Either way, managing them is not for the faint-hearted, says Joseph Rabbat.
Some marketers find genericised trademarks a blessing and some find them a curse. Aspirin, Band-Aid, Frisbee, Google, Hoover, Jacuzzi, Jeep, Jello (Jell-O), Kleenex, Ping Pong, Play-Doh, Plexiglas, Polaroid, Post-It, Scotch Tape, Sellotape, Styrofoam, Super Glue, Tabloid, Tefal, Thermos, Tipp-ex, Vaseline, Velcro, Walkman, Windex, Ziploc, Zipper, Zippo are examples of genericised trademarks.
What is a genericised trademark? According to Reference.com, "a genericised trademark (also known as a generic trademark or proprietary eponym) is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for (or synonymous with) a particular class of product or service.
"A trademark typically becomes 'genericised' when the products or services with which it is associated have acquired substantial market dominance or mind share. The term is legally significant in that unless a company works sufficiently to prevent such broad use of its trademark, its intellectual property rights in the trademark may be lost." It's ironic how a marketer's dream can turn into a curse.
On the face of it, a trade mark that is becoming generic would seem a cause for celebration, for not only has the mark become permanently top-of-mind, such that the brand now effectively markets itself, but it has also seen off every competitor. In reality, the process erodes the strength of a mark, and makes it harder for trademark owners to enforce their intellectual property rights.
Genericide - the final surrender of a mark to the public domain is a loss to the owner, not a gain.
The slippery slope to genericide begins with colloquial use of the trademark, particularly when people start using it as a verb. We say "hoovering" when we mean vacuuming, and in the same way that "hoover" has displaced "vacuum", so "hoover" has displaced "Hoover". Now, when people shop for vacuum cleaners, they are less likely to notice a Hoover-brand item, not more likely. The name has melted into the background. Hoover has abandoned enforcing its trademark, and it is thought that, should the company choose to do so, the courts would not support it.
Before genericide reaches the point of no return, trademark owners may take various steps to reduce the risk, including educating businesses and consumers on avoiding use of their marks in a generic manner. Companies such as Kleenex and Xerox routinely do so. Where a trademark is used generically, a trademark owner may need to take proactive measures. A case in point is Google, which is increasingly being used generically. As the BBC noted in a June 2003 article, "Google is now a verb, meaning to search." Not if Google has anything to do with it: the company is fighting to keep generic uses of its mark out of dictionaries. What is at stake is the right of Google to maintain exclusive use of its intellectual property. Once it becomes generic, competitors are free to co-opt the word Google for their own commercial purposes. Conceivably, the word could become part of someone else's brand name.
But, as Reference.com notes, "even when a mark is popularly identified as genericised, the owner of the mark may still be able to enforce the proprietary rights that accrue to the registered mark, if the mark continues to exclusively identify the owner as the commercial origin of the applicable products or services".
Though marketers take care to avoid genericising their trademarks, some among them believe that genericide is more blessing than curse.
They say the high recall and dominant mind share of brands that are generic or almost generic can be parlayed into marketing success. The main thing is to avoid complacency. Marketers who rested on their laurels found that, though recall/mind share remained intact, the market share of their trade marks suffered enormously. Marketers have to work much harder if their marks are slipping into genericide.
Marks require ATL and below-the-line BLT support in different ratios, depending on the products and their life cycles, to maintain their mind share. Since generic marks have a dominant mind share, ATL isn't a strategic means of communication with existing and potential customers. Instead, creative BTL ways should be found to present generic marks to customers, such as sponsorship activities, public relations, trade promotions, merchandising and point-of-sale displays.
This doesn't mean that ATL should be discarded: an integrated communication approach should be developed with more emphasis on BTL.
ATL and sponsorship activities will be necessary to demonstrate leadership, to maintain and consistently remind customers of the brand values and offerings, and to reconfirm presence within a specific market; PR and trade promotions will ensure the commitment and support of merchandisers and retailers; and merchandising and PoS will secure strong and effective visibility, continuous shelf replenishment and an impactful shelf stopper to customers. Because distributors and retailers tend to offer marks that they have a good relationship with and which are profitable, relationships with them should be cultivated.
Achieving a substantial market dominance and/or mind share, which are the main components of a generic trademark, is a marketer's dream; managing a generic trademark is one of the toughest tasks that any marketer can face; and maintaining the achievements and stature of a genericide trademark is a challenge that only hero marketers can manage.
Joseph Rabbat is VP of G Media Group.
© Gulf Marketing Review 2008
