[T]he speed at which reputations are made and destroyed in the Internet age has changed the thinking about the danger of brand names’ becoming verbs. Better to get the market share when you can and worry later, when the brand becomes part of the popular vernacular and less distinctive in the process.
“The risk of becoming generic is so low, and the benefits of being on the top of someone’s mind are so high,” said Rebecca Tushnet, an expert on trademark law at Georgetown University.
“In the past, Xerox ran a very expensive campaign in places like Editor and Publisher that said don’t use xerox as a verb,” she said. “What people know from marketing experience now and what people now understand as a practical matter is that it is very good when people use your name as verb.”
Very, very good, as Evan Brown and I said three years ago almost to the day. Hey, look, they’re working on it over there. It’s not like you can cut down a forest full of dead trees and turn them into a bunch of blogs overnight!
Originally posted 2009-07-21 17:37:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Just the other day, in a discussion of online search techniques, a friend suggested I try a new service, “Just Google it on Bing.”
Very truly yours,
Rich Kuslan
http://www.AsiaBizBlog.com
http://www.NewHavenLawyer.US