All posts by Brent

genericide

Defintion | Meaning

  1. The process by which a trademark becomes synonymous with its associated category, to the point it may cease to be legally protectable.

Example | Illustration

  • Google brand search engine > ‘to google’
  • Rollerblade brand inline skates > ‘to rollerblade’
  • Xerox brand photocopier > ‘to xerox’

Note

  • To a trademark attorney, genericide is a major headache, but, to a marketing professional, it can be the classic good problem to have. It means that your offering is dominating its category, and you must pair your brand name with an existing or new category descriptor.

formative

Definition | Meaning

  1. Any affix (prefix, suffix, or infix) which unites a set of otherwise unrelated names.

Example | Illustration

  • McChicken, McNuggets, and McRibs are examples of the McDonald’s ‘Mc-’ brand name prefix formative, which the company has successfully defended in court

Etymology | Origin

exclamatory sentence

Definition | Meaning

  1. Any brand name consisting of a complete exclamation designed to express an emotional reaction to the product and invariably marked with an exclamation point.

Example | Illustration

  • Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific! shampoo
  • I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! margarine

Etymology | Origin

euphony

Definition | Meaning

  1. A smooth, mellifluous sound effect, irrespective of meaning.

Example | Illustration

  • to most English speakers, the name Charmin is pleasant to the ear, regardless of its meaning

Etymology | Origin

  • French euphonie < Late Latin euphonia < Greek euphonia < euphonos ‘sweet-voiced’ < eu- ‘good, well’ + phone ‘sound’

Compare | See

  • dissonance

euphemism

Definition | Meaning

  1. Any inoffensive substitute for a term considered offensive or inappropriate.

Example | Illustration

  • Cottonelle UltraSoft Double Roll bathroom tissue is a lengthy euphemism for toilet paper

Etymology | Origin

  • Greek eu ‘good’ + pheme ‘speech’