier “To Google” something, than to “Perform a World Wide Web search” on something. You could also put Hoover and Tipp-Ex in this same category.

Trademarked brand names

Many of these terms actually take their name from the inventor of the product. A couple of notable examples being: Earl ‘Tupperware‘ Tupper and László Bíró.

A special mention must go out to Pierre Lacroix. Add the French word for rice(paper) and you get: Riz LaCroix …stylise ‘Croix‘ as a ‘+‘ (cross) and you get Rizla+.

• Branding
• Brands
• Corporate identity
• Trademarking