What’s in a ‘nick’name?
In The Nick of Time:
4 Reasons to Embrace a Nickname
Liz Goodgold
A brand starts as a name. And, as every good
trademark attorney will tell you, it’s best to follow
the rules about treating your brand lest you puncture
the trademark protection or even worse- turn it into
a common name thereby “committing genericide.”
But, sometimes adopting a nickname works for 4 key
reasons:
Nicknames Boosts Recall:
With the London Olympics in
the near past, we might be
hard pressed to remember the
exact spelling or pronunciation
of some of the star athletes,
but I guarantee we will forever
remember The Lightning Bolt
(Usain Bolt) and even The Flying
Squirrel (2-time American goldmedalist Gabriel Douglas. If
branding is about flawless recall,
nicknames are a shortcut to
getting there.
Nicknames Demonstrate
Personality:
It seems as if every brand
holder is trying to find its
DNA, but if your customers
have created a nickname for
you, the personality is right
in front of you! When Target
customers started calling
it Tar-zhe, it signified that
the brand had reaches a
pinnacle: its merchandise had
such cache, it was worthy of a
high-class moniker. Wow!
Nicknames Demonstrate Love:
Virtually every time your clients
create a nickname for you, they are
showering you with love. Embrace it
and savor it.
General Motors looked foolish in
July 2010 by officially declaring that
their car should only be referred
to as a Chevrolet, not a Chevy.
What someone forgot to tell GM
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