GENERICIZATION GOOD OR BAD?

Lets have a Coke. Do you have a Band-aid with you? I got this article Xeroxed. We do not
think twice about using these brand names in our normal conversation. We say Coke but we
may actually drink a Pepsi or a Thums Up. When we say Band-aid, what we want is an
adhesive bandage. Everyone interprets Xerox as photocopy.

Knowingly or unknowingly, certain brand names have cropped into our everyday jargon. They
have become common terms that we use in our regular communication and some even appear
in the Oxford dictionary such as hoover, thermos, spandex etc. These brands have overtaken
the market in such a way that now you find it more handy to use the brand name instead of the
generic product name. This is known as brand genericide. As a matter of fact, you may not be
aware of the generic name in many cases. You can try the Brand Names quiz in
https://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/bn.html to evaluate yourself.
Do you know that:

Escalator is manufactured by Otis and the generic name is conveyor transport

device or moving stairway?

Frisbee is a product of Wham-O Manufacturing Corporation and the generic name is

flying saucer and sport?

Ping Pong represents the sport table tennis and is a brand of Parker Brothers?

Post-it is actually an adhesive note pad produced by 3M?

Zipper is produced by Universal Fastener Company and the generic name is

Separable fastener?

Seldom do we use the generic names for these products. You find it easier to say Google it
than to say do a web search.
How does this sort of phenomenon take place? Consider what would be your response to each
of the following three choices:

Is it an invention or innovation?

Is the generic use an outcome of viral use or marketing?

Is it creating or dominating a category?

If your response is either invention or viral use or creating a category then your brand is a
prime candidate for genericization.
Looking at it from the legal angle, there are two reasons when a company can lose its brand
trademark. a.) A companys patent expires, b.) A company sues another company for using its
name and loses the lawsuit, and as a consequence the court deems the brand to be generic.
However, there is nothing any company can do if the general public uses a common product or
service name in their everyday language, despite legal trademarks etc.
Over the last 15 years weve developed our brand into a global brand and we wanted our
giving to follow suit. Tommy Hilfiger
Appears to be a great thing for the particular products and maybe you are wondering how to
get to this situation with your product. Hold on to your horses, it may not be desirable as many
companies have found out. Some companies may find this to be a frightening prospect. You
spend years of effort and budgets in building your brand only to find that it has become a
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common term and your brand loses its identity. The irony is that much of the effort in
promoting your product was to make it a household name. You lose control over the name and
your product becomes meaningless.

Companies such as Xerox, Google and Johnson & Johnson (Band-aid) are putting in a lot of
effort in brand survival by discouraging the generic use of their brands and educating the
public on the difference between the brand name and the generic name. Here is an example of
what can go wrong. Hormel Foods Corp produces canned/smoked ham to which they had given
the name Spam. Today, Spam evokes a very negative reaction from netizens.
Brand is not a product, thats for sure; its not one item. Its an idea, its a theory, its a
meaning, its how you carry yourself. Its aspirational, its inspirational. Kevin Plank
Falling into the brand genericide syndrome may not be altogether bad. Look at Band-aid, it
commands a major share of the Sticking plasters/adhesive bandages market. When you use the
name band-aid at a chemist shop, there is a 90% chance you will be given Johnson & Johnsons
Band-aid and not Dettol Plasters or Handyplast. Three products of Sony have been
genericized Walkman, Memory stick and Jumbotron. However, these products have not been
adversely affected and Sony is still considered a world-class leader in consumer electronics.
Neither Microsoft nor PowerPoint has lost any mileage from the genericization of its popular
slide show presentation program. When people want to purchase an MP3 player, they will most
probably ask for an iPod and first evaluate Apples iPod before turning to other brands.

other brands.
To avoid your brand becoming genericized, keep a keen watch on the market and take
immediate action when things move in the wrong direction. You may follow the guidelines
below:
1. Be aware of your trademark rights.
2. Educate the public and other businesses on the appropriate brand and trademark use
related to your product.

3. Stop other businesses from using your brand name. If required, take legal recourse.
4. Provide a description of the product or service by using a generic term after your
trademark.
5. Be careful not to use your brand name in a generic fashion, even in publications or in
any advertising medium
You may name a bronze statue Liberty, or a painted figure in a city hall Commerce, or a
marble form in a temple Athene or Venus; but what is really there is only a representation of
a single woman. George Edward Woodberry
As Woodberry said a representation of womanhood does not change whether you call a female
statue Liberty, Commerce, Athena or Venus. The name should be appropriate in whatever
language. This brings me to another issue you should watch out for. When you try to market
your brand/product in another country you must be extremely cautious about the message that
is being conveyed when translating the brand name. For example, C&C Group a Dublin-based
beverage distributor decided to launch its popular brand of golden whiskey liqueur, Irish Mist,
in Germany. The name Irish Mist conjures up a picture of a field drenched in morning dew.
Regrettably, it did not take off. The reason being, in German mist translates to manure and
a depiction of a field covered in manure did not appeal to the Germans. Enunciation should also
be looked at as was very well demonstrated by what happened with Mondelez, the snack
division of Kraft Foods. There was nothing wrong with the name or the spelling and both were
globally accepted. Now here was the catch, it was pronounced as mohn-dah-LEEZ, which in
Russian sounded like a very vulgar word.
As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest challenges you will face will be building your brand. The
ultimate goal is to set your company and your brand apart from the crowd. If you form a
strategy without doing the research, your brand will barely float and at the speed industries
move at today, brands sink fast. Ryan Holmes
I will not categorically say genericization is either good or bad. If your brand becomes
genericized, it may cost you like Hormel Foods Corp or your brand may become a benchmark
like Sony. However, if you want to avoid genericization, you may take appropriate measures
well in advance.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chanchal Das Gupta

Educationist
Chanchal is an Educationist with rich experience in training and instructional design. He has also
spent time in software programming, customer support activities and quality process
development. Outside his working schedule, Chanchal enjoys reading and his love of nature
draws him into driving around whenever circumstances permit. He enjoys music, particularly
the instrumental kind, although the only instrument that he plays is the record player.