In marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a market that might

satisfy a want or need. However it is much more than just a physical object.
It is the complete bundle of benefits or satisfactions that buyers perceive they
will obtain if they purchase the product. It is the sum of all physical,
psychological, symbolic, and service attributes.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Market

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A product is similar to a good. In accounting, goods are physical objects that

are available in the marketplace. This differentiates them from a service,
which is a non-material product. The term good is used primarily by those
that wish to abstract from the details of a given product. As such it is useful
in accounting and economic models. The term product is used primarily by
those that wish to examine the details and richness of a specific market
offering. As such it is useful to marketers, managers, and quality control
specialists.

Related Topics:
Good - Accounting - Service

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A "product" can also be an "experience", which like a service is intangible.

However an experience is unique to the receiving individual, based upon their
history. Example: amusement parks offer rides (product), acceptance of
credit cards (service), and audience participation at the dolphin show
(experience). My value of the dolphin show is different from yours, and to the
extent I value it more, will trade more for it (money).

Three Aspects
There are three aspects to any product or service:

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1 - Core Benefit

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• in-use benefits
• psychological benefits (e.g., self-image enhancement, hope, status, self
worth)
• problem reduction benefits(e.g., safety, convenience)

2 - Tangible Product or Service

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• product attributes and features

• quality
• styling
• packaging protection and label information
• brand name

3 - Augmented Product or Service

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• warranty
• installation
• delivery
• credit availability
• after-sale service and maintenance

Classifying Products
Product management involves developing strategies and tactics that will
increase product demand (referred to as primary demand) over the product's
life cycle.

Related Topics:
Product management - Product's life cycle

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One useful technique in understanding a product is the Aspinwall

Classification System. It classifies and rates products based on five variables:

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• 1) replacement rate - how frequently is the product repurchased

• 2) gross margin - how much profit is obtained from each product (average
selling price less average unit cost)
• 3) buyer goal adjustment - how flexible are the buyers' purchasing habits
in regards to this product
• 4) duration of product satisfaction - how long will the product produce
benefits for the user
• 5) duration of buyer search search behaviour - how long will they shop for
the product

Types of Products
There are several types of products:

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• consumer products - used by end users

• industrial products - used in the production of other goods
• convenience goods - purchased frequently and with minimal effort
• impulse goods - purchase stimulated by immediate sensory cues
• emergency goods - goods required immediately
• shopping goods - some comparison with other goods
• specialty goods - extensive comparisons with other goods and a lengthy
information search
• unsought goods - e.g., cemetery plots, insurance
• perishable goods - goods that will deteriorate quickly even without use
• durable goods - goods that survive multiple use occasions
• non-durable/consumption/consumable goods - goods that are used up in
one use occasion
• capital goods - installations, equipment, and buildings
• parts and materials - goods that go into a finished product
• supplies and services - goods that facilitate production
• commodities - undifferentiated goods (e.g., wheat, gold, sugar)
• by-products - a product that results from the manufacture of another
product

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In marketing, product differentiation is the modification of a product to make it

more attractive to the target market. This involves differentiating it from
competitors' products as well as your own product offerings.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Product - Target market

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The changes are usually minor; they can be merely a change in packaging or
also include a change inadvertising theme. The physical product need not
change, but it could.

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The objective of this strategy is to develop a position that potential customers

will see as unique. If your target market sees your product as different from
the competition's, you will have more flexibility in developing your marketing
mix. A successful product differentiation strategy will move your product from
competing based primarily on price to competing on non-price factors (such
as product characteristics, distribution strategy, orpromotional variables).

Related Topics:
Position - Marketing mix - Price - Distribution strateg
variables

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 The disadvantage of this repositioning is that it usually requires
large advertising and production expenditures.

The conditions a product is sold under will change over time. The Product Life
Cycle refers to the succession of stages a product goes through. Product Life Cycle
Management is the succession of strategies used by management as a product
goes through its life cycle.

The stages
Products tend to go through five stages:

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• New product development stage

• *very expensive
• *no sales revenue
• *losses
• Market introduction stage
• *cost high
• *sales volume low
• *losses
• *high prices
• Growth stage
• *costs reduced due to economies of scale
• *sales volume increases significantly
• *profitability
• *prices to maximize market share
• Mature stage
• *costs are very low
• *sales volume peaks
• *prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of competing products
• *very profitable
• Decline stage
• *sales decline
• *prices drop (lower prices may lead to lower value perception)
• *profits decline

Management of the cycle

The progression of a product through these stages is by no means certain.
Some products seem to stay in the mature stage forever (e.g.,
milk). Marketers have various techniques designed to prevent the process of
falling into the decline stage. In most cases however, one can estimate the
life expectancy of a product category.

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Marketers' marketing mix strategies change as their products goes through

their life cycles. Advertising, for example, should be informative in the
introduction stage, persuasive in the growth and maturity stages, and be
 reminder-oriented in the decline stage. Promotional budgets tend to be
highest in the early stages, and gradually taper off as the product matures
and declines. Pricing, distribution, and product characteristics also tend to
change.

Related Topics:
Marketing mix - Advertising - Promotional - Pricing -D

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Customers respond to new products in different ways. Diffusion of

innovations theory, pioneered by Everett Rogers, and other diffusion
models posits that people have different levels of readiness for adopting new
innovations and that the characteristics of a product affect overall adoption.

Market evolution
Market Evolution is a process that parallels the product life cycle. As a product
category matures, the industry goes through stages that mirror the five
stages of a product life cycle:

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• Market Crystalization - latent demand for a product category is awakened

with the introduction of the new product
• Market Expansion - additional companies enter the market and more
consumers become aware of the product category
• Market Fragmentation - the industry is subdivided into numerous well
populated competitive groupings as too many firms enter
• Market Consolidation - firms start to leave the industry due to stiff
competition, falling prices, and falling profits
• Market Termination - consumers no longer demand the product and
companies stop producing it

Technology life cycle

The underlying technology subsumed within a product or product category
can go though similar stages. This is typically referred to as the Technology
lifecycle.

Technology lifecycle

Most new technologies follow a similar technology lifecycle. This is similar to

a product life cycle, but applies to an entire technology, or a generation of a
technology.

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There is usually technology hype at the introduction of any new technology,
but only after some time has passed can it be judged as mere hype or
justified true acclaim.

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Because of the logistic curve nature of technology adoption, it is difficult to

see at in the early stages whether the hype is excessive. You can almost
never believe the hype.

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The two errors commonly committed in the early stages of a technology's

development are:

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• fitting an exponential curve to the first part of the growth curve, and
assuming eternal exponential growth
• fitting a linear curve to the first part of the growth curve, and assuming
that takeup of the new technology is disappointing

Similarly, in the later stages, the opposite mistakes can be made

relating to the possibilities of technology maturity and market
saturation.

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Technology adoption typically occurs in an S curve, as modelled

in diffusion of innovations theory. This is because customers respond to
new products in different ways. Diffusion of innovations theory,
pioneered by Everett Rogers, posits that people have different levels of
readiness for adopting new innovations and that the characteristics of
a product affect overall adoption.

Related Topics:
Technology adoption - Diffusion of innovations -

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From a layman's perspective, the technology life cycle can be broken

down into five distinct stages.

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• Bleeding edge - any technology that shows high potential but hasn't
demonstrated its value or settled down into any kind of consensus. Early
adopters may win big, or may be stuck with a white elephant.
 • Leading edge - a technology that has proven itself in the marketplace but
is still new enough that it may be difficult to find knowledgeable personnel
to implement or support it.
• State of the art - when everyone agrees that a particular technology is the
right solution.
• Dated - still useful, still sometimes implemented, but a replacement
leading edge technology is readily available.
• Obsolete - has been superseded by state-of-the-art technology, rarely
implemented anymore.

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Diffusion is the process by which a new idea or new product is accepted by

the market. The rate of diffusion is the speed that the new idea spreads from
one consumer to the next. Adoption is similar to diffusion except that it deals
with the psychological processes an individual goes through, rather than an
aggregate marketprocess.

Models of diffusion
There are several theories that proport to explain the mechanics of diffusion:

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• 1) The two-step hypothesis - information and acceptance flows, via the

media, first to opinion leaders, then to the general population
• 2) The trickle-down theory - products tend to be expensive at first, and
therefore only accessible to the wealthy social strata - in time they
become less expense and are diffussed to lower and lower strata
• 3) The Everett Rogers Diffusion of innovations theory - for any given
product category, there are five categories of product adopters:
• innovators
• venturesome, educated, multiple info sources
• early adopters
• social leaders, popular, educated
• early majority
• deliberate, many informal social contacts
• late majority
• skeptical, traditional, lower socio-economic status
• laggards
• neighbours and friends are main info sources, fear of debt
• 4) Crossing the Chasm model developed by G. Moore - This is basically a
modification of Everett Rogers' theory applied to technology markets and
with a chasm added. According to Moore, the marketer should focus on
one group of customers at a time, using each group as a base for
marketing to the next group. The most difficult step is making the
transition between visionaries (early adopters) and pragmatists (early
majority). This is the chasm that he refers to. If successful a firm can
create a bandwagon effect in which the momentum builds and the product
becomes a defacto standard.
 • 5) Technology driven models - These are particularly relevant to software
diffusion. The rate of acceptance of technology is determined by factors
such as ease of use and usefulness.

The rate of diffusion

According to Everett M. Rogers, the rate of diffusion is influenced by:

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• the product's perceived advantage or benefit

• riskiness of purchase
• ease of product use - complexity of the product
• immediacy of benefits
• observability
• trialability
• price
• extent of behavioural changes required
• return on investment in the case of industrial products

Diffusion rate models

There are several types of diffusion rate models:

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• 1) Penetration models - use test market data to develop acceptance

equations of expected sales volume as a function of time - 3 examples of
penetration models are:
• Bass trial only model
• Bass declining trial model
• Fourt and Woodlock model
• 2) Trial/Repeat models - number of repeat buyers is a function of the
number of trial buyers
• 3) Deterministic models - assess number of buyers at various states of
acceptance - later states are determined from calculations to previous
states
• 4) Stochastic models - recognize that many elements of the diffusion
process are unknown but explicitly incorporate probabilistic terms

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The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an information systems theory

that models how users come to accept and use a technology. The model
suggests that when users are presented with a new software package, a
number of factors influence their decision about how and when they will use
it, notably:

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 • Perceived usefulness (PU) - This was defined by Fred Davis as "the
degree to which a person believes that using a particular system would
enhance his or her job performance".
• Perceived ease-of-use (EOU) Davis defined this as "the degree to which
a person believes that using a particular system would be free from effort"
(Davis, 1989).

History
The technology acceptance model is one of the most influential extensions of
Ajzen and Fishbein’s theory of reasoned action (TRA) in the literature. It was
developed by Fred Davis and Richard Bagozzi (Bagozzi et al., 1992; Davis et
al., 1989). TAM replaces many of TRA’s attitude measures with the two
technology acceptance measures— ease of use, and usefulness. TRA and
TAM, both of which have strong behavioural elements, assume that when
someone forms an intention to act, that they will be free to act without
limitation. In the real world there will be many constraints, such as limited
ability, time constraints, environmental or organisational limits, or
unconscious habits which will limit the freedom to act (Bagozzi et al., 1992).

~~~~~~~~~~

Bagozzi Davis and Warshaw say:

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:Because new technologies such as personal computers are complex and an

element of uncertainty exists in the minds of decision makers with respect to
the successful adoption of them, people form attitudes and intentions toward
trying to learn to use the new technology prior to initiating efforts directed at
using. Attitudes towards usage and intentions to use may be ill-formed or
lacking in conviction or else may occur only after preliminary strivings to
learn to use the technology evolve. Thus, actual usage may not be a direct or
immediate consequence of such attitudes and intentions. (Bagozzi et al.,
1992)

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Earlier research on the diffusion of innovations also suggested a prominent

role for perceived ease of use. Tornatzky and Klein (1982) analysed the
relationship between the characteristics of an innovation and its adoption,
finding that compatibility, relative advantage, and complexity had the most
significant relationships with adoption across a broad range of innovation
types. Eason studied perceived usefulness in terms of a fit between systems,
tasks and job profiles, using the terms "task fit" to describe the metric
(quoted in Stewart, 1986).

Usage
Several researchers have replicated Davis’s original study (Davis, 1989) to
provide empirical evidence on the relationships that exist between usefulness,
ease of use and system use (Adams, Nelson & Todd, 1992; Davis et al.,
1989; Hendrickson, Massey & Cronan, 1993; Segars & Grover, 1993;
Subramanian, 1994; Szajna, 1994). Much attention has focused on testing
the robustness and validity of the questionnaire instrument used by Davis.
Adams et al (1992) replicated the work of Davis (1989) to demonstrate the
validity and reliability of his instrument and his measurement scales. They
also extended it to different settings and, using two different samples, they
demonstrated the internal consistency and replication reliability of the two
scales. Hendrickson et al (1993) found high reliability and good test-retest
reliability. Szajna (1994) found that the instrument had predictive validity for
intent to use, self-reported usage and attitude toward use. The sum of this
research has confirmed the validity of the Davis instrument, and to support
its use with different populations of users and different software choices.

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Segars and Grover (1993) re-examined Adams et al’s (1992) replication of

the Davis work. They were critical of the measurement model used, and
postulated a different model based on three constructs: usefulness,
effectiveness, and ease-of-use. These findings do not yet seem to have been
replicated.

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Mark Keil and his colleagues have developed (or, perhaps rendered more
popularisable) Davis’s model into what they call the Usefulness/EOU Grid,
which is a 2×2 grid where each quadrant represents a different combination
of the two attributes. In the context of software use, this provides a
mechanism for discussing the current mix of usefulness and EOU for
particular software packages, and for plotting a different course if a different
mix is desired, such as the introduction of even more powerful software (Keil,
Beranek & Konsynski, 1995).

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Venkatesh and Davis extended the original TAM model to explain perceived
usefulness and usage intentions in terms of social influence and cognitive
instrumental processes. The extended model, referred to as TAM2, was tested
in both voluntary and mandatory settings. The results strongly supported
TAM2 (Venkatesh and Davis, 2000).

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In an attempt to integrate the main competing user acceptance models,

Venkatesh et al. formulated theUnified Theory of Acceptance and Use of
 Technology (UTAUT). This model was found to outperform each of the
individual models (Adjusted R square of 69 percent) (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

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In business and engineering, new product development is the complete process of

bringing a new product to market. There are two parallel aspects to this process :
one involves product engineering ; the other marketing analysis. Marketers see
new product development as the first stage in product life cycle management,
engineers as part of Product Lifecycle Management.

Types of new products

There are several types of new products. Some are new to the market, some
are new to the firm, and some are new to both. Some are minor modifications
of existing products while some are completely innovative. These are
displayed in the following diagram.

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Types of new products

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The process
There are several stages in the new product development process:

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• Idea Generation
• *ideas for new products obtained from customers, the R&D department,
competitors, focus groups, employees, or trade shows
• *formal idea generating techniques include attribute listing, forced
relationships, brainstorming, morphological analysis, problem analysis,
virtual prototyping, the Kano model, and rapid prototyping
• Idea Screening
• *eliminate unsound concepts
• *must ask three questions:
• **will the target market benefit from the product
• **is it technically feasible to manufacture the product
• **will the product be profitable
• Concept Development and Testing
• *develop the marketing and engineering details
• **who is the target market
• **what benefits will the product provide
• **how will consumers react to the product
• **how will the product be produced
• **what will it cost to produce it
• *test the concept by asking a sample of prospective customers what they
think of the idea
• Business Analysis
• *estimate likely selling price
• *estimate sales volume
• *estimate profitability and breakeven point
• Beta Testing and Market Testing
• *produce a physical prototype or mock-up
• *test the product in typical usage situations
• *make adjustments where necessary
• *produce an initial run of the product and sell it in a test market area to
determine customer acceptance
• Technical Implementation
• *New program initiation
• *Resource estimation
• *Requirement publication
• *Engineering operations planning
• *Department scheduling
• *Supplier collaboration
• *Resource plan publication
• *Program review and monitoring
• *Contingencies - what-if planning
• Commercialization
• *launch the product
• *produce and place advertisements and other promotions
• *fill the distribution pipeline with product
• *critical path analysis is useful at this stage

These steps may be iterated as needed. Some steps may be

eliminated. To reduce the time the process takes, many companies are
completing several steps at the same time (referred to as concurrent
engineering). Most industry leaders see new product development as
a proactive process where resources are allocated to identify market
changes and seize upon new product opportunities before they occur
(in contrast to a reactive strategy in which nothing is done until
problems occur). Many industry leaders see new product development
as an ongoing process (referred to as continuous development) in
which a new product development team is always looking for
opportunities.

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Because this process typically requires both engineering and

marketing expertice, cross-functional teams are a common way of
organizing a development project. The team is responsible for all
aspects of the project, from initial idea generation to final
 commercialization, and they usually report to senior management
(often to a vice president). In those industries where products are
technically complex, development research is expensive, and product
life cycles are short, strategic alliances among several organizations
helps to spread the costs, provide access to a wider skills set, and
speeds the process.

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People respond to new products in different ways. The adoption of a

new technology can be analyzed using a variety of diffusion
theories such as the Diffusion of innovations theory.

Related Topics:
Diffusion theories - Diffusion of innovations

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Protecting new products

When developing a new product many legal questions arise, including: How
do I protect the innovation from imitators?; Can the innovation be legally
protected?; For how long?; How much will this cost?. The answers are
complicated by the fact that several legal concepts may apply to any given
innovation, product, process, or creative work. These
include patents, trademarks, service marks, tradenames, copyrights, and trade
secrets. It is necessary to know which are applicable and when each is
appropriate. This varies somewhat from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The advice
of a lawyer that specializes in these matters is essential.

Related Topics:
Patent - Trademark - Service mark - Tradename - Co
secret

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Generally, copyrights are fairly easy to obtain but are applicable only in
certain instances. Patents on the other hand, tend to involve complex claims
and approval processes, tend to be expensive to obtain, and even more
expensive to defend and preserve.

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The phrase research and development (also R and D or R&D) has a special
commercial significance apart from its conventional coupling of research and
technological development.

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Research - Development

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In general, R&D activities are conducted by specialized units or centers
belonging to companies, universitiesand State agencies.

Related Topics:
Companies - Universities - State

~~~~~~~~~~

In the context of commerce, "research and development" normally refers

to future-oriented, longer-term activities in science or technology, using
similar techniques to scientific research without pre-determined outcomes
and with broad forecasts of commercial yield.

Related Topics:
Commerce - Future - Science - Technology

~~~~~~~~~~

Statistics on organisations devoted to "R&D" may express the state of

an industry, the degree of competition or the lure of scientific progress. Some
common measures include: budgets, numbers of patents or on rates of peer-
reviewed publications.

Related Topics:
Statistics - Industry - Competition - Progress - Budge
lication

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Bank ratios are one of the best measures, because they are continuously
maintained, public and reflect risk.

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In the U.S., a typical ratio of research and development for an industrial

company is about 3.5% of revenues. A high technology company such as a
computer manufacturer might spend 7%. Although Allergan (a
pharmaceutical) tops the spending table 43.4% investment, anything over
15% is remarkable and usually gains a reputation for being a high technology
company. Companies in this category include the "big pharma" such asMerck
& Co. (14.1%) or Novartis (15.1%), and the engineering companies like
Ericcson (24.9%).{{fn|1}}

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Merck & Co. - Novartis

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Such companies are often seen as poor credit risks because their spending
ratios are so unusual.

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 Generally such firms prosper only in markets whose customers have extreme
needs, such as medicine, scientific instruments, safety-critical mechanisms
(aircraft) or high technology military armaments. The extreme needs justify
the high risk of failure and consequently high gross margins from 60% to
90% of revenues. That is, gross profits will be as much as 90% of the sales
cost, with manufacturing costing only 10% of the product price, because so
many individual projects yield no exploitable product. Most industrial
companies get only 40% revenues.

~~~~~~~~~~

Generally the largest technology companies not only have the largest
technical staffs, but also manage them most effectively.

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On a technical level, high tech organizations explore ways to repurpose and

repackage advanced technologies as a way of amortising the high overhead.
They often reuse advanced manufacturing processes, expensive safety
certifications, specialized embedded software, computer-aided design
software, electronic designs and mechanical subsystems.

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Conjoint analysis, also called multiattribute compositional models, is a statistical

technique that originated in mathematical psychology. Today it is used in many of
the social sciences and applied sciences includingmarketing, product management,
and operations research. The objective of conjoint analysis is to determine what
combination of a limited number of attributes is most preferred by respondents.
It is used frequently in testing customer acceptance of new product designs and
assessing the appeal of advertisements. It has been used inproduct positioning,
but there are some problems with this application of the technique.

Process
The basic steps are:

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• select features to be tested

• show product feature combinations to potential customers
• respondents rank, rate, or choose between the combinations
• input the data from a representative sample of potential customers into a
statistical software program and choose the conjoint analysis procedure.
The software will produce utility functions for each of the features.
• incorporate the most preferred features into a new product or
advertisement
Information collection
Respondents are shown a set of products, prototypes, mock-ups or pictures.
Each example is similar enough that consumers will see them as close
substitutes, but dissimilar enough that respondents can clearly determine a
preference. Each example is composed of a unique combination of product
features. The data may consist of individual ratings, rank-orders, or
preferences among alternative combinations. The latter is referred to as
"choice based conjoint" or "discrete choice analysis."

Analysis
Any number of algorithms may be used to estimate utility functions. The
original methods were

Related Topics:

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monotonic analysis of variance or linear programming techniques, but these

are largely obsolete in contemporary marketing research practice. Far more
popular are Hierarchical Bayesian procedures that operate on choice data.
These utilty functions indicate the perceived value of the feature and how
sensitive consumer perceptions and preferences are to changes in product
features.

Advantages
• able to use physical objects
• measures preferences at the individual level

Disadvantages
• only a limited set of features can be used because the number of
combinations increases very quickly as more features are added.
• information gathering stage is complex
• difficult to use for product positioning research because there is no
procedure for converting perceptions about actual features to perceptions
about a reduced set of underlying features

Quality function deployment or "QFD" is a flexible and

comprehensive group decision making technique used
inproduct or service development, brand marketing, and product management.
QFD can strongly help anorganization focus on the critical characteristics of a
new or existing product or service from the separate viewpoints of the
customer market segments, company, or technology-development needs. The
results of the technique yields transparent and
visible graphs and matrices that can be reused for
future product/servicedevelopments.

Related Topics:
Group - Decision making - Product - Service - Brand
marketing - Product management - Organization - M
 segments - Graphs - Matrices

~~~~~~~~~~

QFD transforms customer needs (the voice of the customer )

into engineering characteristics of a product of service, prioritizing each
product/service characteristic while simultaneouly setting development
targets for product or service development. An allied technique, called Pugh
Concept Selection can then be used in coordination with QFD to select a
promising product or service configuration from among listed alternatives.
QFD is applied in a wide variety of services, consumer products,
military needs (such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter), and
emerging technology products. The technique is also used to identify and
document competitive marketing strategies and tactics. QFD is considered a
key practice of Design for Six Sigma (DFSS). It is also implicated in the new
standard which focuses on customer satisfaction.

Related Topics:
Customer - Needs - Engineering - Pugh Concept Sele
Configuration - F-35 Joint Strike Fighter - Technology
Six Sigma

~~~~~~~~~~

Acquiring market needs by listening to the Voice of Customer (VOC), sorting

the needs, and numerically prioritizing them (using techniques such as
the Analytic Hierarchy Process) are the early tasks in QFD. Traditionally, going
to the GEMBA (the "real place" where value is created for the customer) is
where these customer needs are evidenced and compiled. A Flash tutorial
showing the build process of the QFD "House of Quality" (HOQ) can be found
at: QFD Flash Tutorial. An example HOQ for a notional MP3 Player. While
many books and articles on QFD can be found, there is a surprizing lack of
realistic QFD example matrices available for public viewing. One explanation
for this is that the resulting matrices become proprietary due to both the high
density of product of service information packed into the matrices, and that
the insights that these charts bring to the product of service development can
confer a substantial advantage to those organizations that use them in their
product or service development. Notable U.S. companies using QFD
techniques include the U.S. automobile manufacturers (GM, Ford, Daimler
Chrysler) and their suppliers, IBM, Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and
many others.

Related Topics:
Analytic Hierarchy Process - GEMBA

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Early use of QFD in the United States met with initial enthusiasm, then
plummeting popularity when it was discovered that much time could be
wasted if poor group decision making techniques were employed. A
discussion of the cultural implications of QFD practices in the U.S. can be
found at Cultural Adaptation of QFD. Since the early introduction of QFD, the
technique has been developed to shorten the time span and reduce the
required group efforts (such as "Blitz QFD®"). Tools such as online survey
software can be used to gather qualitative customer feedback and prioritize
 the needs. Subsequently, those needs may be "flowed" into a HOQ and
studied through a myriad of supporting templates or "deployments".

~~~~~~~~~~

Results of QFD analysis have been applied in Japan and elsewhere into
deploying the high impact controllable factors in Strategic
planning and Strategic management (also known as Hoshin Planning or Policy
Deployment). This technique somewhat resembles Management by
objectives (MBO), but adds a significant element in the goal setting process,
called "catchball". Use of these Hoshin techniques by U.S. companies such as
Hewlett Packard have been advertized as notably successful in focusing
company resources over the medium-to-long term, aligning resources to
stated organizational goals throughout the organizational structure.

HISTORY
QFD was originally developed by Dr. Yoji Akao and others at the Kobe
Shipyard ca. 1966. An earlier technique, the Ishikawa diagram or "fishbone"
diagram, was initially used for this task, albeit using a reversal of the original
fishbone technique. Instead of extracting cause from observed process effects
(such as in statistical process control), the fishbone diagram was "turned
around" to first identify product/service needs (the "WHATs"), then the
"HOWs" or fishbones of the diagram were used to develop needed process or
product characteristics. TheIshikawa diagram was eventually replaced by
matrix methods which were more flexible and adapted to numeric treatment.

Related Topics:
1966 - Ishikawa diagram - Statistical process control

~~~~~~~~~~

Notable improvements in the original method have been promulgated by Dr.

Yuji Akao and Bob King in the U.S. These improvements and extensions
include Matrix of Matrices and Four-Phase QFD. These approaches can be
viewed from the standpoint of the Kano model. It has been observed that the
mixture of differing Kano customer-needs types (i.e., basic, one-dimensional,
exciter) in the QFD diagrams can lead to numeric difficulties within a row or a
column of the QFD matrix. Matrix of Matrices and comprehensive QFD can
alleviate many of these difficulties, e.g., avoiding the mixing of cost,
reliability, safety needs in the same matrix as product or service function.

Related Topics:
Matrix of Matrices - Comprehensive QFD

~~~~~~~~~~

These techniques extend the original HOQ approach by deploying resulting

"HOWs" from the top-level HOQ into lower tier matrices addressing aspects of
product development, such as cost, technology, reliability.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
 In addition, the same technique can extend the method into the constituant
product subsystems, configuration items, assemblies, and parts. From these
detail level components, fabrication and assembly process QFD charts can be
developed to support statistical process control techniques.

Related Topics:
Subsystems - Configuration items - Statistical proces

~~~~~~~~~~

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;

Failure in general refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or

intended objective. It may be viewed as the opposite of success.

Criteria for failure

The criteria for failure are heavily dependent on context of use, and may
be relative to a particular observer orbelief system. A situation considered to
be a failure by one might be considered a success by another, particularly in
cases of direct competition or a zero-sum game. As well, the degree of success
or failure in a situation may be differently viewed by distinct observers or
participants, such that a situation that one considers to be a failure, another
might consider to be a success, a qualified success or an neutral situation.

Related Topics:
Relative - Observer - Belief system - Competition - Z
sum- Game

~~~~~~~~~~

It may also be difficult or impossible to ascertain whether a situation meets

criteria for failure or success due to ambiguous or ill-defined definition of
those criteria. Finding useful and effective criteria, or heuristics, to judge the
success or failure of a situation may itself be a significant task.

~~~~~~~~~~

Common usage
A context in which failure is frequently used is in formal grading of scholastic
achievement. 'Failing a test' or being assigned a 'failing mark' indicates that a
student has submitted work or received a mark below a minimum threshold
of performance or quality required to continue studies in a subject.

Formal technical definition

Failure is defined in ISO/CD 10303-226 as the lack of ability of a component,
equipment, sub system, or system to perform its intended function as
designed. Failure may be the result of one or many faults.

Types of failure
Failure can be differentially perceived from the viewpoints of the evaluators.
A person who is only interested in the final outcome of an activity would
consider it to be an Outcome Failure if the core issue has not been resolved
or a core need is not met. A failure can also be a process failure whereby
although the activity is completed successfully, a person may still feel
dissatisfied if the underlying process is perceived to be below expected
standard or benchmark.

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Crossing the Chasm is a marketing book by Geoffrey A. Moore that focuses on

the specifics of marketing high tech products. It was first published in 1991.

Related Topics:
Marketing - 1991

~~~~~~~~~~

Moore uses the diffusion of innovations theory from Everett Rogers, but argued
that there is a chasm between the early adopters of the product (the
technology enthusiasts and visionaries) and the early majority (the
pragmatists). Moore argues that this is because visionaries and pragmatists
have very different expectations. Moore attempts to explore those differences
and builds from there to suggest techniques to successfully cross the
"chasm", including choosing a target market, understanding the
whole product concept, positioning theproduct, building a marketing strategy,
choosing the most appropriate distribution channel and pricing.

Related Topics:
Diffusion of innovations - Everett Rogers - Product - T
market - Whole product - Positioning - Marketing stra
Distribution channel - Pricing

~~~~~~~~~~

Moore's approach has been criticized from a strategic perspective because it

deals with adoption and not profit. It is possible that in many cases "crossing
the chasm" may not lead to profitability. Similarly, Moore places a large
emphasis on being the first to cross the chasm, but there is substantial
evidence that being a later mover in a given technology market may also be
advantagous. Finally, Moore's theories may not be applicable in many non-
technology markets.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

In 2002, 10 years after the first publication, more than 300,000 copies had
been sold. Crossing the Chasm is available in several prints, one is ISBN
0060517123.

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Most new technologies follow a similar technology lifecycle. This is similar to
a product life cycle, but applies to an entire technology, or a generation of a
technology.

~~~~~~~~~~

There is usually technology hype at the introduction of any new technology,

but only after some time has passed can it be judged as mere hype or
justified true acclaim.

~~~~~~~~~~

Because of the logistic curve nature of technology adoption, it is difficult to

see at in the early stages whether the hype is excessive. You can almost
never believe the hype.

~~~~~~~~~~

The two errors commonly committed in the early stages of a technology's

development are:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• fitting an exponential curve to the first part of the growth curve, and
assuming eternal exponential growth
• fitting a linear curve to the first part of the growth curve, and assuming
that takeup of the new technology is disappointing

Similarly, in the later stages, the opposite mistakes can be made

relating to the possibilities of technology maturity and market
saturation.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Technology adoption typically occurs in an S curve, as modelled

in diffusion of innovations theory. This is because customers respond to
new products in different ways. Diffusion of innovations theory,
pioneered by Everett Rogers, posits that people have different levels of
readiness for adopting new innovations and that the characteristics of
a product affect overall adoption.

Related Topics:
Technology adoption - Diffusion of innovations -

~~~~~~~~~~

From a layman's perspective, the technology life cycle can be broken

down into five distinct stages.

Related Topics:
 ~~~~~~~~~~

• Bleeding edge - any technology that shows high potential but hasn't
demonstrated its value or settled down into any kind of consensus. Early
adopters may win big, or may be stuck with a white elephant.
• Leading edge - a technology that has proven itself in the marketplace but
is still new enough that it may be difficult to find knowledgeable personnel
to implement or support it.
• State of the art - when everyone agrees that a particular technology is the
right solution.
• Dated - still useful, still sometimes implemented, but a replacement
leading edge technology is readily available.
• Obsolete - has been superseded by state-of-the-art technology, rarely
implemented anymore.

A disruptive technology is a new technological innovation, product, or service

that eventually overturns the existing dominant technology in the market,
despite the fact that the disruptive technology is both radically different than
the leading technology and that it often initially performs worse than the
leading technology according to existing measures of performance. A
disruptive technology comes to dominate an existing market by either filling a
role in a new market that the older technology could not fill (as more
expensive, lower capacity but smaller-sized hard disks did for newly
developed notebook computers in the 1980s) or by successively moving up-
market through performance improvements until finally displacing the market
incumbents (as digital photography has come to replace film photography).

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

By contrast, sustaining technology refers to the successive incremental

improvements to performance that market incumbents incorporate into their
existing product.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

The term disruptive technology was coined by Clayton M. Christensen and

described in his 1997 book The Innovator's Dilemma. In his sequel, The
Innovator's Solution, Christensen replaced the term with the term disruptive
innovation because he recognized that few technologies are intrinsically
disruptive or sustaining in character. It is strategy that creates the disruptive
impact

The theory
Christensen distinguishes between low-end disruption which targets customers
who do not need the full performance of the high end of the market and new-
market disruption which targets customers who could previously not be served
profitably by the incumbent.

Related Topics:
 ~~~~~~~~~~

"Low-end disruption" occurs when the rate at which products improve

exceeds the rate at which customers can learn and adopt the new
performance. Therefore, at some point the performance of the product
overshoots the needs of certain customer segments. At this point, a
disruptive technology may enter the market and provide a product which has
lower performance than the incumbent but which exceeds the requirements
of certain segments, thereby gaining a foothold in the market.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

In low-end disruption, the disruptive company will naturally aim to improve

its margin (from low commodity level) and therefore will innovate to capture
the next level of customer requirements. The incumbent will not want to
engage in a price war with a simpler product with lower production costs and
will move up-market and focus on its more attractive customers. After a
number of iterations, the incumbent has been squeezed into successively
smaller markets and when finally the disruptive technology meets the
demands of its last segment the incumbent technology disappears.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

"New market disruption" occurs when a product that is inferior by most

measures of performance fits a new or emerging market segment. In the disk
drive industry, for example, new generations of smaller-sized disk drives
were both more expensive and had less capacity than existing, larger-sized
drives. Since size was not an important factor for the early computer market,
these new drives seemed worse in every way. With the development of the
minicomputer (or afterwards, the desktop computer, the notebook, and the
personal music player), size became an important dimension, and these new
drives quickly dominated the market.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Not all disruptive technologies are of lower performance. There are a several
examples where the disruptive technology outperforms the existing
technology but is not adapted by existing majors in the market. These occur
in industries with a high capitalization sunk into the older technology. To
update, an existing player not only must invest in new technology but also
must replace (and perhaps dispose of at high cost) the older infrastructure. It
may simply be most cost effective for the existing player to "milk" the current
investment during its decline - mostly by insufficient maintenance and lack of
progressive improvement to maintain the long term utility of the existing
facilities. A new player is not faced with such a balancing act.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
 Some examples of high-performance disruption:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• The rise of containerization and the success of the Port of Oakland,

California, while the port of San Francisco neglected modernization -
perhaps wisely due to its inconvenient location at the end of a peninsula
not oriented with the prevailing freight traffic. Rather than attempt to
compete in the oceanic freight terminal business, the city's resources were
directed elsewhere, primarily toward becoming the leading financial center
on the west coast through the encouragement of the construction of high
rise buildings for office space.
• "Mini mill" scrap feed steel product production facilities in the United
States using integrated vertical casting methods feeding rolling mills in a
single continuous process to produce specialty products such as reinforcing
bar for concrete. This left the existing large steel producers with only the
lower value commodity production which could not compete with lower
cost production worldwide - largely due to the lower labor costs offshore.

Examples of disruptive technologies

Not all technologies promoted as disruptive technologies have actually
prospered as well as their proponents had hoped. However, some of these
technologies have only been around for a few years, and their ultimate fate
has not yet been determined.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Unresolved examples of technologies promoted as 'disruptive technologies'

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Music downloads and file sharing vs. compact discs

• ebooks vs. paper books
• e-commerce vs. physical shops
• Open-source software vs. proprietary software (for
example Linux versus Microsoft Windows, although Linux has already
largely displaced proprietary Unix)
• Internet Video on Demand and IPTV vs. Advertising supported broadcast
and cable television
• VoIP (and VoIP over 802.11) vs. traditional telephone and mobile phone
service.
• portable mp3-players vs. the portable cassette player

Business implications
 Disruptive technologies are not disruptive to customers, and often take a long
time before they are significantly disruptive to other manufacturers, so they
are often difficult to recognize. Indeed, as Christensen points out and studies
have shown, it is often entirely rational for incumbent companies to ignore
disruptive technologies, since they compare so badly to existing approaches,
and the initial markets for a disruptive technology are often very small
compared to the main existing market for the technology. Even if a disruptive
technology is recognized, existing businesses are often reluctant to take
advantage of it, since it would involve competing with their existing (and
more profitable) technological approach. Christensen recommends that
existing firms watch for these technologies, invest in small firms that might
produce them, and continue to push technological demands in their core
market so that performance stays above what disruptive technologies can
achieve.

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A life cycle cost analysis calculates the cost of a system or product over its
entire life span.

Related Topics:
Cost - System - Product

~~~~~~~~~~

The analysis of a typical system could include costs for:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• planning,
• research and development,
• production,
• operation,
• maintenance,
• disposal or salvage.

This cost analysis depends on values calculated from other reliability

analyses like failure rate, cost of spares, repair times, and component
costs.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes called a "cradle-to-grave analysis".

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

A life cycle cost analysis is important for cost accounting purposes. In

deciding to produce a product orservice, a timetable of life cycle costs
 helps show what costs need to be allocated to a product so that an
organization can recover its costs. If all costs can not be recovered, it
would not be wise to produce the product or service

lternative meanings: Plan, Isère, floor plan, archaeological plan, Plans

(album) by Death Cab for Cutie

Related Topics:
Plan, Isère - Floor plan - Archaeological plan - Plans (

~~~~~~~~~~

A plan is a proposed or intended method of getting from one set of

circumstances to another. They are often used to move from the present
situation, towards the achievement of one or more objectives or goals.

Related Topics:
Objective - Goal

~~~~~~~~~~

Informal or ad-hoc plans are created by individual humans in all of their

pursuits. Structured and formal plans, used by multiple people, are more
likely to occur in projects, diplomacy, careers, economic
development, militarycampaigns, combat, or in the conduct of other business.

Related Topics:
Ad-hoc - Project - Diplomacy - Career - Economic
development - Military - Combat - Business

~~~~~~~~~~

It is common for less formal plans to be created as abstract ideas, and

remain in that form as they are maintained and put to use. More formal plans
as used for business and military purposes, while initially created with and as
an abstract thought, are likely to be written down, drawn up or otherwise
stored in a form that is accessible to multiple people across time and space.
This allows more reliable collaboration in the execution of the plan.

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Planned obsolescence is the marketing strategy of deliberately introducing

obsolescence into a product strategy.Obsolescence, in general, is the process of
passing out of usefulness. In a business context this means the object is no
longer perceived as having value, that is, a product is no longer wanted even
though it is still in good working order. This can be contrasted with deterioration,
which is a process of disintegration or degeneration. The difference is that
obsolescence is a perception about the usefulness of an object whereas
deterioration is a physical process. The two concepts are highly correlated, but
neither is a sufficient or necessary condition of the other. That is, you can have
obsolescence without deterioration, and you can have deterioration without
obsolescence.

Rationale behind the strategy

 A new product development strategy that seeks to make existing products
obsolete may appear counter intuitive, particularly if you are a leading
marketer of the existing products. Why would a firm deliberately endeavour
to reduce the value of its existing product portfolio?

~~~~~~~~~~

The rationale behind the strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by

reducing the time between repeat purchases, (referred to as shortening the
replacement cycle). Firms that pursue this strategy believe that the additional
sales revenue it creates more than offsets the additional costs of research and
development and theopportunity costs of existing product line cannibalization.
However, the rewards are by no means certain : In a competitive industry,
this can be a risky strategy because consumers may decide to buy from your
competitors.

Related Topics:
Research and development - Opportunity cost -
Cannibalization - Consumer

~~~~~~~~~~

Shortening the replacement cycle has many critics as well as supporters.

Critics such as Vance Packard claim the process wastes resources and
exploits customers. Resources are used up making changes, often cosmetic
changes, that are not of great value to the customer. Supporters claim it
drives technological advances and contributes to material well-being. They
claim that a market structure of planned obsolescence and rapid innovation
may be preferred to long-lasting products and slow innovation. In a fast
paced competitive industry market success requires that you make your
products obsolete by actively developing replacements. Waiting for your
competitor to make your products obsolete is a sure guarantee of your future
demise.

~~~~~~~~~~

The main concern of the proponents of planned obsolescence is not the

existence of the process, but its possible postponement. They are concerned
that technological improvements are not introduced even though they could
be. They are worried that marketers will refrain from developing new
products, or postpone their introduction because of product cannibalization
issues. For example, if the payback period for a product is five years, a firm
might refrain from introducing a new product for at least five years even
though it may be possible for them to launch in three years. This
postponement is only feasible in monopolistic or oligopolisticmarkets. In more
competitive markets rival firms will take advantage of the postponement and
launch their own products. The recent US legal proceedings that concluded
that Microsoft was acting as a monopolist made reference to this
postponement strategy.

Related Topics:
Monopolistic - Oligopolistic

~~~~~~~~~~

Types of planned obsolescence

Functional obsolescence

Planned functional obsolescence is a type of technical obsolescence in which

companies introduce new technology which replaces the old. The old products
do not have the same capabilities or functionality as the new ones. For
example a company that sold video tape decks while they were developing
DVDs was engaging in planned obsolescence. That is, they were actively
planning to make their existing product (video tape) obsolete by developing a
substitute product (DVDs) with greater functionality (better quality). Another
example is the replacement of telegraphs with telephones.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Associated products that are complements to the old products will also
become obsolete with the introduction of new products. For example video
tape holders saw the same fate as video tapes and video tape decks.
Likewise, buggy whips became obsolete when people started traveling in cars
instead of buggies.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Systemic obsolescence

Planned systemic obsolescence is the deliberate attempt to make a product

obsolete by altering the system in which it is used in such a way as to make
its continued use difficult. For example new software is frequently introduced
that is not compatible with older software. This makes the older software
largely obsolete. For example, even though an older version of a word
processing program is operating correctly, it might not be able to read .doc
files from newer versions. The lack of interoperability forces many users to
purchase new programs prematurely. The greater the network externalities in
the market, the more effective is this strategy.

Related Topics:
Interoperability - Network externalities

~~~~~~~~~~

Another way of introducing systemic obsolescence is to eliminate service and

maintenance for a product. If a product fails, the user is forced to purchase a
new one. This strategy seldom works because there are typically third parties
that are prepared to perform the service if parts are still available.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
Style obsolescence

Planned style obsolescence occurs when marketers change the styling of

products so customers will purchase products more frequently. The style
changes are designed to make owners of the old model feel 'out of date'. It is
also designed to differentiate the product from the competition, thereby
reducing price competition. Marketers also claim that style changes relieve
peoples' boredom and allows for both self-expression and conformity at the
same time. One example of style obsolescence is the automobile industry in
which manufacturers typically make style changes every year or two. As the
former CEO of General Motors, Alfred P. Sloan, stated, "Today the
appearance of a motor-car is a most important factor in the selling end of the
business—perhaps the most important factor— because everyone knows the
car will run."

~~~~~~~~~~

Some marketers go one step further: they attempt to initiate fashions or

fads. A fashion is any style that is popularly accepted by groups of people over a
period of time. A fad is a short term fashion. Examples of successfully created
fashions or fads include Beanie Babies, Ninja Turtles, Cabbage Patch Kids,
Rubik's Cubes, pet rocks, acid wash jeans, Pokémon, and tank tops.
Obsolescence is built into these products in the sense that marketers are
aware of the shortness of their product life cycles so they work within that
constraint. For example, when Beanie Babies sales revenue started to decline,
company president Ty Warner astutely decided to go for one last Christmas
marketing push and then drop the product.

~~~~~~~~~~

Another strategy is to take advantage of fashion changes, often called the

fashion cycle. The fashion cycle is the repeated introduction, rise, popular
culmination, and decline of a style as it progresses through various social
strata. Marketers can ride the fashion cycle by changing the mix of products
that they direct at variousmarket segments. This is very common in the
clothing industry. A certain style of dress, for example, will initially be aimed
at a very high income segment, then gradually be re-targeted to lower
income segments. The fashion cycle can repeat itself, in which case a
stylistically obsolete product may regain popularity and cease to be obsolete.

~~~~~~~~~~

Notification obsolescence

Some companies have developed a very sophisticated version of

obsolescence in which the product informs the user when it is time to buy a
replacement. Examples of this include water filters that display a replacement
notice after a predefined time and disposable razors that have a strip that
changes colour. If the user is notified before the product has actually
deteriorated, planned obsolescence is the result. In this way obsolescence
can be introduced without going to the expense of developing a new
replacement product.

Obsolescence and durability

 If marketers expect a product to become obsolete they can design it to last
for a specific lifetime. For example, if a product will be technically or stylisticly
obsolete in five years, many marketers will design the product so it will only
last for that time. This is done through a technical process called value
engineering An example is home entertainment electronics which tend to be
designed and built with moving components like motors and gears that last
until technical or stylistic innovations make them obsolete.

~~~~~~~~~~

These products could be built with military spec components, but they are not
because it is felt that this imposes an unnecessary cost on the purchaser.
Value engineering will reduce the cost of making the product, and lower the
price to consumers (unless there is a lack of competition in the industry, in
which case the cost reduction will probably not be passed on to the consumer
in the form of lower price). A company will typically use the least expensive
components that satisfy product?s lifetime projections.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

The use of value engineering techniques have lead to planned obsolescence

being associated with product deterioration and inferior quality. Packard
claimed that this could give engineering a bad name, because it directed
creative engineering energies toward short-term market ends rather than
more lofty and ambitious engineering goals. As with all these planned
obsolescence issues, the marketer and product engineer must determine for
themselves if any of these criticisms are warranted.

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;

Packaging is the enclosing of a physical object, typically a product that will be

offered for sale. Labelling (CwE) or labeling (AmE) refers to any written or graphic
communications on the packaging or on a separate label.

The purpose of packaging and labels

Packaging and labeling have five objectives:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Physical protection of the object - The objects enclosed in the package

can be protected from damage caused by physical force, rain, heat,
sunlight, cold, pressure, airborne contamination, and automated handling
devices.
• Agglomeration - Small objects are typically grouped together in one
package for reasons of efficiency. For example, a single box of 1000
pencils requires less physical handling than 1000 single pencils.
 Alternatively, bulk commodities (such as salt) can be divided into
packages that are a more suitable size for individual households.
• Information transmission - Information on how to use, transport, or
dispose of the product is often contained on the package or label. An
example is pharmaceutical products, where some types of information
are required by governments.
• Marketing - The packaging and labels can be used by marketers to
encourage potential buyers to purchase the product.
• Reducing theft - Some packages are made larger than they need to be
so as to make theft more difficult. An example is software packages that
typically contain only a single disc even though they are large enough to
contain dozens of discs.

Packaging materials
Commonly used packaging materials include:

~~~~~~~~~~

• corrugated cardboard
• excelsior (wood wool)
• jute
• paper
• plastics, including expanded polystyrene
• wood
• bubble wrap

The type of material chosen depends on: the sensitivity of the

product; the types of damage that are likely; the value of the product;
the size of the product; the weight of the product; the length of time
the product will be packaged; and the method of shipping being used.

Packaging types
The above materials are fashioned into different types of packages and
containers such as:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Boxes
• Pallets
• Bags
• Bottles
• Cans
• Cartons
• Aseptic packages
• Wrappers
• Blister packs

There are also special containers that combine different technologies

for maximum durability:
 Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Wine box (used for wine)

• Bags-In-Boxes (used for soft drink syrup and other liquid products)

Mandatory labelling (Commonwealth English) or labeling (American English) of

consumer products enables moral purchasing and avoidance of health
problems like allergies. It is mandated in most developed nations, and
increasingly in developing nations, especially for food products, e.g. "Grade
A" meats.

Related Topics:
Commonwealth English - American English - Moral
purchasing- Allergies - Developed nation - Developin
nations - Meat

~~~~~~~~~~

With regard to food and drugs, mandatory labelling has been a major
battleground between consumer advocatesand corporations since the late 19th
century.

Related Topics:
Food - Drug - Consumer advocates - Corporation - 19

~~~~~~~~~~

Because of past scandals involving deceptive labelling, countries like

the United States and Canada require most processed foods to have a Nutrition
Facts table on the label, and the table's formatting and content must conform
to strict guidelines. The European Union equivalent is the slightly
different Nutrition Information table, which may also be supplemented with
standardized icons indicating the presence of allergens.

Related Topics:
Scandal - United States - Canada - Nutrition Facts - E
Union - Nutrition Information - Allergen

~~~~~~~~~~

In China, all clothing is labelled with the factory of origin,

including telephone and fax numbers. Interestingly, this information is not
available to buyers outside China who see only a generic Made In China tag.

Related Topics:
China - Clothing - Factory - Telephone - Fax - Made I

~~~~~~~~~~
The genetic modification of food has led to one of the most persistent and
divisive debates about the mandatory labelling. Advocates of such labelling
claim that the consumer should make the choice whether to expose
themselves to any health risk from consuming such foods. Detractors point to
well-controlled studies that conclude genetically modified food is safe, and
point out that for many commodity products, the identity of the grower and
the custody chain are not known.

Related Topics:
Genetic modification - Food - Health risk - Genetically

~~~~~~~~~~

Voluntary labelling and co-marketing of products deemed desirable is another

matter usually carried out by entirely different means, e.g. Slow Food. There
has been increased regulatory interest in substantiating these claims, and in
some jurisdictions, food labels require regulatory approval before use.

~~~~~~~~~~

An interesting halfway is those labels that are considered mandatory by one

buying population and effectively preclude purchase if they are not there,
e.g. kosher, vegan, and the aforementioned GMO-free label now seen on
many organic products.

List of packaging companies:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Inflatable Packaging (United States)

• Inflatable Packaging, Tuck Dunnage custom designed inflatable packaging
products; http://www.inflatablepackaging.com/
• Diamond Packaging (United States)
• :Carton, Paperboard, Plastic, Folding cartons and contract packaging
services; http://www.diamondpackaging.com/
• Global Packaging Alliance (Worldwide)
• :Carton, Paperboard, Plastic, Packaging management for global brands;
http://www.global-packaging-alliance.com/
• SCA Packaging (Sweden)
• :corrugated board, containerboard, EPS and moulded pulp;
http://www.sca.se/
• Tetra Pak (Sweden)
• :Carton, Plastic, Carton with Plastic mould components;
http://www.tetrapak.com/
• DCM (United States)
• :Fulfillment, Food Packaging, Contract packaging and contract
manufacturing services;
http://www.diamondpackaging.com/contract_main.asp
• Online Packaging (Goa,India)
• :Carton, Corrugated,Printed Boxes, others; http://www.onlinepkg.com/
• :Retail & Industrial Packaging
 Please help us fill this up, especially to list all consumer packaging by
viewing package markings as you shop.

Related Topics:
Consumer - Packaging

~~~~~~~~~~

• :Dorell Equipment, Inc. (United States): A packaging machinery

manufacturer which specializes in custom built equipment to fit a
customer's needs. Specializing in the bottled water and cosmetics
industries. http://www.dorell.com

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Product lining is the marketing strategy of offering for sale several

related products. Unlike product bundling, where several products are
combined into one, lining involves offering several
related products individually. A line can comprise related products of various
sizes, types, colours, qualities, or prices. Line depth refers to the number of
product variants in a line. Line consistency refers to how closely related
the products that make up the line are. Line vulnerability refers to the percentage
of sales or profits that are derived from only a few products in the line.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Products - Product bundling

~~~~~~~~~~

The number of different product lines sold by a company is referred to

as width of product mix. The total number of products sold in all lines is referred
to as length of product mix. If a line of products is sold with the same brand
name, this is referred to as family branding. When you add a new product to a
line, it is referred to as a line extension. When you add a line extension that is of
better quality than the other products in the line, this is referred to as trading up or
brand leveraging. When you add a line extension that is of lower quality than the
other products of the line, this is referred to as trading down. When you trade
down, you will likely reduce your brand equity. You are gaining short-term
sales at the expense of long term sales.

Related Topics:
Brand name - Family branding - Brand equity

~~~~~~~~~~
Image anchors are highly promoted products within a line that define the image of
the whole line. Image anchors are usually from the higher end of the line's range.
When you add a new product within the current range of an incomplete line, this is
referred to as line filling.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Price lining is the use of a limited number of prices for all your product
offerings. This is a tradition started in the old five and dime stores in which
everything cost either 5 or 10 cents. Its underlying rationale is that these
amounts are seen as suitable price points for a whole range of products by
prospective customers. It has the advantage of ease of administering, but the
disadvantage of inflexibility, particularly in times of inflation or unstable
prices.

Whole productdoughnut diagramIn marketing, a whole product is a generic

product augmented by everything that is needed for the customer to have a
compelling reason to buy. The generic product is what is usually shipped to
the customer. The whole product typically augments the generic product with
training and support, manuals, cables, additional software or hardware,
installation instructions, professional services, etc.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Customer - Software - Hardware

~~~~~~~~~~

The concept of whole product comes from the realization that there is often a
gap between the productshipped to the customer and the marketing promise
made to that customer.

Related Topics:
Product - Customer

~~~~~~~~~~

For example, if a computer is sold with the promise it can be used to

organize, fix and print digital pictures, the whole product must not only
include a computer but also come with at least a good quality monitor, a pre-
installed operating system and digital imaging software, a color printer and all
the necessary cables.

Related Topics:
Computer - Operating system

~~~~~~~~~~

The concept of whole product was first formally introduced Theodore Levitt
in The Marketing Imagination first published in 1983. It became popular in the
high tech arena with the publication of Geoffrey A. Moore's Crossing the
Chasm in 1991.
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;

Finance
Main article portfolio (finance)

~~~~~~~~~~

In finance, a portfolio is a collection of investments held by an institution or a

private individual. Holding a portfolio is part of an investment and risk-
limiting strategy called diversification. By owning several assets, certain types
of risk (in particular specific risk) can be reduced. The assets in the portfolio
could include stocks, bonds, options, warrants, gold certificates, real estate,
futures contracts, production facilities, or any other item that is expected to
retain its value.

Management, Marketing
In strategic management and marketing, a portfolio is a collection
of products, services, or brands that are offered for sale by a company. In
building up a product portfolio a company can use various analytical
techniques including B.C.G. Analysis, contribution margin analysis, G.E. Multi
Factoral analysis,and Quality Function Deployment. Typically a company tries to
achieve both diversification and balance in their portfolio of product offerings.

Related Topics:
Strategic management - Marketing - Products - Servi
Brand - B.C.G. Analysis - Contribution margin analys
Factoral analysis - Quality Function Deployment -Dive

~~~~~~~~~~

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Many portfolio optimization algorthims are based on MPT or Modern Portfolio

Theory. The most commonly used method is Mean-Variance optimization
where portfolio allocations determined by maximizing profit while constraining
risk.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Education, learning
In education, portfolio refers to a personal collection of information describing
and documenting a person?s achievements and learning. There is a variety of
portfolios ranging from learning logs to extended collections of achievement
evidence. Portfolios are used for many different purposes such as
 accreditation of prior experience, job search, continuing professional
development, certification of competences.

Related Topics:
Education - Learning logs

~~~~~~~~~~

Tens of millions of people across the world have already used some kind
of portfolio. Alone in the UK, more than 4 million people have got a
qualification (NVQ) through accreditation of prior learning or accreditation of
work experience, and most of them have built a portfolio to collect the
evidence required to get their certificate.

~~~~~~~~~~

The recent explosion of knowledge, information and learning technologies has

led to the development of digital portfolios or electronic portfolios, commonly
referred as ePortfolios.

~~~~~~~~~~

Politics
In politics, portfolio can refer to the office of the President in a country.
Portfolio can also refer to the contents of the job a minister has. For example
in the United Kingdom, Peter Mandelson's title was Minister Without Portfolio.

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;

B.C.G. analysis is a technique used in brand marketing, product management,

and strategic management to help a company decide what products to add to
its product portfolio. It involves rating products according to theirmarket
share and market growth rate. The products are then plotted on a two
dimensional map. Products with high market share but low growth are referred
to as "cash cows". Products with high market share and high growth are
referred to as "stars". Products with low market share in a low growth market
are referred to as "dogs" and should usually be managed for value, that is as
much money should be harvested from thoseproducts with low or no
investments. Products with low market share but high market growth are
referred to as "question marks" or "problem children". It is crucial for
those products or brands to improve their market sharebefore the market
growth is consumed by the competition. The technique can also be applied to
a portfolio of companies.

Related Topics:
Brand marketing - Product management - Strategic
management - Products - Portfolio - Market share

~~~~~~~~~~

BCG Matrix
 Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Each circle represents a product or brand. The size of the circle indicates the
value of the sales of that product or brand. A "question mark" has the
potential to become a "star" in the future if it is developed. A company should
have a balanced portfolio. This implies having at least one "cash cow" which
can generate revenue that can be used to develop one or more "question
mark". This process, referred to as "milking your cash cow", is shown in the
next diagram where the arrows represent cash flows.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

BCG Matrix with Cash Flows

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

B.C.G. Analysis was originally developed by Bruce Henderson at the Boston

Consulting Group in the early 1970s.

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G.E. multi factoral analysis is a technique used in brand marketing and product
management to help a company decide what product(s) to add to its
product portfolio. It is conceptually similar to B.C.G. analysis, but somewhat more
complicated. Like in BCG Analysis, a two dimensional portfolio matrix is created.
But with the GE model the dimensions are multi factoral. One dimension
comprises nine industry attractivness measures, the other comprises twelve
internal business strength measures. Each product, brand, service, or potential
product is mapped in this industry attractiveness/business strength space. The
GE multi factoral model was first developed by General Electric in the 1970s.

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Contribution margin analysis is a technique used in brand

marketing and product management to help a company decide
what product(s) to add to its product portfolio. The manager asks what will
happen to profits if a new product is added or an existing product is
discontinued. Calculations take into account additional revenues, additional
costs, effects on other products in the portfolio (referred to
as cannibalization), and competitors' reactions.

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In marketing, cannibalization refers to a reduction in
the sales volume, sales revenue, or market share of one product as a result of
the introduction of a new product by the same producer.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Sales - Market share

~~~~~~~~~~

For example, if Coca Cola were to intoduce a similar product (say, Diet Coke
or Cherry Coke), this new product could take some of the sales away from
the original Coke. Cannibalization is an important consideration in
product portfolio analysis.

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Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering

several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very
common in the software business (for example: bundle a word processor,
aspreadsheet, and a database into a single office suite), and in the fast food
industry in which multiple items are combined into a complete meal.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Products - Software - Word processor -
Spreadsheet - Database - Office suite

~~~~~~~~~~

The strategy is most successful when:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• there are economies of scale in production,

• there are economies of scope in distribution,
• consumers appreciate the resulting simplification of the purchase decision
and benefit from the joint performance of the combined product,
• when the marginal costs of bundling are low.
• when production set-up costs are high,
• when customer acquisition costs are high.

Product bundling is most suitable for high volume and high margin
(i.e., low marginal cost) products. Research by Yannis Bakos and Erik
Brynjolfsson found that bundling was particularly effective for digital
"information goods" with close to zero marginal cost, and could enable
a bundler with an inferior collection of products to drive even superior
quality goods out of the market place.{{fn|1}}

~~~~~~~~~~

In oligopolistic and monopolistic industries, product bundling can be

seen as an unfair use of market power because it limits the choices
available to the consumer. In these cases it is typically called
product tying.
 Related Topics:
Oligopolistic - Monopolistic - Tying

~~~~~~~~~~

Pure bundling occurs when a consumer can only purchase the entire
bundle or nothing, mixed bundling occurs when consumers are offered a
choice between the purchasing the entire bundle or one of the
separate parts of the bundle.

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;

There are problems with the use of product portfolio techniques in crafting
a brands strategic direction andpositioning:

Related Topics:
Portfolio - Brand - Positioning

~~~~~~~~~~

• The criteria are very general. Dimensions like industry attractiveness,

market growth, market share, and business strength do not adequately
assess competitive advantage in specific industries/markets.
• The use of these simplified models limit the range of influences that
managers assess. A completeenvironmental scan is usually required if
important criteria are not to be missed.
• These comparative statics models are more appropriate in assessing
incremental change than discontinuous or high velocity change. They can
portray gradual changes in market size, growth, share, profitability, etc.,
but discontinuous technological change or radical value migrations cannot
easily be portrayed or assessed.
• These models are essentially non-teleological. They are not goal directed
or driven by purpose. This fosters a cause/effect reversal. We should start
with objectives, then determine strategies based on these objectives. We
can then determine market characteristics.
• These models deny the oligolistic nature of markets. In most markets, the
implementation of our strategy (and competitors' strategy) will influence
market characteristics.

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;

In marketing, positioning is the technique by which marketers try to create an

image or identity for a product,brand, or organisation. It is the 'place'
a product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market.
Positioning is something that is done in the minds of the target market.
A product's position is how potential buyers see the product. Positioning is
expressed relative to the position of competitors. The term was coined in
1969 by Jack Trout in his paper, ""Positioning" is a game people play in
today?s me-too market place" in the publication, Industrial Marketing.

Related Topics:
 Marketing - Product - Brand - Target market

~~~~~~~~~~

Re-positioning involves changing the identity of a product, relative to the

identity of competing products, in the collective minds of the target market.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

De-positioning involves attempting to change the identity of competing

products, relative to the identity of your own product, in the collective minds
of the target market.

Product positioning strategy

The ability to spot a positioning opportunity is a sure test of a person's
marketing ability. Successful positioning strategies are usually rooted in a
product's sustainable competitive advantage. The most common basis for
constructing a product positioning strategy are:

~~~~~~~~~~

• positioning on specific product features

• positioning on specific benefits, needs, or solutions
• positioning on specific use categories
• positioning on specific usage occasions
• positioning on a reason to choose an offering over the competition
• positioning against another product
• positioning through product class dissociation
• positioning by cultural symbols

Product positioning process

Generally, the product positioning process involves:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• 1 identifying competing products

• 2 identifying the attributes (also called dimensions) that define the product
'space'
• 3 collecting information from a sample of customers about their
perceptions of each product on the relevant attributes
• 4 determine each products' share of mind
• 5 determine each products' current location in the product space
• 6 determine the target market's preferred combination of attributes
(referred to as an ideal vector)
• 7 examine the fit between:
• the positions of competing products
• the position of your product
 • the position of the ideal vector
• 8 select optimum position

The process is similar for positioning your company's services.

Services, however, don't have the physical attributes of products -
that is, we can't feel them or touch them or show nice product
pictures. So you need to ask first your customers and then yourself,
what value do clients get from my services? How are they better off
from doing business with me? Also ask: is there a characteristic that
makes my services different?

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Write out the value customers derive and the attributes your services
offer to create the first draft of your positioning. Test it on people who
don't really know what you do or what you sell, watch their facial
expressions and listen for their response. When they want to know
more because you've piqued their interest and started a conversation,
you'll know you're on the right track.

Positioning concepts
More generally, there are three types of positioning concepts:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• 1 functional positions
• solve problems
• provide benefits to customers
• get favorable perception by investors (stock profile) and lenders
• 2 symbolic positions
• self-image enhancement
• ego identification
• belongingness and social meaningfulness
• affective fulfillment
• 3 experiential positions
• provide sensory stimulation
• provide cognitive stimulation

Measuring the positioning

Positioning is facilitated by a graphical technique called perceptual mapping,
various survey techniques, and statistical techniques like multi dimensional
scaling, factor analysis, conjoint analysis, and logit analysis.

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;
Perceptual mapping is a graphics technique used by marketers that attempts to
visually display the perceptions of customers or potential customers. Typically
the position of a product, product line, brand, or company is displayed relative
to their competition.

Related Topics:
Graphics - Marketers - Position - Product - Product lin

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual maps can have any number of dimensions but the most common
is two dimensions. Any more is a challenge to draw and confusing to
interpret. The first perceptual map below shows consumer perceptions of
various automobiles on the two dimensions of sportiness/conservative and
classy/affordable. This sample of consumers felt Porsche was the sportiest
and classiest of the cars in the study (top right corner). They
feltPlymouth was most practical and conservative (bottom left corner).

Related Topics:
Automobile - Porsche - Plymouth

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual Map of Competing Products

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Cars that are positioned close to each other are seen as similar on the
relevant dimensions by the consumer. For example consumers see Buick,
Chrysler, and Oldsmobile as similar. They are close competitors and form a
competitive grouping. A company considering the introduction of a new model
will look for an area on the map free from competitors. Some perceptual
maps use different size circles to indicate the sales volume or market share of
the various competing products.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Displaying consumers’ perceptions of related products is only half the story.

Many perceptual maps also display consumers’ ideal points. These points
reflect ideal combinations of the two dimensions as seen by a consumer. The
next diagram shows a study of consumers’ ideal points in the alcohol/spirits
product space. Each dot represents one respondents ideal combination of the
two dimensions. Areas where there is a cluster of ideal points (such as A)
indicates a market segment. Areas without ideal points are sometimes
referred to as demand voids.

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual Map of Ideal Points and Clusters

Related Topics:
 ~~~~~~~~~~

A company considering introducing a new product will look for areas with a
high density of ideal points. They will also look for areas without competitive
rivals. This is best done by placing both the ideal points and the competing
products on the same map.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Some maps plot ideal vectors instead of ideal points. The map below, displays
various aspirin products as seen on the dimensions of effectiveness and
gentleness. It also shows two ideal vectors. The slope of the ideal vector
indicates the preferred ratio of the two dimensions by those consumers within
that segment. This study indicates there is one segment that is more
concerned with effectiveness than harshness, and another segment that is
more interested in gentleness than strength.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual Map of Competing Products with Ideal Vectors

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual maps need not come from a detailed study. There are also
intuitive maps (also called judgmental maps or consensus maps) that are
created by marketers based on their understanding of their industry.
Management uses its best judgement. It is questionable how valuable this
type of map is. Often they just give the appearance of credibility to
management’s preconceptions.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

When detailed marketing research studies are done methodological problems

can arise, but at least the information is coming directly from the consumer.
There is an assortment of statistical procedures that can be used to convert
the raw data collected in a survey into a perceptual map. Preference
regression will produce ideal vectors. Multi dimensional scaling will produce
either ideal points or competitor positions. Factor analysis,discriminant
analysis, cluster analysis, and logit analysis can also be used. Some
techniques are constructed from perceived differences between products,
others are constructed from perceived similarities. Still others are constructed
from cross price elasticity of demand data from electronic scanners.

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Factor analysis is a statistical technique that originated in psychometrics. It is used
in the social sciences and inmarketing, product management, operations research,
and other applied sciences that deal with large quantities of data. The objective is
to explain the most of the variability among a number of observable random
variables in terms of a smaller number of unobservable random variables
called factors. The observable random variables are modeled as linear combinations
of the factors, plus "error" terms.

The nature of factor analysis seen via an example

This oversimplified example should not be taken to be realistic. Suppose a
psychologist proposes a theory that there are two kinds of intelligence, which
let us call "verbal intelligence" and "mathematical intelligence". Evidence for
the theory is sought in the examination scores of 1000 students in each of 10
different academic fields. If a student is chosen randomly from a large
population, then the student's 10 scores are random variables. The
psychologist's theory may say that the average score in each of the 10
subjects for students with a particular level of "verbal intelligence" and a
particular level of "mathematical intelligence" is a certain number times the
level of "verbal intelligence" plus a certain number times the level of
"mathematical intelligence", i.e., it is a linear combination of those two
"factors". The numbers by which the two "intelligences" are multiplied are
posited by the theory to be the same for all students, and are called "factor
loadings". For example, the theory may hold that the average student's
aptitude in the science of omphalologyis

Related Topics:
Linear combination - Omphalology

~~~~~~~~~~

:{ 10 × the student's verbal intelligence } + { 6 × the student's

mathematical intelligence }.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

The numbers 10 and 6 would be the factor loadings associated with the field
of omphalology. Other academic subjects would have factor loadings other
than 10 and 6. Two students having identical degrees of verbal intelligence
and identical degrees of mathematical intelligence would have different
aptitudes in omphalology or any other subject because individual aptitudes
differ from average aptitudes. That difference is the "error" — an unfortunate
misnomer in statistics that means the amount by which an individual differs
from what is average (see errors and residuals in statistics).

~~~~~~~~~~

The observable data that go into factor analysis would be 10 scores of each of
the 1000 students, a total of 10,000 numbers. The factor loadings and levels
of the two kinds of intelligence of each student must be inferred from the
 data. Indeed, even the number of factors (two, in this example) must be
inferred from the data.

Mathematical model of the same concrete example

In the example above, for i = 1, ..., 1,000 the ith student's scores are

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

:egin{matrix}x_{1,i} & = & mu_1 & + & ell_{1,1}v_i & + & ell_{1,2}m_i &
+ &
arepsilon_{1,i} \

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

dots & &

dots & &
dots & &
dots & &
dots \

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

x_{10,i} & = & mu_{10} & + & ell_{10,1}v_i & + & ell_{10,2}m_i & + &
arepsilon_{10,i}

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

end{matrix}

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

where

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• vi is the ith student's "verbal intelligence",

• mi is the ith student's "mathematical intelligence",
 • εk,i is the difference between the ith student's score in the kth subject and
the average score in the kth subject of all students whose levels of verbal
and mathematical intelligence are the same as those of the ith student,
• ell_{k,j} are the factor loadings for the kth subject, for j = 1, 2.

In matrix notation, we have

~~~~~~~~~~

:X=mu+LF+epsilon

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

where

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• X is a 10 × 1,000 matrix of observable random variables,

• μ is a 10 × 1 column vector of unobservable constants (in this case
"constants" are quantities not differing from one individual student to the
next; and "random variables" are those assigned to individual students;
the randomness arises from the random way in which the students are
chosen),
• L is a 10 × 2 matrix of unobservable constants,
• F is a 2 × 1,000 matrix of unobservable random variables,
• ε is a 10 × 1,000 matrix of unobservable random variables.

Now observe that by doubling the scale on which "verbal

intelligence"—the first component in each column of F—is measured,
and simultaneously halving the factor loadings for verbal intelligence
makes no difference to the model. Thus, no generality is lost by
assuming that the standard deviation of verbal intelligence is 1.
Likewise for mathematical intelligence. Moreover, for similar reasons,
no generality is lost by assuming the two factors are uncorrelated with
each other. The "errors" ε are taken to be independent of each other.
The variances of the "errors" associated with the 10 different subjects
are not assumed to be equal.

~~~~~~~~~~

The values of the loadings L, the averages μ, and the variances of the
"errors" ε must be estimated given the observed data X.

~~~~~~~~~~

Factor analysis in psychometrics

History

Charles Spearman pioneered the use of factor analysis in the field of

psychology and is sometimes credited with the invention of factor analysis.
He discovered that schoolchildren's scores on a wide variety of seemingly
unrelated subjects were positively correlated, which led him to postulate that
a general mental ability, or g, underlies and shapes human cognitive
performance. His postulate now enjoys broad support in the field
ofintelligence research, where it is known as the g theory.

Related Topics:
Charles Spearman - Intelligence research - ''g'' theor

~~~~~~~~~~

Raymond Cattell expanded on Spearman?s idea of a two-factor theory of

intelligence after performing his own tests and factor analysis. He used a
multi-factor theory to explain intelligence. Cattell?s theory addressed
alternate factors in intellectual development, including motivation and
psychology. Cattell also developed several mathematical methods for
adjusting psychometric graphs, such as his "scree" test and similarity
coefficients. His research lead to the development of his theory of fluid and
crystallized intelligence. Cattell was a strong advocate of factor analysis
and psychometrics. He believed that all theory should be derived from
research, which supports the continued use of empirical observation and
objective testing to study human intelligence.

Related Topics:
Raymond Cattell - Fluid and crystallized intelligence -

~~~~~~~~~~

Applications in psychology

Factor analysis has been used in the study of human intelligence as a method
for comparing the outcomes of (hopefully) objective tests and to construct
matrices to define correlations between these outcomes, as well as finding
the factors for these results. The field of psychology that measures human
intelligence using quantitative testing in this way is known as psychometrics
(psycho=mental, metrics=measurement).

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Advantages

• Offers a much more objective method of testing intelligence in humans

• Allows for a satisfactory comparison between the results of intelligence
tests
• Provides support for theories that would be difficult to prove otherwise
Disadvantages

• "...each orientation is equally acceptable mathematically. But different

factorial theories proved to differ as much in terms of the orientations of
factorial axes for a given solution as in terms of anything else, so that
model fitting did not prove to be useful in distinguishing among theories."
(Sternberg, 1977). This means that even though all rotations are
mathematically equal, they all come up with different results, and it is
impossible to judge the proper rotation.
• " believed that factor analysis was 'a tool that could be applied to the
study of behavior and ... might yield results with an objectivity and
reliability rivaling those of the physical sciences (Stills, p.
114).'"http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/rcattell.shtml In other words, one?s
gathering of data would have to be perfect and unbiased, which will
probably never happen.
• Interpreting factor analysis is based on using a ?heuristic?, which is a
solution that is "convenient even if not absolutely true" (Richard B.
Darlington). More than one interpretation can be made of the same data
factored the same way.

Factor analysis in marketing

The basic steps are:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Identify the salient attributes consumers use to evaluate products in this

category.
• Use quantitative marketing research techniques (such as surveys) to
collect data from a sample of potentialcustomers concerning their ratings
of all the product attributes.
• Input the data into a statistical program and run the factor analysis
procedure. The computer will yield a set of underlying attributes (or
factors).
• Use these factors to construct perceptual maps and other product
positioning devices.

Information collection

The data collection stage is usually done by marketing research professionals.

Survey questions ask the respondent to rate a product sample or descriptions
of product concepts on a range of attributes. Anywhere from five to twenty
attributes are chosen. They could include things like: ease of use, weight,
accuracy, durability, colourfulness, price, or size. The attributes chosen will
vary depending on the product being studied. The same question is asked
about all the products in the study. The data for multiple products is coded
and input into a statistical program such as SPSS or SAS.

Related Topics:
SPSS - SAS

~~~~~~~~~~
Analysis

The analysis will isolate the underlying factors that explain the data. Factor
analysis is an interdependence technique. The complete set of interdependent
relationships are examined. There is no specification of either dependent
variables, independent variables, or causality. Factor analysis assumes that
all the rating data on different attributes can be reduced down to a few
important dimensions. This reduction is possible because the attributes are
related. The rating given to any one attribute is partially the result of the
influence of other attributes. The statistical algorithm deconstructs the rating
(called a raw score) into its various components, and reconstructs the partial
scores into underlying factor scores. The degree of correlation between the
initial raw score and the final factor score is called a factor loading. There are
two approaches to factor analysis: "principal component analysis" (the total
variance in the data is considered); and "common factor analysis" (the
common variance is considered).

~~~~~~~~~~

Note that there are very important conceptual differences between the two
approaches, an important one being that the common factor model involves a
testable model whereas principal components does not. This is due to the fact
that in the common factor model, unique variables are required to be
uncorrelated, whereas residuals in principal components are correlated.
Finally, components are not latent variables; they are linear combinations of
the input variables, and thus determinate. Factors, on the other hand, are
latent variables, which are indeterminate. If your goal is to fit the variances
of input variables for the purpose of data reduction, you should carry out
principal components analysis. If you want to build a testable model to
explain the intercorrelations among input variables, you should carry out a
factor analysis.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

The use of principle components in a semantic space can vary somewhat

because the components may only "predict" but not "map" to the vector
space. This produces a statistical principle component use where the most
salient words or themes represent the preferred basis.

~~~~~~~~~~

Advantages

• both objective and subjective attributes can be used

• it is fairly easy to do, inexpensive, and accurate
• it is based on direct inputs from customers
• there is flexibility in naming and using dimensions
Disadvantages

• usefulness depends on the researchers ability to develop a complete and

accurate set of product attributes - If important attributes are missed the
procedure is valueless.
• naming of the factors can be difficult - multiple attributes can be highly
correlated with no apparent reason.
• factor analysis will always produce a pattern between variables, no matter
how random.

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Multidimensional scaling (MDS) are a set of related statistical technique often

used in data visualisation. An MDS

Related Topics:
Statistical - Data visualisation

~~~~~~~~~~

algorithm starts with a matrix of item-item similarities, then

~~~~~~~~~~

assigns a location of each item in a low-dimensional space, suitable for

graphing or 3D visualisation.

~~~~~~~~~~

Applications include scientific visualisation and data mining in fields such

as cognitive science, psychophysics,psychometrics and ecology. The technique
is also used in marketing (see Multidimensional scaling in marketing)

Related Topics:
Scientific visualisation - Data mining - Cognitive scien
Psychophysics - Psychometrics - Ecology - Marketing
Multidimensional scaling in marketing

~~~~~~~~~~

Different MDS algorithms that fall into a taxonomy, depending on the

meaning of the input matrix:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Classical multidimensional scaling --- In classical MDS, the input matrix is

assumed to be exactly an item-item distance matrix. Analogous
to Principal components analysis, an eigenvector problem is solved to find
the locations that minimize
• Metric multidimensional scaling --- A superset of classical MDS, metric
MDS assumes that there is a known parametric relationship between the
elements of the item-item dissimilarity matrix and the Euclidean distance
between the items.
 • Non-metric multidimensional scaling --- In contrast to metric MDS, non-
metric MDS both finds a non-parametric monotonic relationship between
the dissimilarities in the item-item matrix and the Euclidean distance
between items, and the location of each item in the low-dimensional
space. The relationship is typically found using isotonic regression.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

~~~~~~~~~~

In marketing, discriminant analysis is a statistical technique for analyzing data.

It is applicable when there is only one dependent variable but multiple
independent variables (similar to ANOVA and regression analysis). But
unlikeANOVA and regression analysis, the dependent variable must
be categorical. It is similar to factor analysis in that both look for underlying
dimensions in responses given to questions about product attributes. But it
differs fromfactor analysis in that it builds these underlying dimensions based
on differences rather than similarities. Discriminant analysis is also different
from factor analysis in that it is not an interdependence technique : a
distinction between independent variables and dependent variables (also called
criterion variables) must be made.

Analysis steps
• Formulate the problem and gather data - Identify the salient attributes
consumers use to evaluate products in this category - Use quantitative
marketing research techniques (such as surveys) to collect data from a
sample of potential customers concerning their ratings of all the product
attributes. The data collection stage is usually done by marketing research
professionals. Survey questions ask the respondent to rate a product from
one to five (or 1 to 7, or 1 to 10) on a range of attributes chosen by the
researcher. Anywhere from five to twenty attributes are chosen. They
could include things like: ease of use, weight, accuracy, durability,
colourfulness, price, or size. The attributes chosen will vary depending on
the product being studied. The same question is asked about all the
products in the study. The data for multiple products is codified and input
into a statistical program such as SPSS or SAS. (This step is the same as
in Factor analysis).
• Estimate the Discriminant Function Coefficients and determine the
statistical significance and validity - Choose the appropriate discriminant
analysis method. The direct method involves estimating the discriminant
function so that all the predictors are assessed simultaneously. The
stepwise method enters the predictors sequentially. The two-group
method should be used when the dependent variable has two categories
or states. The multiple discriminant method is used when the dependent
variable has three or more categorical states. Use Wilks’s Lambda to test
for significance in SPSS or F stat in SAS. The most common method used
to test validity is to split the sample into an estimation or analysis sample,
and a validation or holdout sample. The estimation sample is used in
constructing the discriminant function. The validation sample is used to
construct a classification matrix which contains the number of correctly
classified and incorrectly classified cases. The percentage of correctly
classified cases is called the hit ratio.
• Plot the results on a two dimensional map, define the dimensions, and
interpret the results. The statistical program (or a related module) will
map the results. The map will plot each product (usually in two
dimensional space). The distance of products to each other indicate either
how different they are. The dimensions must be labelled by the
researcher. This requires subjective judgement and is often very
challenging. Seeperceptual mapping.

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Preference regression is a statistical technique used by marketers to

determine consumers’ preferred core benefits. It usually supplements product
positioning techniques like multi dimensional scaling or factor analysisand is
used to create ideal vectors on perceptual maps.

Related Topics:
Preferred - Product positioning - Multi dimensional sc
analysis - Perceptual maps

~~~~~~~~~~

Perceptual Map of Competing Products with Ideal VectorsStarting with raw

data from surveys, researchers apply positioning techniques to determine
important dimensions and plot the position of competing products on these
dimensions. Next they regress the survey data against the dimensions. The
independent variables are the data collected in the survey. The dependent
variable is the preference datum. Like all regression methods, the computer
fits weights to best predict data. The resultant regression line is referred to as
an ideal vector because the slope of the vector is the ratio of the preferences
for the two dimensions.

~~~~~~~~~~

If all the data is used in the regression, the program will derive a single
equation and hence a single ideal vector. This tends to be a blunt instrument
so researchers refine the process with cluster analysis. This creates clusters
that reflect market segments. Separate preference regressions are then done
on the data within each segment. This provides an ideal vector for each
segment.

Related Topics:
Cluster analysis - Market segment

~~~~~~~~~~

An alternative method is the self-stated importance method in which direct

survey data is used to determine the weightings rather than statistical
imputations. A third method is conjoint analysis in which an additive method
is used.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
The discipline of brand management was started at Procter & Gamble as a
result of a famous memo by Neil H. McElroy.

Related Topics:
Procter & Gamble - Neil H. McElroy

~~~~~~~~~~

Brand management is the application of marketing techniques to a

specific product, product line, or brand. It seeks to increase
the product's perceived value to the customer and thereby
increase brand franchise andbrand equity. Marketers see a brand as an
implied promise that the level of quality people have come to expect from
a brand will continue with present and future purchases of the same product.
This may increase sales by making a comparison with competing products
more favorable. It may also enable the manufacturer to charge more for
the product. The value of the brand is determined by the amount of profit it
generates for the manufacturer. This results from a combination of increased
sales and increased price.

Related Topics:
Product - Product line - Brand - Brand equity - Qualit

~~~~~~~~~~

A good brand name should:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• be legally protectable
• be easy to pronounce
• be easy to remember
• be easy to recognize
• attract attention
• suggest product benefits (e.g.: Easy-Off) or suggest usage
• suggest the company or product image
• distinguish the product's positioning relative to the competition.

A premium brand typically costs more than other products in the category.
An economy brand is a brandtargeted to a high price elasticity market
segment. A fighting brand is a brand created specifically to counter a
competitive threat. When a company's name is used as a product
brand name, this is referred to as corporate branding. When one brand
name is used for several related products, this is referred to asfamily
branding. When all a company's products are given different brand
names, this is referred to asindividual branding. When a company uses
the brand equity associated with an existing brand name to introduce a
new product or product line, this is referred to as brand leveraging.
When large retailers buy products in bulk from manufacturers and put
their own brand name on them, this is called private branding, store
brand, or private label. Private brands can be differentiated
from manufacturers' brands (also referred to as national brands). When
two or more brands work together to market their products, this is referred
to as co-branding. When a company sells the rights to use a brand name to
 another company for use on a non-competing product or in another
geographical area, this is referred to as brand licensing.

Related Topics:
Targeted - Price elasticity - Market segment - C
branding - Family branding - Individual branding
equity - Product line - Retailers - Private brandin
brand - Private label

~~~~~~~~~~

Brand rationalization refers to reducing the number of brands marketed

by a company. Companies tend to create more brands and product
variations within a brand than economies of scale suggest they should.
Frequently they will create a specific product or brand for each market
that they target. They also do this to gain precious retail shelf space
(and also reduce the amount of shelf space allocated to competing
brands). But this can be a very inefficient strategy so a company may
decide to rationalize their portfolio of brands from time to time. They
may also decide to rationalize their brand portfolio as part of an
overall corporate downsizing.

~~~~~~~~~~

A recurring issue for brand managers is "How to build a consistent

brand image while keeping the message fresh and relevant." Most
brand managers agree that it is easier and less costly to build on the
equity established in an existing brand than to start a new brand from
nothing. Repositioning a brand (sometimes called rebranding), wastes
the brand equity built up in the past, and also confuses the target
market with multiple brand positions. But old brand images may get
stale with time. The challenge for the brand manager is to revitalize
the brand using the existing brand equity as leverage.

Related Topics:
Repositioning - Rebranding - Target market

~~~~~~~~~~

There are several problems associated with setting objectives for

a brand or product category.

Related Topics:
Brand - Product

~~~~~~~~~~

• Many brand managers limit themselves to setting financial objectives.

They ignore strategic objectives because they feel this is the responsibility
of senior management.
• Most product level or brand managers limit themselves to setting short
term objectives because their compensation packages are designed to
reward short term behaviour. Short term objectives should been seen as
milestones towards long term objectives.
• Often product level managers are not given enough information to
construct strategic objectives.
 • It is sometimes difficult to translate corporate level objectives into brand
or product level objectives. Changes in shareholders' equity are easy for a
company to calculate. It is not so easy to calculate the change in
shareholders' equity that can be attributed to a product or category. More
complex s like changes in the net present value of shareholders' equity are
even more difficult for the product manager to assess.
• In a diversified company, the objectives of some brands may conflict with
those of other brands. Or worse, corporate objectives may conflict with the
specific needs of your brand. This is particularly true in regards to
the trade-off between stability and riskiness. Corporate objectives must be
broad enough that brands with high risk products are not constrained by
objectives set with cash cows in mind (see B.C.G. Analysis). The brand
manager also needs to know senior management's harvesting strategy. If
corporate management intends to invest in brand equity and take a long
term position in the market (i.e. penetration and growth strategy), it
would be a mistake for the product manager to use short term cash flow
objectives (ie. price skimming strategy). Only when these conflicts and
tradeoffs are made explicit, is it possible for all levels of objectives to fit
together in a coherent and mutually supportive manner.
• Many brand managers set objectives that optimize the performance of
their unit rather than optimize overall corporate performance. This is
particularly true where compensation is based primarily on unit
performance. Managers tend to ignore potential synergies and inter-unit
joint processes.

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In marketing, a brand is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected

with a product or service. A brand typically includes a name, logo, and other
visual elements such as images or symbols. It also encompasses
the set of expectations associated with a product or service which typicaly arise in
the minds of people. Such people include employees of the brand owner, people
involved with distribution, sale or supply of the product or service, and
ultimately consumers.

Concepts
Some marketers distinguish the psychological aspect of a brand from the
experiential aspect. The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points
of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience. The
psychological aspect, sometimes refered to as the brand image, is a symbolic
construct created within the minds of people and consists of all the
information and expectations associated with a product or service.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Marketers seek to develop or "align" the expectations comprising the brand

experience through branding, so that a brand carries the "promise" that a
product or service has a certain quality or characteristic which make it special
or unique. A brand image may be developed by attributing a "personality" to
or associating an "image" with a product or service, whereby the personality
or image is "branded" into the consciousness of consumers. A brand is
therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising theme, as it
demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the marketplace. The
art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand management.

Related Topics:
Advertising - Marketplace - Brand management

~~~~~~~~~~

A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition.

Where brand recognition builds up to a point where a brand enjoys a mass of
positive sentiment in the marketplace, it is said to have achieved brand franchise.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Brand equity measures the total value of the brand to the brand owner, and
reflects the extent of brand franchise. The term brand name is often used
interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used to specifically
denote written or spoken linguistic elements of a brand. In this context a
"brand name" constitutes a type oftrademark, if the brand name exclusively
identifies the brand owner as the commercial source of products or services.
A brand owner may seek to protect proprietary rights in relation to a brand
name through trademarkregistration.

Related Topics:
Brand equity - Trademark - Proprietary

~~~~~~~~~~

The act of associating a product or service with a brand has become part
of pop culture. Most products have some kind of brand identity, from
common table salt to designer clothes. In non-commercial contexts, the
marketing of entities which supply ideas or promises rather than product and
services (eg. political parties or religious organizations) may also be known as
"branding".

Related Topics:
Pop culture - Table salt - Designer - Political parties

~~~~~~~~~~

Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of

products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality
or characteristic. From the perspective of brand owners, branded products or
services also command higher prices. Where two products resemble each
other, but one of the products has no associated branding (such as a generic,
store-branded product), people may often select the more expensive branded
product on the basis of the quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand
owner.

Related Topics:
Value added - Generic

~~~~~~~~~~
 Advertising spokespersons have also become part of some brands, for
example: Mr. Whipple of Charmin toilet tissue and Tony the Tiger of Kellogg’s.

History
Brands in the field of marketing originated in the 19th century with the advent
of packaged goods.Industrialization moved the production of many household
items, such as soap, from local communities to centralized factories.
These factories, generating mass-produced goods, needed to sell their
products to a wider market, to a customer base familiar only with local goods.
It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty
competing with familiar, local products. The packaged goods manufacturers
needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust
in the non-local product.

Related Topics:
19th century - Goods - Industrialization - Factories

~~~~~~~~~~

Around 1900, James Walter Thompson published a house ad explaining

trademark advertising. This was an early commercial explanation of what we
now know as branding.

Related Topics:
1900 - James Walter Thompson

~~~~~~~~~~

Many brands of that era, such as Uncle Ben's rice and Kellogg's breakfast
cereal furnish illustrations of the problem. The manufacturers wanted their
products to appear and feel as familiar as the local farmers' produce. From
there, with the help of advertising, manufacturers quickly learned to associate
other kinds of brand values, such as youthfulness, fun or luxury, with their
products. This kickstarted the practice we now know as "branding".

Examples of well known brand names

Business Week magazine publishes an annual "brand scorecard" of the top 100
most valuable brands worldwide. Some of the results from the 2001 survey,
which contained 62 American, 30 European, and 6 Japanese brands, are
listed below.

Related Topics:
Business Week - Top 100 most valuable brands world

~~~~~~~~~~

In this context, the meaning of "brand" is closely aligned with the meaning of
"trademark".

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
United States

• Apple (computer)
• Boeing (aerospace)
• Coca-Cola (soft drink)
• Columbia Records (recorded sound—since 1988 owned by Sony)
• Ford Motor Company (automobiles)
• Hershey's (chocolate)
• McDonald's (fast food restaurant)
• Microsoft (software)
• The Gap (clothing retailer)
• Sony (electronics)
• Starbucks (coffee)

European

• BP (petrol—UK)
• BMW (carmaker—Germany)
• BRIO (toys—Sweden)
• Cadbury (chocolate—UK)
• Chanel (luxury apparel—France)
• Guinness (alcohol; Ireland)
• Ferrari (carmaker—Italy)
• IKEA (furniture—Sweden)
• Lego (toys—Denmark)
• Mercedes-Benz (automobile line—Germany)
• Nestlé (food—Switzerland)
• Nokia (mobile phones—Finland)
• Orangina (soft drink)
• SAP (software—Germany)
• Volkswagen (carmaker—Germany)

Japanese

• Canon
• Honda
• National (Panasonic in U.S.)
• Nintendo
• Nissan
• Panasonic
• Sony
• Toyota
• Sega

Australian

• Myer (department store)

• Qantas (airline)
• Rip Curl (surf/clothing)
• Billabong (surf/clothing)
• Telstra (telecommunications)
• Woolworths Limited (store chain)
India

• TATA (Corporate Brand)

• Infosys (Information Technology)
• HLL (FMCG)
• Wipro (Information Technology)

Criticisms of branding
Criticism has been leveled against the concept and implementation of brands,
much of it associated with the "antiglobalization" movement. One of the better
known criticisms of branding is found in Naomi Klein's book, No Logo. The
book claims that corporations' brands serve as structures for corporations to
hide behind, and that such global problems as sweatshop labor and
environmental degradation have been permitted and exacerbated by
branding.

Related Topics:
Antiglobalization - Naomi Klein - No Logo

~~~~~~~~~~

Criticism of branding also comes from within corporations, with some

employees becoming frustrated by being limited by overall brand strategies
that restrict what they can say, how they say it, and what Pantone colour to
say it in. Some shareholders also have concerns about the amount of money
invested in branding.

~~~~~~~~~~

Skepticism toward branding has also grown in parts of the marketing

community since the end of the dotcom boom, though for a very different
reason: in many ways, branding has failed to live up to its promise.

Brand alliances is a branding strategy used in a business alliance. Brand

alliances is divided into two sections:

Related Topics:
Brand - Business alliance

~~~~~~~~~~

• Cobranding is the usage of two or more brands on one certain product. For
example, Dell computers carries three brands on their packages and
cases: Dell, Microsoft Windows, and Intel.
• Brand licensing is a contractual agreement where a company lets another
organisation use its brand on other products in exchange for a licensing
fee.

Brand equity is the value built-up in a brand. The value of a

company's brand equity can be calculated by comparing the expected future
revenue from the branded product with the expected future revenue from an
equivalent non-branded product. This calculation is at best an approximation.
This value can comprise both tangible, functional attributes (eg. TWICE the
cleaning power or HALF the fat) and intangible, emotional attributes (eg.
The brand for people with style and good taste).

Related Topics:
Brand - Product

~~~~~~~~~~

It can be positive or negative. Positive brand equity is created by a history of

effective promotion and consistently meeting or exceeding customer
expectations. Negative brand equity is usually the result of bad management.

~~~~~~~~~~

Positive brand equity can be a significant barrier to entry for prospective

competitors. The greater a company's brand equity, the greater the
probability that the company will use a family branding strategy rather than
anindividual branding strategy. This is because family branding allows them to
leverage off the equity accumulated in the core brand. This makes new
product introductions less risky and less expensive.

Private branding is when a large distribution channel member (usually

a retailer), buys from a manufacturer in bulk and puts its own name on the
product. This strategy is only practical when the retailer does very high levels
of volume. The advantages to the retailer are:

Related Topics:
Distribution channel - Retailer

~~~~~~~~~~

• more freedom and flexibility in pricing

• more control over product attributes and quality
• higher margins (or lower selling price)
• eliminates much of the manufacturer's promotional costs

The advantages to the manufacturer are:

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• reduced promotional costs

• stability of sales volume (at least while the contract is operative)

Corporate branding refers to the practice of using a company's name as a

product brand name. It is an attempt to leverage corporate brand equity to
create product brand recognition. It is a type of family branding orumbrella
brand. Disney, for example, includes the word "Disney" in the name of many
of its products; among many other examples are IBM, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola.

Related Topics:
Brand name - Corporate - Brand equity - Family bran
brand - IBM - Pepsi - Coca-Cola

~~~~~~~~~~
Corporate branding can result in significant economies of scope since
one advertising campaign can be used for several products. It also
facilitates new product acceptance because potential buyers are already
familiar with the name. A corporate branding strategy is generally only useful
when the company is already well known with a very positive image in
the target market.

Related Topics:
Economies of scope - Advertising campaign - New pr
acceptance - Target market

~~~~~~~~~~

A significant drawback to this strategy is that products may not be treated

individually, which reduces the focus on the products' unique characteristics.
Another potential disadvantage of corporate branding is that the corporate
name can become synonymous with a product category. Examples of this
phenomenon areKleenex and Tampax. Even purchasers of Charmin, a
competitor to Kleenex, sometimes refer to the product asKleenex. Although
having such a dominant mind share is usually encouraged, the downside is
that suchgenericised trademarks can lose their copyright protection.

Family branding is a marketing strategy that involves selling several

related products under one brand name. It is contrasted with individual
branding in which each product in a portfolio is given a unique identity
and brand name.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Products - Brand name - Individual brand

~~~~~~~~~~

There are often economies of scope associated with family branding since
several products can efficiently bepromoted with a single advertisement or
campaign. Family branding facilitates new product introductions by providing a
'foot-in-the-door' in potential customers' evoked set. When considering
purchasing a new type of product, potential customers will tend to evoke in
their minds a product with a familiar brand name. Being a part of this evoked
set could lead to trial purchase, product acceptance, or other advantages.

Related Topics:
Economies of scope - Promoted - New product introd

~~~~~~~~~~

Family branding imposes on the brand owner a greater burden to maintain

consistent quality and brand equity. If the quality of one product in the brand
family is compromised, it could reduce sales of all the others. Family branding
should only be done when a product line consists of products of similar
quality.

Individual branding is the marketing strategy of giving each product in

a product portfolio its own unique brand name. This is contrasted with family
branding in which the products in a product line are given the same brand
name. The advantage of individual branding is that each product has an image
and identity that is unique. This facilitates the positioning process.
 In marketing, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is
designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives,
and is usually visibly manifested by way of branding and the use
of trademarks.

Related Topics:
Marketing - Corporation - Brand - Trademark

~~~~~~~~~~

In general, this amounts to a logo (logotype and/or logogram) and supporting

devices commonly assembled within a set of guidelines.

~~~~~~~~~~

These guidelines govern how the identity is applied and confirm approved
colour palettes, typefaces, page layouts and other such methods of
maintaining visual continuity and brand recognition across all physical
manifestations of the brand.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Many companies, such as McDonalds and Electronic Arts have their own
identity that runs through all of their products and merchandise. The
trademark "M" logo and the yellow and red appears consistently throughout
the McDonalds packaging and advertisements. Many companies pay large
amounts of money for an identity that is extremely distinguishable, so it can
appeal more to its targeted audience.

Related Topics:
McDonalds - Electronic Arts

~~~~~~~~~~

Corporate Identity is often viewed as being composed of three parts;

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Corporate Design (logos, uniforms, etc.)

• Corporate Communication (commercials, public relations, informations,
etc.)
• Corporate Behavior (Internal values, norms, etc.)

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;

A trademark (Commonwealth English: trade mark){{an|styling}} is a

distinctive sign of some kind which is used by a business to identify itself and
its products and services to consumers, and to set the business and
 itsproducts or services apart from those of other businesses. A trademark is a
type of intellectual property, and in particular, a type of industrial property.

Related Topics:
Commonwealth English - Sign - Business - Product -
Consumer - Intellectual property - Industrial property

~~~~~~~~~~

Conventionally, a trademark comprises a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol,

design, image, or a combination of one or more of these elements. There is
also a range of non-conventional trademarks which do not fall into these
standard categories.

Related Topics:
Logo - Symbol - Non-conventional trademark

~~~~~~~~~~

The essential function of a trademark is to serve as an exclusive identifier of

the commercial source or origin of products or services, such that a
trademark, properly called, indicates source or acts as a badge of origin. The
use of a trademark in this way is known as trademark use, and a trademark
owner seeks to enforce its rights or interests in a trademark by preventing
unauthorised trademark use.

erminology and symbols

Terms such as "mark", "brand" and "logo" are sometimes used
interchangeably with "trademark". However, the terms "brands" and
"branding" raise distinct conceptual issues and are generally more appropriate
for use in amarketing or advertising context.

Related Topics:
Brand - Logo - Marketing - Advertising

~~~~~~~~~~

When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may

sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in the United States. Other
specialised types of trademark include certification marks, collective trade
marks and defensive trade marks. If a trademark has become synonymous with
the generic name of the product or service in connection with which it is used,
it is sometimes referred to as a genericized trademark.

Related Topics:
Service mark - United States - Certification mark - Co
mark - Defensive trade mark - Synonymous - Generi
trademark

~~~~~~~~~~

As any sign which is capable of performing the essential trademark function

may qualify as a trademark, the trademark concept extends to include a
range of non-conventional signs such as shapes (ie. three-dimensional
trademarks), sounds, smells, moving images (eg. signs denoting movement,
 motion or animation), taste, and perhaps even texture. Although the extent
to which non-conventional trademarks can be protected or even recognised
varies considerably from jurisdiction to jurisdiction {{an|non-conventional}},
shape marks and sound marks are examples of non-conventional marks
which are in the process of migrating out of this category.

Related Topics:
Sounds - Jurisdiction

~~~~~~~~~~

The use of the ™ symbol next to a trademark, usually in the top right-hand
corner, means that the trademark owner claims certain exclusive rights in
relation to that trademark. Although this symbol denotes only that the owner
holds unregistered trade mark rights, such rights can be enforced by way of
an action for passing off. The ® symbol is used to denote that a trademark
has been registered with the government trade marks officeof a
particular country or jurisdiction. Upon registration, a trademark can be
enforced by way of an action forinfringement.

Establishing trademark rights — use and registration

The law considers a trademark to be a form of property. Proprietary rights in
relation to a trademark may be established through actual use in
the marketplace, or through registration of the mark with the trade
marks office(or "trademarks registry") of a particular jurisdiction. In
many jurisdictions, trademark rights can be established through either or both
means. Certain jurisdictions generally do not recognise trademarks rights
arising through use (eg. China), which limits the extent to which trademark
owners can enforce their rights againstinfringement if they do not already hold
registrations for their marks.

Related Topics:
Property - Proprietary - Right - Marketplace - Office -
hina - Infringement

~~~~~~~~~~

A registered trademark confers a bundle of exclusive rights upon the

registered owner, including the right toexclusive use of the mark in relation to
the products or services for which is it registered. The law in most
jurisdictions also allows the owner of a registered trademark to prevent
unauthorised use of the mark in relation to products or services which are
similar to the "registered" products or services, and in certain cases, prevent
use in relation to entirely dissimilar products or services.

Related Topics:
Bundle - Exclusive right - Exclusive

~~~~~~~~~~

Once trademark rights are established in a particular jurisdiction, these rights

are generally only enforceable in that jurisdiction, a quality which is
sometimes known as territoriality. However, there is a range of international
trademark laws and systems which facilitate the protection of trademarks in
more than one jurisdiction (seeInternational trade mark laws below).
Registrability and distinctive character
A trademark may be eligible for registration, or registrable, if amongst other
things it performs the essential trademark function, and has distinctive character.
Registrability can be understood as a continuum, with "inherently distinctive"
marks at one end, "generic" and "descriptive" marks with no distinctive
character at the other end, and "suggestive" and "arbitrary" marks lying
between these two points.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• An inherently distinctive trademark is prima facie registrable, and

comprises an entirely invented or "fanciful" sign. For example, "Kodak"
had no meaning before it was adopted and used as a trademark in relation
to goods, whether photographic goods or otherwise. Invented marks
are neologisms which will not previously have been found in
any dictionary.
• An arbitrary trademark is usually a common word which is used in a
meaningless context (eg. "Apple" for computers). Such marks consist of
words or images which have some dictionary meaning before being
adopted as trademarks, but which are used in connection with products or
services unrelated to that dictionary meaning. For example, SALTY would
be an arbitrary mark if it used in connection with refrigerators, as the term
"salt" has no particular connection with such products.
• A suggestive trademark tends to indicate the nature, quality, or a
characteristic of the products or services in relation to which it is used, but
does not describe this characteristic, and requires imagination on the part
of the consumer to identify the characteristic. Suggestive marks invoke
the consumer?s perceptive imagination. An example of a suggestive mark
might be SALTY used in connection with sailing gear.
• A descriptive mark is a term with a dictionary meaning which is used in
connection with products or services directly related to that meaning. An
example might be SALTY used in connection with saltine crackers or
anchovies. Such terms are not registrable unless it can be shown that
distinctive character has been established in the term through extensive
use in the marketplace (see further below).
• A generic term is the common name for the products or services in
connection with which it is used, such as "salt" when used in connection
with salt. A generic term is not capable of serving the essential trademark
function of distinguishing the products or services of a business from the
products or services of other businesses, and therefore cannot be afforded
any legal protection. Marks which become generic after losing distinctive
character are known as genericized trademarks.

From the "salty" examples given above it can be noted that the
distinctive character of the term is closely related to the products or
services in connection with which this term is used.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
 A general method for assessing the distinctive character of a mark is
to consider a consumer's reaction to a mark. The mark may only be
inherently registrable if the consumer has never encountered the mark
before. On the other hand, the mark is unlikely to be inherently
registrable if it informs her about any characteristic of the relevant
products or services (eg. whether they are delicious, large, spicy,
black or sweet, in the case of fruit). In any other case the mark may
not be registrable.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Therefore marks which identify or describe a product or service, or

which are in common use, or which are used as geographical
indications, generally cannot be registered as trademarks, and remain
in thepublic domain for use by anyone. For example, a generic term
such as "apple", or descriptive terms such as "red" or "juicy" could not
be registered in relation to apples.

Related Topics:
Geographical indication - Public domain

~~~~~~~~~~

Primary consideration in the selection and use of trademarks should be

given to marks with are inherently distinctive, as they possess the
strongest distinctive character and do not require evidence of use to
establish acquired distinctiveness. A fanciful, arbitrary, or suggestive
term can be inherently distinctive and registrable without proof of
acquired distinctiveness.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Although these categories are most easily applied in relation to

trademarks comprising words, the same general principles are applied
in relation to all kinds of trademarks. For example, a pine tree shape is
descriptive when used on pine-scented products.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Acquired distinctiveness

Although a trademark which lacks distinctive character is not prima

facie registrable, most jurisdictions will permit registration if the trademark
owner can demonstrate (whether through a licensee or otherwise) that the
public exclusively associates the mark with a particular commercial origin or
source (ie. the trademark owner or its business). In such cases the mark will
be registrable on the basis that this association evidences the distinctive
character of the mark as a matter of fact.
 Related Topics:
Prima facie - Matter of fact

~~~~~~~~~~

If the association is proven the mark is said to exhibit or possess acquired

distinctiveness in the European Unionand Commonwealth jurisdictions such
as Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and secondary meaningin
the United States. Whether a mark is registrable on the basis of acquired
distinctiveness is a question of degree determined by the extent to which the
mark has been used in the jurisdiction where registration is sought. In
practice, trademark owners rely on evidence of use (eg. sales figures and
promotional expenditure) and tools such as consumer surveys to show that
consumers chiefly associate an otherwise non-distinctive mark with the
trademark owner and its products or services.

Related Topics:
European Union - Commonwealth - Australia - Hong
Kingdom - United States - Evidence

~~~~~~~~~~

In the United States, if a trademark has been used for a continuous period of
at least five years after the date of registration, the right to use the mark and
the registration may become "incontestable" (eg. invulnerable to cancellation
for non-use, but not for becoming generic). In such cases the USPTO checks
and confirm whether the request for incontestability meets formality
requirements, but whether a registration is incontestable at law can only be
determined during proceedings involving the registration.

Related Topics:
Generic - USPTO - Proceedings

~~~~~~~~~~

Signs excluded from registration

Most jurisdictions totally exclude certain types of terms and symbols from
registration as trademarks, including the emblems, insignia and flags of
nations, certain organisations and the modern Olympic Games, marks which
are deceptive as to the origin of their associated products or services (eg. as
to their geographic origin), and marks comprising signs which are contrary to
accepted principles of morality (eg. marks which are obscene).

Maintaining trademark rights — abandonment and

genericide
Trademarks rights must be maintained through actual use of the trademark.
These rights will diminish over time if a mark is not actively used. In the case
of a trademark registration, failure to actively use the mark, or to enforce the
registration in the event of infringement, may also expose the registration
itself to removal from the register after a certain period of time.
 Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

All jurisdictions with a mature trademark registration system provide a

mechanism for removal in the event of such non use, which is usually a
period of either three or five years. The intention to use a trade mark can be
proven by a wide range of acts as shown in the Wooly Bull and Ashton v
Harlee cases.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

In the U.S., failure to use a trademark for this period of time, aside from the
corresponding impact on product quality, will result in abandonment of the
mark, whereby any party may use the mark. An abandoned mark is not
irrevocably in the public domain, but may instead be re-registered by any
party which has re-established exclusive and active use, including the original
mark owner. Further, if a court rules that a trademark has become "generic"
through common use (such that the mark no longer performs the essential
trademark function and the average consumer no longer considers that
exclusive rights attach to it), the corresponding registration may also be ruled
invalid.

Related Topics:
Public domain - Generic

~~~~~~~~~~

For example, the Bayer company's trademark "Aspirin" has been ruled
generic in the United States, so other companies may use that name
for acetylsalicylic acid as well (although it is still a trademark
in Canada). Xeroxfor copiers and Band-Aid for adhesive bandages are both
trademarks which are at risk of succumbing to genericide, which the
respective trademark owners actively seek to prevent. In order to prevent
marks becoming generic, trademark owners often contact those who appear
to be using the trademark incorrectly, from web page authors to dictionary
editors, and request that they cease the improper usage. The proper use of a
trademark means using the mark as an adjective, not as a noun or
a verbhttp://www.inta.org/info/faqsU.html
http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/legal/trademark/prop_usage_tmb.htm
l#1 http://www.adobe.com/misc/trade.html, though for certain trademarks,
use as nouns and, less commonly,verbs is common. For example, Adobe sent
e-mails to many web authors using the term "photoshopped" telling them
that they should only use the term "modified by Adobe® Photoshop®
software." Xerox has also purchased print advertisements declaring that "you
cannot 'xerox' a document, but you can copy it on a XeroxBrand copying
machine." Such efforts may or may not be successful in preventing
genericism in the long run, which depends less on the mark owner's efforts
and more on how the public actually perceives and uses the mark. In fact,
legally it is more important that the trademark holder visibly and actively
seems to attempt to prevent its trademark from becoming generic, regardless
of real success.
Enforcing trademark rights
The extent to which a trademark owner may prevent unauthorized use of
trademarks which are the same as or similar to its trademark depends on
various factors such as whether its trademark is registered, the similarity of
the trademarks involved, the similarity of the products and/or services
involved, and whether the owner?s trademark is well known.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

If a trademark has not been registered, some jurisdictions

(especially Common Law countries) offer protection for
the business reputation or goodwill which attaches to unregistered trade
marks through the tort of passing off. Passing off may provide a remedy in a
scenario where a business has been trading under an unregistered trade
mark for many years, and a rival business starts using the same or a similar
mark.

Related Topics:
Common Law - Business - Reputation - Goodwill - To

~~~~~~~~~~

If a trademark has been registered, then it is much easier for the trademark
owner to demonstrate its trademark rights and to enforce these rights
through an infringement action. Unauthorised use of a registered trade mark
need not be intentional in order for infringement to occur, although damages
in an infringementlawsuit will generally be greater if there was an intention to
deceive.

~~~~~~~~~~

For trademarks which are considered to be well known, infringing use may
occur where the use occurs in relation to products or services which are not
the same as or similar to the products or services in relation to which the
owner's mark is registered.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Wrongful or groundless threats of infringement

Various jurisdictions have laws which are designed to prevent trademarks'

owners from making wrongful threats of trademark infringement action
against other parties. These laws are intended to prevent large or powerful
companies from intimidating or harassing smaller companies.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
 Where one party makes a threat to sue another for trademark infringement,
but does not have a genuine basis or intention to carry out that threat, or
does not carry out the threat at all within a certain period, the threat may
itself become a basis for legal action.

Other aspects
Consumer protection and confusion

One of the public policy objectives given for trademark law is consumer
protection, that is, to prevent the public from being misled as to the origin or
quality of a product or service. A trademark owner also uses trademark law to
prevent unauthorised third party use of a mark which is identical to the
owner’s mark, or which is so similar that use of the other party’s mark would
result in a likelihood of confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~

For example, a computer manufacturer other than Apple which makes

products using the APPLE trademark, or a soft drink manufacturer which calls
its product 'Popsi' (in imitation of the PEPSI trademark; although the
similarity does not need to be this close) may amount to trademark
infringement where the owner holds a trademark registration.

~~~~~~~~~~

By identifying the source of goods or services, trademarks help consumers to

identify their expected quality and assist in identifying goods and services
that meet the individual consumer's expectations. Trademarks also fix
responsibility. Without trademarks, a seller's mistakes or low quality products
would be untraceable to their source. Therefore, trademarks provide an
incentive to maintain a good reputation for a predictable quality of goods. For
example, a consumer that purchases and likes Nabisco Premium saltines has
a reasonable expectation that Nabisco Premium saltines found anywhere in
the United States will be of uniform taste and quality. Failure to maintain
consistent quality can lead to abandonment of a mark, when the law will no
longer protect the trademark because it has ceased to function as an
indicator of a particular product. Marks may also be abandoned by "naked
licensing", which involves the owner granting rights to use the mark to
another party without sufficiently controlling how or on what they use it. The
mark is then released for general use. (see also below under Policing
Trademarks)

~~~~~~~~~~

Because the emphasis is on consumer protection, the user of a trademark

does not "own" the mark in the same way that it may own a copyright. With
some exceptions (see below under Dilution), the protection of a trademark is
limited to certain markets, which can be defined by either the type of product
or service (grouped according to the Nice Classification), or even a particular
geographic area. For example, though "Lexis" and "Lexus" are confusingly
similar marks, using the former for a news and information service and the
 latter for luxury cars means that the public is not likely to confuse one while
looking for the other, and so neither can restrict the other's use. A trademark
may also be limited geographically, if it can be determined that products or
services do not compete because of the physical separation of their markets.
Considering the national and even global nature of most manufacturers and
distributors, the reach of print and broadcast advertising, and the disregard
of the internet for geographic boundaries, this limitation is likely to be an
issue in fewer and fewer cases. The market-specific limitation is not
interpreted strictly. Instead, attention is given to how closely related markets
are (such as pancake mix and pancake syrup), or how likely it is that the
mark owner will "bridge the gap" and move into the other product or
geographic market.

Related Topics:
Nice Classification - Lexis - Lexus - Confusingly simila

~~~~~~~~~~

Dilution

Main article: Dilution

~~~~~~~~~~

A trademark is diluted when the use of similar or identical trademarks in

other non-competing markets means that the trademark in and of itself will
lose its capacity to signify a single source. In other words, unlike ordinary
trademark law, dilution protection extends to trademark uses that do not
confuse consumers regarding who has made a product. Instead, dilution
protection law aims to protect sufficiently strong trademarks from losing their
singular association in the public mind with a particular product, perhaps
imagined if the trademark were to be encountered independently of any
product (e.g., just the word Pepsi spoken, or on a billboard).

~~~~~~~~~~

Transfer and licensing of trademarks (U.S. law)

In the U.S., a trademark cannot be sold independently of the

underlying goodwill. To allow such a 'sale in gross' would, the courts have
said, 'be a fraud upon the public'. Thus, a trademark right can be sold, and a
valid assignment made on the trademark registry, only if the conveyance of
the mark is accompanying the sale of an underlying asset. Examples of assets
whose sale would ordinarily support the assignment of a mark include the
sale of the machinery used to produce the goods that bear the mark, or the
sale of the corporation (or subsidiary) that produces the trademarked goods.

~~~~~~~~~~

Many countries allow trademarks to be licensed. Under U.S. law, the licensor
must monitor the quality of the goods produced under license or risk losing
the mark. A license without quality control falls under the doctrine of 'naked
licensing' which the courts consider to be a form of abandonment. Trademark
licenses are commonly for a limited period and include appropriate warranties
 of quality by the licensee plus rights to inspect and monitor for quality control
by the licensor.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Comparison with patents, designs and copyright

While trademark law seeks to protect indications of the commercial source of

products or services, patent law generally seeks to protect new and useful
inventions, and registered designs law generally seeks to protect the look or
appearance of a manufactured article. Trademarks, patents and designs
collectively form a subset of intellectual property known as industrial property,
because they are often created and used in an industrial or commercial
context.

Related Topics:
Patent - Intellectual property

~~~~~~~~~~

By comparison, copyright law generally seeks to protect original literary,

artistic and other creative works.

~~~~~~~~~~

Although intellectual property laws such as these are theoretically distinct,

more than one type may afford protection to the same article. For example,
the particular design of a bottle may qualify for copyright protection as a
nonutilitarian , or for trademark protection based on its shape, or the 'trade
dress' appearance of the bottle as a whole may be protectable. Titles and
character names from books or movies may also be protectable as
trademarks while the works from which they are drawn may qualify for
copyright protection as a whole.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Drawing these distinctions is necessary but often challenging for the courts
and lawyers, especially in jurisdictions such as the United States, where
patents and copyrights will eventually expire into the public domain but
trademarks do not. Unlike patents and copyrights, which in theory are
granted for one-off fixed terms, trademarks remain valid as long as the
owner actively uses and defends them and maintains their registrations with
the applicable jurisdiction's trade marks office. This often involves payment of
a periodic renewal fee.

~~~~~~~~~~

As a trademark must be used in order to maintain rights in relation to that

mark, a trademark can be 'abandoned' or its registration can be cancelled or
revoked if the mark is not continuously used. By comparison, patents and
copyrights cannot be 'abandoned' and a patent holder or copyright owner can
 generally enforce their rights without taking any particular action to maintain
the patent or copyright. Additionally, patent holders and copyright owners
may not necessarily need to actively police their rights. However, a failure to
bring a timely infringement suit or action against a known infringer may give
the defendant a defense of implied consent or estoppel when suit is finally
brought.

~~~~~~~~~~

Trademarks and Domain Names

The advent of the Domain Name System has led to attempts by trademark
holders to enforce their rights over domain names that are similar or identical
to their existing trademarks, particularly by seeking control over the domain
names at issue. As with dilution protection, enforcing trademark rights over
domain name owners involves protecting a trademark outside the obvious
context of its consumer market, because domain names are global and not
limited by goods or service.

~~~~~~~~~~

This conflict was more easily resolved when the domain name user actually
used his website to compete with the trademark owner. Cybersquatting,
however, involves no such competition, but instead an unlicensed user
registering the trademark as a domain name in order to pressure a payoff (or
other benefit) from the lawful mark owner. Typosquatters—those registering
common misspellings of trademarks as domain names—have also been
targeted successfully in trademark infringement suits.

Related Topics:
Cybersquatting - Typosquatters

~~~~~~~~~~

This clash of the new technology with preexisting trademark rights resulted in
several high profile decisions as the courts of many countries tried to
coherently address the issue (and not always successfully) within the
framework of existing trademark law. As the website itself was not the
product being purchased, there was no actual consumer confusion, and
so initial interest confusion was a concept applied instead. Infringing domain
names were analogized to a sign identifying one store but falsely placed in
front of another, in the hopes that customers will in the end not care that
they were duped or will at least give up on trying to reach the right store.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Most courts particularly frowned on cybersquatting, and found that it was

itself a sufficiently commercial use (i.e., "trafficking" in trademarks) to reach
into the area of trademark infringement. Most jurisdictions have since
amended their trademark laws to address domain names specifically, and to
provide explicit remedies against cybersquatters.

Related Topics:
 ~~~~~~~~~~

This international legal change has also led to the creation of ICANN Uniform
Dispute Resolution Policy and other dispute policies for specific countries (such
as Nominet UK's DRS) which attempt to streamline the process of resolving
who should own a domain name (without dealing with other infringement
issues such as damages). This is particularly desirable to trademark owners
when the domain name registrant may be in another country or even
anonymous.

Related Topics:
ICANN - Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy - Nominet

~~~~~~~~~~

Registrants of domain names also sometimes wish to register the domain

names themselves (e.g., "XYZ.COM") as trademarks for perceived
advantages, such as an extra bulwark against their domain being hijacked,
and to avail themselves of such remedies as confusion or passing off against
other domain holders with confusingly similar or intentionally misspelled
domain names.

~~~~~~~~~~

As with other trademarks, the domain name will not be subject to registration
unless the proposed mark is actually used to identify the registrant's goods or
services to the public, rather than simply being the location on the Internet
where the applicant's web site appears. Amazon.com is a prime example of a
protected trademark for a domain name central to the public's identification
of the company and its products.

~~~~~~~~~~

Terms which are not protectable by themselves, such as a generic term or a

merely descriptive term that has not acquired secondary meaning, do not
become registrable when a Top-Level Domain Name (e.g. dot-COM) is
appended to it. Examples of such domain names ineligible for trademark
protection would be "SOFT.COM" (merely descriptive when applied to a
product such as facial tissue), or "BANK.COM" (generic for banking services).

International trade mark laws

It is important to note that although there are systems which facilitate the
filing, registration or enforcement of trade mark rights in more than one
jurisdiction on a regional or global basis (eg. the Madrid and CTM systems,
see further below), it is currently not possible to file and obtain a single trade
mark registration which will automatically apply around the world. Trade
mark laws are territorial in nature and generally apply only in the applicable
country or jurisdiction, a quality which is sometimes referred to as
‘territoriality’.

Related Topics:
 ~~~~~~~~~~

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights

The inherent limitations of the territorial application of trade mark laws have
been mitigated by variousintellectual property treaties. One such treaty is
the WTO (formerly GATT) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights ('TRIPs'). Amongst other things, TRIPs generally requires that
the trade mark laws of member jurisdictions are compatible with each other,
a quality which is known as ‘harmonisation’. For example, Article 15(1)
of TRIPs provides a definition for ‘sign’ which is used as or forms part of the
definition of a 'trade mark' contained in the trade mark legislation of many
jurisdictions around the world.

Related Topics:
Intellectual property - Treaties - WTO - GATT - TRIPs

~~~~~~~~~~

The Madrid system for the international registration of marks

Main article: Madrid system

~~~~~~~~~~

Foremost amongst the systems which facilitate registration of trade marks in

multiple jurisdictions is the 'Madrid system', which provides a centrally
administered system of obtaining a bundle of single jurisdiction trade mark
registrations based on an ‘international registration’.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

In basic terms, the primary advantage of the Madrid system is that it allows a
trademark owner to obtain trademark protection in any or all member states
by filing one application in one jurisdiction with one set of fees, and make any
changes (eg. changes of name or address) and renew registration across all
applicable jurisdictions through a single administrative process.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Community Trade Mark system

Main article: Community Trade Mark

~~~~~~~~~~

The Community Trade Mark system is the supranational trade mark system
which applies in the European Union, whereby registration of a trade mark
with the Office of Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and
 Designs) (i.e.. OHIM, the trade marks office of the European Union), leads to a
registration which is effective throughout the EU as a whole. The CTM system
is therefore said to be unitary in character, in that a CTM registration applies
indivisibly across all European Union member states. However, the CTM
system did not replace the national trade mark registration systems; the CTM
system and the national systems continue to operate in parallel to each
other. See also European Union trade mark law.

Related Topics:
Supranational - European Union - OHIM - European U
states - European Union trade mark law

~~~~~~~~~~

Other systems

Other supranational trade mark systems include the system in operation

in Belgium, the Netherlands andLuxembourg, i.e.. Benelux.

Related Topics:
Belgium - The Netherlands - Luxembourg - Benelux

~~~~~~~~~~

Trade mark law in other countries

For the trade mark law which applies in a selection of other countries and
jurisdictions, please refer to the following articles.

International trade mark laws

It is important to note that although there are systems which facilitate the
filing, registration or enforcement of trade mark rights in more than one
jurisdiction on a regional or global basis (eg. the Madrid and CTM systems,
see further below), it is currently not possible to file and obtain a single trade
mark registration which will automatically apply around the world. Trade
mark laws are territorial in nature and generally apply only in the applicable
country or jurisdiction, a quality which is sometimes referred to as
‘territoriality’.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property

Rights

The inherent limitations of the territorial application of trade mark laws have
been mitigated by variousintellectual property treaties. One such treaty is
the WTO (formerly GATT) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights ('TRIPs'). Amongst other things, TRIPs generally requires that
the trade mark laws of member jurisdictions are compatible with each other,
 a quality which is known as ‘harmonisation’. For example, Article 15(1)
of TRIPs provides a definition for ‘sign’ which is used as or forms part of the
definition of a 'trade mark' contained in the trade mark legislation of many
jurisdictions around the world.

Related Topics:
Intellectual property - Treaties - WTO - GATT - TRIPs

~~~~~~~~~~

The Madrid system for the international registration of marks

Main article: Madrid system

~~~~~~~~~~

Foremost amongst the systems which facilitate registration of trade marks in

multiple jurisdictions is the 'Madrid system', which provides a centrally
administered system of obtaining a bundle of single jurisdiction trade mark
registrations based on an ‘international registration’.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

In basic terms, the primary advantage of the Madrid system is that it allows a
trademark owner to obtain trademark protection in any or all member states
by filing one application in one jurisdiction with one set of fees, and make any
changes (eg. changes of name or address) and renew registration across all
applicable jurisdictions through a single administrative process.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Community Trade Mark system

Main article: Community Trade Mark

~~~~~~~~~~

The Community Trade Mark system is the supranational trade mark system
which applies in the European Union, whereby registration of a trade mark
with the Office of Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and
Designs) (i.e.. OHIM, the trade marks office of the European Union), leads to a
registration which is effective throughout the EU as a whole. The CTM system
is therefore said to be unitary in character, in that a CTM registration applies
indivisibly across all European Union member states. However, the CTM
system did not replace the national trade mark registration systems; the CTM
system and the national systems continue to operate in parallel to each
other. See also European Union trade mark law.

Related Topics:
Supranational - European Union - OHIM - European U
states - European Union trade mark law
 ~~~~~~~~~~

Other systems

Other supranational trade mark systems include the system in operation

in Belgium, the Netherlands andLuxembourg, i.e.. Benelux.

Related Topics:
Belgium - The Netherlands - Luxembourg - Benelux

~~~~~~~~~~

Trade mark law in other countries

For the trade mark law which applies in a selection of other countries and
jurisdictions, please refer to the following articles.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Australian trade mark law

• European Union trade mark law
• Hong Kong trademark law
• People's Republic of China's trademark law
• United Kingdom trade mark law
• United States trademark law

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;

A genericized trademark (Commonwealth English genericised trade mark),

sometimes known as a generic trade mark, generic descriptor or proprietary
eponym, is a trademark or brand name which has become synonymouswith the
general or formal term for a particular type of product or service, to the
extent that it often replaces this term in colloquial usage.

Concepts
One consequence of a trademark becoming generic is that the exclusive rights
which may attach to the use or registration of the trademark can no longer be
legally enforced. The diminishing or loss of these rights is sometimes known
as genericide, although other terms may be used to refer to the process by
which a trademark becomes generic. Genericide typically occurs over a period
of time where the trademark owner does not maintain or enforce its
proprietary rights (eg. by using the mark, or by pursuing infringement action).

Related Topics:
Generic - Exclusive right - Infringement

~~~~~~~~~~
 This means that the legal determination of whether a mark has become
generic will usually arise in the context of an attempt to invalidate or
otherwise cancel a registration for a mark before a government trademarks
office or registry, or before a court. In this context a genericized trademark is
a trademark which no longer serves to uniquely identify the commercial
source or origin of a product or service.

Related Topics:
Legal - Registry - Court

~~~~~~~~~~

As the determination of whether a trademark is a "genericized trademark" in

any other context tends to be a subjective assessment, there is some
uncertainty as to what the term actually encompasses. Nevertheless, there is
a similar degree of "genericity" between a trademark registration which is
deemed unenforceable (because the trademark no longer exclusively
identifies the trademark owner as the commercial source of its products or
services), and a former trademark which is widely considered generic by the
public.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

It is important to note that regardless of whether trademarks are perceived

as being "genericized trademarks", or whether well known trademarks are
used in a generic manner, a trademark does not become generic simply as a
result of popular usage, particularly if there has been no legal determination
on the status of a trademark, and the trademark owner maintains and
enforces their rights.

Legal protection
Trademarks, unlike copyrights and patents, must be actively used in order to
maintain strong legal rights. By comparison, a copyright or patent holder does
not necessarily need to use their creation in order to maintain their rights.

Related Topics:
Copyright - Patent

~~~~~~~~~~

However, a trademark owner must be careful not to lose control of how its
trademark is used. If a trademark becomes successful in gaining mind
share it may become "generic" through common use. Once this point is
reached it may no longer be possible to enforce rights in relation to the
trademark.

~~~~~~~~~~

For example, if a trademark owner does not police the use of its trademark in
relation to a new product, by preventing third parties using the trademark to
 describe their copies of the product, and the general public start using the
trademark as the generic name for the product, the trademark may become a
genericized trademark. Thomas Edison's mimeograph is a classic example.

Related Topics:
Thomas Edison - Mimeograph

~~~~~~~~~~

Avoiding genericide

Trademark owners should not use their trademark as verbs or noun, implying
the word is generic. Likewise, using the trademark as
a plural or possessive (i.e. a noun) will imply the trademark is generic (unless
the mark itself is possessive or plural, e.g., "Friendly's" restaurants). If the
trademark is associated with a new invention, the trademark owner should
use a descriptive term for the product that can be distinguished from the
trademark for the product.

Related Topics:
Verb - Noun - Plural - Possessive - Invention

~~~~~~~~~~

Where a trademark is used generically a trademark owner may need to take

special proactive measures in order to retain exclusive rights to the
trademark. Xerox provides one successful example of a company which was
able to prevent the genericide of its core trademark through an extensive
marketing campaign advising consumers to "photocopy" instead of "Xeroxing"
documents (the brand did become generic in Russian, though -- see below).
Another common practice amongst trademark owners is to follow their
trademark with the word "brand" to help define the word as a
trademark. Johnson & Johnson changed the lyrics of their BAND-AIDtelevision
commercial jingle from, "I am stuck on BAND-AIDs, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck
on me" to "I am stuck on BAND-AID brand, 'cause BAND-AID's stuck on me."

Related Topics:
Xerox - Photocopy - Russian - Below - Johnson & Joh
AID

~~~~~~~~~~

As generic use of a trademark is often related to how well-known a trademark

has become, some trademark owners mistakenly believe that it is useful to
achieve a level of genericity, or may otherwise overlook a certain level of
generic use, despite the inherent risk of generic use upon the maintenance of
strong trademark rights.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

European Union

Since 2003 the European Union has actively sought to restrict the use
of geographical indications by third parties outside the EU. Although a GI for
 specialty food or drink may be generic, a GI is not a trademark because it
does not serve to exclusively identify a specific commercial enterprise, and
therefore cannot constitute a genericized trademark.

Related Topics:
2003 - European Union - Geographical indication - Ge

~~~~~~~~~~

The extension of protection for geographical indications is somewhat

controversial because a GI may have been registered as a trademark
elsewhere. For example, if Parma Ham was part of a trademark registered
inCanada by a Canadian manufacturer, ham manufacturers actually located
in Parma, Italy might be unable to use this name in Canada.

Related Topics:
Canada - Parma - Italy

~~~~~~~~~~

Other affected products include Champagne, Bordeaux and many other wine
names, Roquefort, Parmesan andFeta cheese, and Scotch whisky. In
the 1990s the Parma consortium successfully sued the Asda supermarketchain
to prevent it using the description Parma ham on prosciutto produced in
Parma but sliced outside the region. See also Protected Designation of Origin.

List of genericized trademarks

The following list comprises those marks which were originally created and
used as trademarks, but which have subsequently become entirely
synonymous with the common name of the relevant product or service. Marks
which appear in this list have become so generic that their former status
as proprietary trademarks is often unknown to the general public. Such marks
may therefore be considered "fully generic", whereas marks which are at risk
of becoming generic are listed in the next section.

Related Topics:
Generic - Proprietary

~~~~~~~~~~

If any of the original registrations for the trademarks appearing in this list
have not yet expired or been cancelled, it is unlikely that the owners of the
registrations would be able to successfully enforce their registered trade mark
rights against third parties.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Allen wrench (or Allen key)- hexagonal screwdriver (A rarity among

generic words, 'Allen wrench' is no longer trademarked, but is still
capitalized because it is named after a company)
• aspirin - ASA (acetylsalicylic acid; remains as a registered trademark in
many places around the world in the name of Bayer, but not in the United
States)
• bikini - two-piece swimsuit for women
• brassiere - women's undergarment used for breast support
• BX - flexible, metal-armored electrical cable
• cellophane - transparent paper
• celluloid - film material
• cola - soft drink; genericized part of Coca-Cola (see definition 2
at http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=cola)
Arguably, the word "cola" had a weak claim to the originality required for
trademark status in the first place, since it is a logical name for a beverage
derived from the cola nut. In some parts of the United States, "coke" is a
generic word for any soft drink.
• comptometer - adding machine
• doona - Australian brand of duvets
• dry ice - frozen carbon dioxide
• escalator - moving staircase
• gramophone - record player
• granola - oat and fruit bar
• hoagie - sandwich
• heroin - diacetylmorphine; originally registered by Bayer as a pain reliever
• hula hoop - toy hoop; originally made of various materials, generic name
trademarked by Wham-O when it was redesigned in plastic in the late
1950's
• immunogen - substance that invokes immune response in the
bodyhttp://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?
book=Dictionary&va=immunogen
• jake brake - truck braking device
• jungle gym - play structure (from 'Junglegym')
• kiwi fruit - formerly known as "Chinese gooseberries"; new name not
trademarked, but Zespri trademark later introduced for New Zealand kiwis
• LP - long playing record
• lanolin - purified, wax-like substance from sheep's wool
• laundromat - Originally a term developed by Westinghouse for washing
machines, but usually considered a generic term for a coin operated
laundry
• linoleum - floor covering
• merry widow - strapless corset
• milk of magnesia - saline-type laxative; Phillip's
• mimeograph - reproduction machine
• plasterboard - formed gypsum building material
• pianola - player piano
• pogo stick - bouncing stick (trademark was one word, 'Pogo')
• spandex - polyurethane fiber; an anagram of "expands" http://www.m-
w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=spandex; DuPont later
introduced new trademark, Lycra
• tabloid - originally a type of medication
• tarmac (or tarmacadam) - road surfacing; the word tarmac is sometimes
used to refer to airport runways, but properly it is the hardstanding or
parking area that is the tarmac
• touch-tone - dual tone multi-frequency telephone signaling. AT&T states
"formerly a trademark of
AT&T"http://www.att.com/gov/contracts/maas/services/centrex_variable.
html
• trampoline - sports equipment
 • Webster's dictionary - the publishers with the strongest link to the original
are Merriam-Webster, but they have a trademark only on "Merriam-
Webster", and other dictionaries are legally published as "Webster's
Dictionary" http://www.m-w.com/info/faq.htm#webster http://www.m-
w.com/info/webster.htm
• white-out - correction fluid; derived from the brand name Wite-Out
• yo-yo - toy
• zeppelin - dirigible airship
• zip code - postal code (US)
• zipper - zip fastener

Trademarks at risk of becoming generic

Trademarks may become vulnerable to genericide where they are not used as
trademarks, where they fall into disuse entirely, or where their corresponding
registrations are not enforced effectively or at all. Although such trademarks
may tend to become generic due to increasing generic usage, they are not
necessarily fully generic.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

The determination of whether a trademark is fully generic rather than being

merely at risk of genericide tends to be a subjective assessment, and
dependent on market sector and many other factors. However, if there is no
broad consensus on whether a trademark has become fully generic, then this
tends to indicate that the mark has not become generic in the marketplace.

Related Topics:
Consensus - Marketplace

~~~~~~~~~~

The following list comprises those marks which were originally created and
used as trademarks, and which may continue in use as trademarks, and be
actively enforced by their trademark owners, but which are generally
acknowledged as becoming genericized trademarks due to increasing generic
usage. However, until such time as the term is officially abandoned, it
remains properly capitalized.

Related Topics:
Trademark - Genericized trademark

~~~~~~~~~~

Whether a mark appears in this list is therefore a subjective assessment, as

some marks may already have become generic, whereas others may not be
accepted as being generic. However, all marks in the list are used generically
to some extent.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
(It is assumed all of the marks in this list are still valid trademarks and when
used in most documents require the use of capital letters and either the TM or
(R) mark as appropriate.)

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Airfix (UK) - plastic model

• Aqua-Lung - Scuba equipment
• Artex - textured interior wall and ceiling plaster
• AstroTurf - artificial grass produced by SRI Sports
• Baggies - food bags
• Bake-off - any kind of contest where a product is created from scratch;
although registered as a trademark by Pillsbury, the term is commonly
used in computer science programming competitions
• BAND-AID - adhesive bandage; trademarked by Johnson&Johnson
• Beer Nuts - sweet and salty glazed nuts, historically peanuts
• Boogie Board - original type of bodyboard
• Breathalyzer - breath alcohol analyzer made by Draeger Safety, Inc.
• Brillo Pad - soap filled, steel wool scouring pad
• Bubble Wrap - air-filled plastic packing material from Sealed Air
• BVDs - men's underwear
• Ceefax - viewdata service (UK)
• Chap Stick - lip balm manufactured by AHRobins
• Claymation - clay based, stop motion animation; Will Vinton Studios
• Coke (short for Coca-cola) - cola, see Soft drink naming conventions
• Cool Whip - artificial whipped dessert topping from Kraft Foods
• Crescent Wrench - adjustable, open-end wrench; Crescent Tool and
Horseshoe Company
• Crock-pot - slow cooker sold by Rival Industries
• Cuisinart - food processor and attachments
• Dacron - polyester fiber
• Deep Freeze - chest freezer
• Depends - adult disposable diapers made by Kimberly Clark
• Dictaphone - dictation recorder from the eponymous company
• Ditto Machine - one of the original spirit duplicators
• Dixie Cups - disposable bathroom cups, also packaged ice cream cups,
which according to Toilet Paper Worldis a trademark of the Fort James
Corp.
• Dremel - rotary tool; Robert Bosch Tool Corporation
• Drizabone - waterproof overcoat (Australian usage)
• Dry Erase - whiteboard that is written on with colored markers; Sanford
Expo
• Duck Tape - strong adhesive tape, originally used on ammunition cases in
WWII, then afterwards began being used on ducts at home, hence the
confusion with Duck tape vs. duct tape
• Dumpster - large trash can
• Erector Set - US metal construction toy, name now owned by Meccano
• Eskimo Pie - chocolate covered ice cream bar
• Esky - cooler box (Australian usage), the brand name Esky was derived
from Eskimo
• Ethernet - IEEE 802.3 LAN protocol
• FedEx - to courier something (a verb), ie I need to FedEx this parcel
• Fiberglas(s) - glass wool or glass fiber reinforced plastic
• Fig Newtons - soft, cake-like cookie filled with fig jam; Nabisco
• Freon - fluorocarbon-based refrigerants, propellants, etc.
• Frialator - A deep fryer
• Frigidaire - "fridge", refrigerator
• Friend - spring loaded camming device
• Frisbee - flying disc
• Game Boy - portable video game system
• Gatorade - originally named after the Florida Gators, became trademark
when sold to Stokely-Van Camp (currently part of PepsiCo)
• GoKart - mini racing cars
• Green Stamp - trading stamps used in a catalog rewards program; S&H
• Hacky Sack - footbag
• Hi-lighter (Hi-Liter) - Highlighting marker pen
• Hoover - vacuum cleaner (in Britain and Commonwealth countries)
• Hula Hoop - dancing ring
• Jacuzzi - whirlpool bath
• Jaws of Life - rescue tool
• JCB - hydraulic digger
• Jeep - very small, angular four-wheel drive truck now manufactured
by Daimler Chrysler
• Jell-O - gelatin dessert, or jelly in Britain and Commonwealth countries
• Jet Ski - motorized watercraft
• Jetway - Moveable bridges used at airports
• Jockey Shorts - short, tight-fitting underpants
• JumboTron - large stadium display screens built by Sony
• Kevlar - Aramid fiber from DuPont
• Kitty Litter - clumping, clay litter used in cat litterboxes
• Kleenex - packaged, folded facial tissue paper
• Kool-Aid - artificially "fruit" flavored and colored powder that makes a soft
drink
• Kraft Dinner (CAN) - macaroni and cheese dinner
• Krazy Glue - cyanoacrylate adhesive
• Laundromat - self-service laundry
• LearJet - executive aircraft manufactured by Bombardier Industries
• LEGO - a toy with interlocking blocks
• Levi's - brand of denim jeans
• LifeSavers - American hard candy; Wrigley
• Liquid Paper - paper correction fluid
• Lycra - a brand of spandex
• Mace - aerosol spray tear gas
• Magic Marker - felt-tip marker
• Masonite - fiberboard
• Microchip - integrated circuit
• Milk-Bone - dog treats
• Moxie - early 20th century soft drink, now used generically to mean
energy, courage, or know-
howhttp://www.bartleby.com/61/56/M0455600.html
• Murphy bed - a bed that folds up against the wall
• Muzak - background music
• Mylar - biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BOPET) polyester
film
• Nilla Wafers - vanilla wafer cookies
• Nikko pen - broad, permanent, felt pen (Australian usage)
• Nintendo - home console video games
• Oreo - cream-filled, chocolate wafer cookie; Nabisco
• Ouija - the name Ouija, used for Ouija boards used in seances, is
trademarked
• Pablum - baby cereal
• Palm Pilot or simply Palm - handheld computer, generically personal digital
assistant
• Parcheesi (replacing the generic word "Pachisi")
• Perspex (UK) - Clear plastic (acrylic) sheeting
• Phillips Screwdriver - Screwdriver with a cross-pointed drive hole.
• Photoshop - image editing software from Adobe Systems, also as a verb,
to digitally edit an image
• Photostat - reproduction machine
• Pimm's - a mixture of spirits (usually gin) and herbs
• Ping-Pong - table tennis http://www.bartleby.com/61/43/P0314300.html
• Playbill - theatre program
• Play-Doh - commercial plastic modeling compound, clay-like
• Plexiglas - clear acrylic plastic sheets
• Polaroid - instant photography
• Pop Tart - breakfast toaster pastry
• Popsicle - quiescently frozen confection
• Porta Potti - portable toilet
• Portakabin (UK) - relocatable buildings
• Post-It Note - self-adhering notepaper
• Pampers - disposable diapers for babies and toddlers
• Tampax - tampons
• Purell - hand sanitizer
• Q-tips - cotton swabs
• Quonset hut - easily constructed curved wall building similar to a Nissen
hut
• Rawlplug - plug to give screws something to bite on (invented by J J
Rawlings in 1919)
• Realtor - real estate
agent http://www.wordreference.com/English/definition.asp?en=Realtor
• Ribena - blackcurrant cordial
• Roller Derby - sports entertainment of roller skating around a track
• Rollerblade - inline roller skates
• Rolodex - rotary card file
• Roquefort - type of cheese
• Rubbermaid - plastic food storage containers
• Saran or Saranwrap - transparent plastic wrap
• Sawz-all - cordless, electric miniature handsaws
• Scotch tape - transparent adhesive tape
• Scrabble - tile-laying word game
• Seeing Eye (Dog) - guide dog used to aid the blind
• Sellotape - transparent adhesive tape (Britain and Commonwealth
countries)
• Sharpie - marking and writing pens
• SHEETROCK -
plasterboard/drywall http://www.bartleby.com/61/17/S0331700.html
• Shop-Vac - wet/dry vacuum
• Skidoo - snowmobile
• Skivvies - underwear
• Slim Jim - beef jerky; ConAgra Foods, Inc
• Spackle - wall filling compound
• SPAM - packaged meat (in lowercase form, used as generic word for
junk e-mail)
• Spectravision - on-demand or pay-per-view programming usually available
in hotels
• Speedo - tight-fitting swimsuit (usually for males)
 • Stayfree - feminine hygiene pads
• Stetson - cowboy hat
• Styrofoam - polystyrene filler
• Superglue - cyanoacrylate adhesive
• Super Hero - trademarked jointly by Marvel Comics and DC Comics,
though usually regarded as a comic-book genre
• Tabasco - hot spicy sauce
• Tannoy - Public address system (UK)
• Taser - electric shock stun gun
• Technicolor - three-strip color film process
• Teflon - non-stick surface
• TelePrompTer - electronic speech notes
• Teletext - viewdata service (UK)
• Teletype - printing telgraph apparatus (AT&T)
• Thermos - vacuum flask; though it was declared generic in the USA in
1963http://www.core.org.cn/NR/rdonlyres/Sloan-School-of-
Management/15-628Patents--Copyrights--and-the-Law-of-Intellectual-
PropertySpring2003/88A3CE91-A80C-4B1A-A08C-
AD975FB54DFA/0/kingseeleythermosvAladdin.pdf
• Tippex - correction fluid
• TiVo (US/UK) - digital video recorder
• Transitions - photochromatic eye lenses
• Trapper - 3-ring binder
• Trojan - condom
• Tupperware - food storage ware
• TV Dinner - a frozen dinner which can be cooked in its own serving dish
• Tylenol - acetaminophen tablets
• UNIX - an operating system (NOTE: The use of this term as a genericized
trademark is legally questionable, and has led to lawsuits between
The Open Group, who own the trademark, and uncertified operating
systems that advertise themselves as "Unix-based", such as Mac OS X)
• Vans - a kind of training shoe
• Vaseline - petroleum jelly
• Velcro - hook and loop fasteners
• Vise-Grip - lockable clamping tools
• Walkman - portable tape/music player
• WD-40 - penetrating oil
• Weetabix - a breakfast cereal in the form of wheat biscuits
• Welcome Wagon - greeting organization for new homebuyers
• Wiffle Ball - plastic, perforated baseball, and assorted plastic baseball
equipment
• Windbreaker - light jacket
• Windex - spray glass cleaner
• Wite-Out - correction fluid
• X-Acto Knife - sharp knife with short, replaceable blades
• Xeriscape - water conservation landscaping
• Xerox - photocopy machine. Sometimes used as a verb, i.e. "xerox two
copies for me"
• Zamboni - ice resurfacing machine
• Ziploc bags - zipper storage bags
• Zippo - refillable, metal lighter
• Zodiac - inflatable boat

Pharmaceutical and medical trademarks

 As pharmaceutical products are often marketed under different names in
different countries, sometimes these different trademarks may become
generic in each separate country, but not in all countries (ie. a trademark
which has become generic in one country for a specific product may not be
generic for the same product in another country). The following list provides
examples of such marks.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Advil – Ibuprofen (USA)

• Alka-Seltzer – indigestion drug (UK & USA)
• BAND-AID – self adhesive bandage (has slang usages such as "a band-aid
solution" (ie. a temporary solution); was also the name of a charity group
of musicians that produced a benefit song in the 1980s, seeBand
Aid (USA)
• Benadryl – antihistamine drug (UK & USA)
• Demerol
• Elastoplast – self adhesive bandage (UK)
• Glucometer - blood glucose meter
• Lemsip – lemon-flavoured cold & flu powder (UK)
• Nicorette – smoking gum (UK & USA)
• Novocain
• Nurofen – Ibuprofen (UK)
• Rennie – indigestion drug (UK)
• Quaalude - drug methaqualone
• Prozac - antidepressant
• Solpadeine – Co-codamol (UK)
• Tylenol - acetaminophen tablets
• Valium - tranquillizer
• Viagra – sexual enhancement drug (UK & USA)

Terms which are not genericized trademarks

Some common names for products or services are popularly believed to be
genercized trademarks, however this in not the case as the names were
never originally created or used as trademarks. Some examples are listed
below.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

• Kerosene
• Lava lamp - This originally derived from an alteration of the
trademark Lava Lite, although lava lamp was subsequently registered as a
trademark in the United Kingdom by Mathmos Limited.
• Montessori - Although capitalization of the name suggests trademark
significance, it did not originate as a trademark.
• Nylon - synthetic polymer (polyamid) invented at DuPont (IUPAC name PA
6,6).
 • SPAM - This pork and ham product and trademark of Hormel Foods was
the indirect origin of the electronic term of the same name. However, with
reference to meat products, "spam" does not denote the generic.

In some case companies have managed to register common names as

trade marks, however this typically results in the eventual cancellation
or surrender of the registration concerned. This has occurred in
theUnited States in relation
to rooibos http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.asp
x?articleid=12820&zoneid=2.

Genericized trademarks (non-English)

Dutch

• Gatsometer - speed camera

• Lonsdale - frequently used in The Netherlands to youth wearing this brand
of clothing. E.g. "Lonsdalers".
• perspex - synthetic polymer resembling glass
• spa - mineral water, after the Belgian brand, Spa
• chocomel - a milk and cocoa drink, after the original brand Chocomel

Filipino

In the Philippines, many Filipinos often carry the mannerism of calling

different products of the same kind by the name of the first or the most
distinct brand even if they are manufactured by a different company. A good
example is the use of the name "Colgate" to refer to different brands of
toothpaste or "Lysol" to refer to different brands of disinfectant.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Finnish

• alko - wine merchant (off-licence), see Alko

• kännykkä - mobile phone, originally a trademark of Nokia, now
widespead as the slang word for a mobile
• otto - ATM (a joint venture of Nordea, Osuuspankki & Sampo)
• salmiakki - sal ammoniac covered licorice, owned by Fazer
• mono(t) - ski boot(s), from Lahti manufacturer Mono Oy, after company
owner L. Mononen
• pilsneri - mild beer, from Pilsener brand lager beer
• jeeppi - an off-road wheeled vehicle, from Jeep
• skiidu - a snowmobile, from Ski-Doo brand
• priimuskeitin - portable gas cooker, from Swedish brand Primus

French

• bic - a disposable ball-point pen

• minitel - the telephone viewdata service or the machines that run the
service operated by France Télécom.
 • mobylette (mob) - moped
• scotch - transparent adhesive tape
• frigidaire - refrigerator

German

• Birkenstock - open sandals

• Edding - felt-tip permanent marker
• Fön - hair dryer, named after a warm air alpine wind
• IKEA-Schlüssel - hexagonal wrench (Allen wrench - see above) (usually
supplied with IKEA furniture)
• Kaba - chocolate milk powder/drink
• Labello - moisturizing lipstick
• Nutella - hazelnut chocolate spread (ex-East Germans sometimes use the
name of the East German version,Nudossi)
• Tempo - paper tissues
• Scheibletten - sliced cheese
• Selters - sparkling water
• Tesafilm - transparent adhesive tape (Tesa is the trademark in this word)
• Tixo - transparent adhesive tape, mainly used in Austria
• Uhu - liquid glue, especially paper glue
• Zippo - gas-fueled lighter

Greek

• Kariofili (Καριοφύλι) - A front-loading gun (From Cario & Figlio, a 18th

Century maker of such guns)
• Klark (Κλάρκ) - Forklift (from Clark - a manufacturer)
• Merenda (Μερέντα) - Any spread similar to Nutella (a local Kraft brand)
• Nes (Νες) - instant coffee (Nescafé, a Nestlé brand)
• Nounou (Νουνού) - Canned concentrated milk (A Friesland Foods brand)
• Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφια) - Cream Cheese (a Kraft brand)
• Stayier (Στάγερ) - Large military truck (from Steyr, a manufacturer)
• Tzip (Τζίπ) - A vehicle for off-road use (Jeep, a DaimlerChrysler brand)

Hebrew

• Pele-phone - informal Hebrew for mobile phone. The word 'pele' means
a miracle in the Hebrew language. This is the name of the first company to
provide mobile services in Israel, founded by Motorola. More formal terms
for 'pelephone' are 'telefon selulari' (cellular phone) or 'telefon nayad'
(mobile phone).

Indian

• Godrej - steel cupboard. Named after the multi-product business house of

India that once was synonymous with steel cupboards
• Bajaj - auto rickshaws, synonymous with Scooters and Auto-rickshaws
besides other famous products
• Dalda - hydrogenated vegetable fat, comes from the manufacturer of the
Vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable fat). A member of the business family,
HLL (Hindustan Lever Limited)
Italian

• Scotch - transparent adehesive tape

Polish

• rower – bicycle, after James Starley's Rover bicycle (James's son, John
Kemp Starley was a co-founder of the Rover car company)
• adidas – training shoe
• ksero – photocopying machine (kserowa? = to photocopy)
• walkman – used in common language for any personal stereo; the
same is with discman for portable CD players
• pampers – diaper

Romanian

• Adidas - sport shoe

• Pampers - diapers (nappies), from Johnson & Johnson's 'Pampers'
• Scotch - transparent adhesive tape

Russian

• Кеды (Kedy) from Keds training shoe. The same type of shoe known
as Vans in the US
• Памперсы (Pampersy) - diapers (nappies), from Procter & Gamble's
'Pampers'
• Примус (Primus) - kerosene stove
• Скотч (Skotch) - a transparent adhesive tape
• Унитаз (Unitaz) - toilet fixture, from Finnish brand Unitas (Unity)
• Фломастер (Flomaster) - felt-tip pen, from Flo-Master brand
• Ксерокс (Xerox) - copy machine
• ???? (Jeep) - off-road vehicle of certain proportions

Switzerland

• Natel - mobile phone (the name that the incumbent operator Swisscom,
gave its mobile network from the full name of this, Nationales Autotelefon)

Turkish

• Cemse - pronounced approximately "jam-say" comes from GMC, used for

a kind of truck and military carrier
• Selpak - paper tissue
• Jilet - a safe razor, from Gillette brand
• Kot - Turkish blue jean brand which first produced denim in Turkey
• Cip - Any type of SUV, after U.S. "Jeep"

;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

A fictional brand is a non-existing brand used in artistic or entertainment

productions — paintings, books,comics, movies, TV serials, etc.. The
fictional brand may be designed to imitate a real corporate brand, satirize a real
corporate brand, or differentiate itself from real corporate brands.
Why create fictional brands
Works of fiction often mention or show specific brands to give more realism to
the plot or scenery. Specificbrands provide descriptive details that the author
can use to craft a plot: a character may own a factory that manufactures a
popular product, or may make a scene by demanding a particular brand;
a detective may get clues from the brand of cigarettes smoked by a suspect; a
film may include a commercial poster on the background, or show a package
of cereal in close-up.

Related Topics:
Brand - Detective - Cigarette - Poster

~~~~~~~~~~

However, unauthorized use of real trademarks for such purposes could trigger
legal action by their owners — especially if the brands are referenced in a
way that could be seen to have negative marketing impact. In general, the
use of a real brand requires prior written consent by the brand's owner, who
will typically demand some control on the brand's use. These hassles are
probably the main reason for the use of fictitious brands.

~~~~~~~~~~

Real brands are often used, of course. Sometimes a specific brand is needed
because of its prior associations; e.g. the Coca-Cola machine scene
in Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove would not work with any other real or fictitious
brand (except possibly Pepsi). Sometimes the author will use a common
brand only to make the scene more natural or create a specific ambience.
More commonly, such uses are instances of product placement — the insertion
of "casual" (but actually paid and intentional) positive references to brands in
movies, television programming, games, and books. However, this practice is
so widespread in the entertainment industry that it gives authors another
reason to avoid the use of real brands: any such reference would be
suspected by the public of being paid advertising, and could diminish the
artistic or intellectual merit of the work.

Related Topics:
Kubrick - Dr. Strangelove - Pepsi - Product placemen
Entertainment industry

~~~~~~~~~~

Another advantage to a fictional brand is that all its specifications can be

invented. In this sense, an author can invent a model or brand of car, for
which he can make up details. That way, he doesn't have to go look up
specifications on a car, which would take time and effort- he could just make
them up.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~
 Sometimes, ususally on television or movies, a real brand would not be
permitted, due to restrictions in advertising particular products, especially
cigarettes and alcohol. Usually a fictional brand would be created that bears
some resemblance to a real brand.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Yet another reason to use a fictional brand is that sometimes a product is

itself a major "character" in the plot, and using a real brand would limit
creativity as the author would be constrained by the actual attributes of that
brand. A subset of this is comedic brands, the most famous being "Acme" for
the maker of complicated gadgets that never quite work.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, the use of a real brand may be excluded also when the plot is meant
to develop in a time or place (e.g. in a distant future, or in a fictional
universe) where the real brand would not have existed anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fictional brands
The following is an incomplete list of fictional brands, organized by product
category.

Related Topics:

~~~~~~~~~~

Beverages

Alcoholic beverages
• A Cold One - Homestar Runner
• Alamo Beer - King of the Hill
• A.M. Ale - Saturday Night Live
• Bear Whiz Beer - Firesign Theatre
• Bearhugger's Whisky - Discworld (varieties include Old Selected Dragon's
Blood and The MacAbre)
• Bendërbrau Cold-Fusion Steam Beer (microbrew) - Futurama
• Black Hole Brew - Home Movies
• BOA - Neon Genesis Evangelion
• Brewmaster - Saturday Night Live, parody of Meisterbrau commercial
• Buddweiser Light - Saturday Night Live, parody of Budweiser Light
commercial
• Butterbeer - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Buzz Beer - caffeinated beer from The Drew Carey Show
• Cap-Beer-Cino - caffeinated beer competitor to Buzz Beer from The Drew
Carey Show
• Cloudmir Vodka - Arrested Development
• C.M.O.T. Dibbler's Genuine Authentic Soggy Mountain Dew - Discworld,
the bottle says 'one hundred and fifty percent proof'! This is almost
certantly a lie.
• Colonel Kwik-E-Mart's Kentucky Bourbon - The Simpsons
• Drunken Cowboy Whiskey - The Simpsons
• Duff Beer - The Simpsons (includes: Duff Lite, Duff Dry, Duff Dark, Duff
Cold, Lady Duff, Raspberry Duff, Tartar Control Duff, and Henry K. Duff's
Private Reserve)
• Elsinore Beer - Strange Brew
• Fudd Beer - The Simpsons
• Gamma Gulp Beer - from Fallout. It glows in the dark!
• Guatemalica Beer - King of the Hill
• Haka Beer - from a university marketing exercise. Was ficticious until
market research showed that is was so popular that someone actually
started brewing it.
• Hennigan's (whiskey) - Seinfeld
• Jenkins (beer) - EastEnders
• Klein's Beer - Futurama
• Koul-Brau beer - DC Comics
• Leopard Lager - Red Dwarf
• Löbrau Beer - Futurama
• Masterbrew - Saturday Night Live parody of Meisterbrau commercial
• Mister Beer- Saturday Night Live parody of Meisterbrau commercial
• Ol' Kentucky Liqour - Space Ghost Coast to Coast
• Old Phillipino Creamy (coming in shorts & quarts) - Firesign Theatre
• Olde Fortran Malt Liquor - Futurama
• Old Vinyards - The Lord of the Rings
• Pabst Blue Robot - Futurama
• Pawtucket Patriot Ale - Family Guy
• Plummett & Rose Wines & Spirits - the company Montague Egg works for
in the stories by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Red Tick Beer - The Simpsons
• Rettib - a backwards version of bitter-Red Dwarf
• Rocker City Beer - The Far Arena
• Roentgen Rum - from Fallout. It glows in the dark!
• Roo Beer - (FourEcksian lager) Discworld
• Sam Adams' Head Boston Lager - Futurama
• Samuel Jackson Boston Lager - Chappelle's Show
• Schmitz Gay Beer - Saturday Night Live
• Shires Ale - The Archers
• S'more Schnapps - South Park
• Spud Beer - Saturday Night Live
• Spunk beer - Tank Girl
• St. Pauli Exclusion Principle Girl Beer - Futurama
• Tenku Beer - Kill Bill
• That Ol' Janx Spirit - Primary ingredient of a Pan Galactic Gargle
Blaster in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
• Three Wizards Chardonay - Discworld
• Turbot's Really Odd Real Ale - Discworld
• Willer Beer - The Kentucky Fried Movie
• Winkle's Old Peculiar Real Ale - Discworld
• Wudbeiser - Gravitation (a parody of Budweiser)
• Vagrant's Choice Fortified Scotch - The Simpsons
 • Victory Gin - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
• Yebichu - Neon Genesis Evangelion (a combination on real beer Yebisu
and Ebichu, both of which the creators were fans of)

See also: List of fictional mixed drinks

~~~~~~~~~~

Carbonated Beverages
• 6+ - The Man Who Sold the Moon
• bebop cola - Sealab 2021, Comes in a variety of flavors: Root Bird,
Gilberto Grape, Artie Shawberry, Kiwi Holliday, Peachmo, John Cola-trane,
Don Wild Cherry, Vince Guavaldi, Dave Bruberry, Cab Colaway, Dexterade,
Nina Lemone, Mango Reinhardt, Getzberry, Fizzy Gillespie, Marian
McPineapple, Or'ngette Coleman, Mingus Dew, Plain, and Diet Plain.
• Bouncy Bubble Beverage (aka B3). Also B1, B2 and B4. - Paranoia RPG
• Brotherhood's Sparkling Pomayde - Murder Must Advertise and Montague
Egg stories (both by Dorothy L. Sayers)
• Bubbleshake - (actually an addictive appetite suppressant) Doctor Who
• Buzz Cola - (also Crystal Buzz Cola) The Simpsons
• Cactus Cola - The Flintstones
• Cadre Cola - The Running Man movie
• Carbie Cola - (The most carbonated soft drink ever), Fillmore
• Coo-Coo Cola - Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
• Cowboy Cola - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Mirage Studios comics)
• Dopokoke - cocaine-spiked drink in For His Son, a 1912 D. W.
Griffith short
• Double Bubble Burp-a-Cola - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
• Ebola Cola ("The hemorrhage that refreshes") - Transmetropolitan comics
• Fizzade - Doctor Who
• Fizzy Lifting Drinks - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
• Fukk Cola - Syrup
• Grepis-Cola - 75th most popular soft drink in the world - Daniel
Pinkwater's Borgel
• Hip Pop - The Simpsons
• Jammin' Orange Blast - Futurama
• Jooky - Sprite TV commercial, "It's a party in a can!"
• Kreml cola - One, Two, Three
• Moka Cola - The Man Who Sold the Moon
• Mrs. Arbiter's Ginger Beer - Discworld
• Nozz-a-La - Dark Tower, an alternate version of Coca Cola.
• Nuka-Cola - Fallout
• Nuke cola - Deus Ex
• Patrola Cola - window cleaner with soy beans from Robert Downey Sr.'s
"Putney Swope"
• Pepsi Perfect - Back to the Future Part II
• Poop Cola - Invader Zim
• Purple Flurp - Jimmy Neutron
• Rocka Cola - The Flintstones
• sHades - ("sHades - The soda from Hell") - The Long Dark Teatime of the
Soul
• Slug-o-Cola - '
• Slurm - Futurama
• Soder Cola - DC Comics, esp. Superman titles
 • Soylent Cola ("The Taste Varies from Person to Person") - Futurama
• Sprunk -
• Volt Cola - Beavis and Butt-head (parody of Jolt Cola)
• Yo-Joe Cola - G.I. Joe comics
• Zesti Cola - DC Comics, esp. Batman titles; Soder's great rival.

Other beverages
• Aquarta Milk - Mad magazine
• Bucket's Bovine-, Ovine- and Caprine-Based Drinks - Discworld
• Cardio Punch Sports Drink - Lizzie McGuire
• Chocolate Chip Juice - Sealab 2021
• Colombia's Shame Discount Coffee - The Simpsons
• Crab Juice - The Simpsons
• Curly Mountain Straight - Klatchian coffee, Discworld
• Dalai Lamanade - faux earth-friendly beverage, "The Heartbroke Kid"
episode of The Simpsons
• Dr. Breen's Private Reserve - Bottled water, Halflife 2
• Drink - a drink (all foods and beverages in the film are similarly branded.)
- Repo Man
• Ersatz Brothers Coffee ("look for the can in the plain brown can") - The
Firesign Theatre
• Extreme Walrus Juice - Futurama
• Garden Blast - organic vegetable juice - The Simpsons
• Jamin' Juice - Home Movies
• Malk ("Now with more Vitamin R!") - The Simpsons
• Mococoa - All-natural chocolate drink, made from beans grown on the
upper slopes of Mt. Nicaragua (The Truman Show)
• Morgan Springs - bottled water brand - Seinfeld 6th season episode "The
Gymnast"
• Moland Springs - bottled water brand created by the merger of Morgan
Springs and Poland Creek - Seinfeld6th season episode "The Gymnast"
• Lord Green tea (a play on Earl Grey tea) - Discworld
• Poland Creek - bottled water brand - Seinfeld 6th season episode "The
Gymnast"
• Red Desert Special - Klatchian coffee, Discworld
• Salty Lemonade - Invader Zim
• Shiz! - Futurama
• Slurm ("it's highly addictive!") - Futurama
• Squishee - Slurpee-type drink, The Simpsons
• Swill - Mineral water, Saturday Night Live
• Twentyman Teas - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Yahoo - Chocolate beverage, Angry Beavers,Hey Arnold

Food and grocery products

• Aloafa Bread - Mad magazine

• Angry Norwegian Anchovies - Futurama
• Apounda Butter - Mad magazine
• Apple Gunkies - fictional sponsor of advertisements on MIT student radio
station
• Arnie's Whole Beef Halves - Firesign Theatre
• Admirable Bird's Deep Fried Chicken Fingers - Firesign Theatre
• Bachelor Bar - Futurama
• Bachelor Chow - Futurama
• Bean Bay Beans - "They're the beaniest!" Futurama (TV series)
• Beef Log - The Brak Show
• Beer-battered Ticks - Firesign Theatre
• Belly-Up Mackerel - Grand Theft Auto III
• Billy Jack Dog Food - Firesign Theatre
• Blackbury Pickles - Johnny and the Bomb
• Bucket's Dairy Products - Discworld
• Bunbury's Wholemeal Flour - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Burger Drops - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Calculon's Own - unknown product seen in refrigerator on Futurama
• Captain Eightpanther's Travellers Digestives - Discworld
• CHAM (a takeoff on SPAM) - Hey Arnold!
• Chef Lonely Hearts Soup For One - The Simpsons
• CHOW™ - Good Omens
• Cheesy Poofs - South Park
• Chintzy Pop (The cheapest legal popcorn, most kernels are actually baby
teeth. Only Kirk Van Houten and Police Chief Clancy Wiggum are cheap
enough to buy it.) - The Simpsons
• Clammer's Beefymite Spread - Discworld
• Ding Dong King Kong Sing Song Burger - Mr. Show
• Debbie Butter - Sealab 2021
• Enchiladitos - snack chips, "Now, with 73% corn!" Aqua Teen Hunger
Force
• Fluffy Puff Marshmallows - Whoever eats a million, wins! Homestar Runner
• French-Fried Fleas - The Firesign Theatre
• Glagnar's Human Rinds - "It's a buncha muncha cruncha
human!" Futurama
• Glenbogle Preserves - Monarch of the Glen
• Gobble Wieners - turkey hot dogs, Futurama
• Groat Cakes (Heavy on the 30-weight Mom!) - Firesign Theatre
• Groat Clusters - Firesign Theatre
• Guts in a Cup! (Yum!) - Firesign Theatre
• Hungry Lummox (tv dinners) - Ren and Stimpy
• Hog Lumps - pork scratchings, Shaun of the Dead
• Ironcrust's Dwarf Bread - "T'bread wi' t'edge", Discworld
• Kaiser Chicken, ubiquitously advertised free-range chicken meat - The
Truman Show
• Kibbles 'n' Snouts - (pet food) Futurama
• Krusty Rib-Wich - made from a (now-extinct) species of insects, The
Simpsons
• Louie's Wipe Out Pumice Hamburgers - Firesign Theatre
• Macswiney's - fast food franchise in A Stainless Steel Rat is Born, featuring
porcuswine burgers (see below)
• Mama's Speghetti Sauce - ("Other sauces are thin and watery, and should
go to hell") - Saturday Night Live
• Ma Raney's Old Fashioned Wholesome Moleskin Cookies - Firesign Theatre
• MEALS™ - Good Omens
• Mega Turkey Muffins - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Merkle and Stingbat's Very Famous Brown Sauce - Discworld
• Month-old Franks - The Hot Dogs with Experience - Futurama
• Motron's Salt - Futurama
• Mouse-on-a-Stick (Wow!) - Firesign Theatre
• Mrs Edith Leakall's Premium Reserve Mustard - Discworld
• Mrs. Smith's Deep Dish Sheep Dip Cherry Stone Pies - Firesign Theatre
• Munce (an all-purpose processed vegetable product) - Judge Dredd
• Nick's Swell Pizza, with no Anchovies! - Firesign Theatre
 • Old Folks at Home Cottage Cheese - "If other brands don't contain rat
droppings, why don't they come out and say so?" - Prairie Home
Companion
• Perp - The Muller-Fokker Effect
• Pizza in a Cup - The Jerk
• Porcuswine - genetically-engineered cross between a pig and
a porcupine found in A Stainless Steel Rat is Born
• Powdered Toast - Ren and Stimpy
• Powdermilk Biscuits - Prairie Home Companion
• Rat-in-a-Box - Firesign Theatre
• Scooby Snacks - Scooby Doo
• Sleepy Joes (red beans and reds) at House of Bad Brains - Firesign
Theatre
• SMEAT, a takeoff on SPAM and Treet - Waterworld
• Son-of-a-Gun Stew - "Cowboy" Andy von de Oniyate's canned
stew, Cowboy Bebop
• South Bronx Parasite Diet Bar - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Soylent Chow - Futurama
• Soylent Green - from the film of the same name and the novel that
inspired it
• Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow - see Soylent Green
• Stay-Puft Marshmallows - Ghostbusters
• Steakfish fillet - Menu item when Moe's Place on the Simpsons briefly
became Uncle Moe's Family Feedbag, a family style restaurant; revealed
to be marketing term for 'bottom feeding suction eel'
• Swell Cheese - Firesign Theatre
• Teriyaki Donut - Japanese fast food/doughnut franchise in several Quentin
Tarantino films
• That's Not Yogurt! - Saturday Night Live
• Third & Third & Third - parody of Half and half, Futurama
• Tom Archer Sausages - The Archers
• Uncle Siggy's Peruvian Cocoa Powder - Firesign Theatre
• Wienie Tots - Married... with Children
• Wienie Wraps - Aqua Teen Hunger Force

TV Dinners
• Al Sharpton's Veal Medallions - Late Night with David Letterman
• Freak Show Sushi - Late Night with David Letterman
• Hot 'n' Hearty Microbe Casserole - Late Night with David Letterman
• I Can't Believe It's Not Perch! - Late Night with David Letterman
• John Gotti's Guys-Who-Crossed-Me Stew - Late Night with David
Letterman
• Jolly Green Giant's Assorted Elf Parts - Late Night with David Letterman
• Old-Fashioned Singed Tabby - Late Night with David Letterman
• Scorched Canadian Geese Extracted from Commercial Jet Engines - Late
Night with David Letterman
• Split Pea & Hamster - Late Night with David Letterman
• Swanson's Sweaty Man Dinner - Late Night with David Letterman

Breakfast Cereals
• Admiral Crunch - Futurama
• Ano-Weet - Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Archduke Chocula - Futurama
• Brekkie Flakes - UK TV commercial for Lombard Direct (loans company)
• Budget-O's - The Simpsons
• Bunbury's Breakfast Bran - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Canine Crunchies - 101 Dalmatians
• Captain Sucrose - FoxTrot
• Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs - Calvin and Hobbes
• Chunky Puffs - Ed, Edd, and Eddy
• Colon Blow (also Super Colon Blow) - Saturday Night Live
• Cocosplodies (also know as Count Frankenchokey) - Invader Zim
• Cowboy Crunchies - Toy Story 2
• Dino Puffs - Mama's Family
• Drama Flakes - The Tick
• Ethereal cereals - Robert Downey Sr.'s "Putny Swope"
• Froot Poots - All That
• Generic Puffs - Family Guy
• Grandma's Oatmeal Cookie Crunch - King of the Hill
• Honey-Coated Fiber Bears - Full House
• Jackie O's - The Simpsons
• Kap'n Alphabet - Muppets From Space
• Kavity Krunch - CatDog
• Kelp Chex - The Simpsons
• Kelpo - SpongeBob SquarePants
• Krispies - Red Dwarf
• Krusty O's - The Simpsons Comes in:
• Regular
• with sharp metal rings
• with flesh eating bacteria
• Little Chocolate Donuts - Saturday Night Live
• Loosener's Castor Oil Flakes - Firesign Theatre
• Lucky Captain Rabbit King Nuggets - Powerpuff Girls
• Lucky Chodes - Ren and Stimpy
• Meaties ("Free Kid Inside!") - The Far Side
• Meatloaf Crunch - The Amanda Show
• N'yuk-N'yuks - "The Breakfast of Stooges" from The Three Stooges In
Orbit
• Oat Loops - cheap generic version of Cheerios made in Mexico, King of the
Hill
• Oaties - Married... with Children and Seinfeld
• Peabody's Piper Parritch - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Peanutbutter Puffy Outs - from Home Movies
• Quarry - "Better tasting 'cause it's mined" Saturday Night Live
• Raw Bits - Prairie Home Companion
• Reptar Cereal - Rugrats
• Shredded Meat - All That
• Spaceballs the Breakfast Cereal - Spaceballs
• Stabby-Ohs - (Itchy & Scratchy brand cereal) The Simpsons
• Stix - A spoof of Trix - Robot Chicken
• Sugar Frosted Lumps - Ren and Stimpy
• Sugar Frosted Milk - Ren and Stimpy
• Sugar Sod Pops - Ren and Stimpy
• Veggie-O's -Daddy Day Care
• Wheelies Cereal - "Stays crunchy in the face of adversity," Family Guy
Confections and candy products
• Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans - jellybeans from the Harry Potter series
(In the real world Jelly Bellyproduces under licence Bertie Bott's Every
Flavour Beans)
• Big Pink (gum) - Futurama
• Butter Scotchy Finger Pie - The New Woody Woodpecker Show
• Chocolate Salty Balls - South Park
• Chocos - DC Comics, favourite cookie of the Martian
Manhunter (replacing Oreos, which featured as such inKeith
Giffen's Justice League of America)
• Crunchy Frogs - Monty Python's Flying Circus (chocolate candy with a
real frog inside)
• Everlasting Gobstopper - Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (The
name was licensed for a realjawbreaker made by Nestlé which changes
color and flavor as it is consumed)
• Good 'N' Linty - Late Night with David Letterman
• Hardened Toothpaste Mint Patties - Late Night with David Letterman
• Higgs and Meakins - chocolate manufacturers in Discworld
• Hubble Bubble (gum) - Futurama
• Hyperbubble - gum advertised in Chewing Magazine - Calvin and Hobbes
• Jack-O's - Will & Grace (parody of Oreos, named for the character Jack
McFarland)
• Jolly Time Jelly Beans - Actually exists, but if you open a can of 'jelly
beans' a joke snake explodes out of the can in your face.
• Jupiter Crunch - candy bar from Fred D'Ignazio's Chip Mitchell series
• Krusty-Glop DoNuts, popular flavours including Kranberry Krullers,
Pumpkin Puffs, Sinful Cinnamons, and the single-glazed maple old-
fashioned - Larry Gonick's Attack of the Smart Pies (2005)
• Liquid Nitrogum - Futurama
• Mexican Monkey Brittle - Late Night with David Letterman
• Mookie Way - Late Night with David Letterman
• Mock Choc, a chocolate substitute - Judge Dredd
• Mockolate, a chocolate substitute - Friends
• Mrs. Muldoon's Expectorant Lozenges - cough sweets in Discworld
• Pep bubble gum, causes levitation - Duck Tales
• Reverend Al's Marshmallow Medallions - Late Night with David Letterman
• Roger Ebert's Mystery Log - Late Night with David Letterman
• Snacky Cakes - South Park
• Styro-Pak Cookies - Futurama
• Sunoco Resin Chews - Late Night with David Letterman
• Sunshine Desserts - a whole dessert range. In The Fall and Rise of
Reginald Perrin, the title character works for the company that makes
them.
• Stuff, a creamy whipped dessert with unusual powers - The Stuff
• Sta-Puft Marshmallows - Ghostbusters
• Swell's Goody - Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Tomboy Toffee - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Turkish Prison Taffy - Late Night with David Letterman
• Two Musketeers and a Guy with a Hacking Cough - Late Night with David
Letterman
• Whizzo Chocolates - Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Wienrich and Boettcher- very upmarket chocolate manufacturers
in Discworld
• Wonka's Nutty Crunch Surprise - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
• Wonka's Whipplefudgemallow Delight - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Nutritional supplements
• Buck-u-Uppo - P.G. Wodehouse's Mr Mulliner stories
• Jollop's Concentrated Lactobeef Tablets for Travellers - Murder Must
Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Maltogene - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Nutrax nerve tonic - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Vitameatavegemin, a nutritional supplement that incidentally contains a
high proportion of alcohol - I Love Lucy
• Soylent Green - from the film of the same name, made of recycled
humans.

Medicine and drugs

See the Fictional drugs article

~~~~~~~~~~

Clothing lines/brands

• Club Banana - Kim Possible

• Base 5 - Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
• Blackbury Boots - "If it's a boot, it's a Blackbury!" Johnny and the Dead
• Bleu Jeans - Aqua Teen Hunger Force
• Boggi's - Discworld
• Cloven Hind Jeans - Saturday Night Live
• Derelicte - Zoolander
• Didgeridoos - ' (Unglued series)
• Farley's Fashion Footwear - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Gess - from a Bruce Baum sketch on Comic Strip Live!
• Giorgio Armonster - Futurama
• Jewess Jeans - Saturday Night Live
• Lightspeed Briefs - Futurama
• Mad Mod - Clothing brand owned by former Teen Titans villain The Mad
Mod in DC Comics
• Manslip Collection - A men's underwear brand in comics by Ralf König
• Missile Gap - trendy clothing store in Larry Gonick's Attack of the Smart
Pies
• Mr. Boy - formal wear for young men on The Simpsons
• Papaya Republic - Dykes To Watch Out For
• Potato Republic - Spinal Tap
• Threadgold's Thoroughgrip Garterettes - Beachcomber
• Valentine lingerie - Dallas
• Veronica's Closet - Veronica's Closet

Tobacco products

Cigarettes
• Benson & Hedge Trimmings - Late Night with David Letterman
• Carcinoma Angels cigarettes - Transmetropolitan
• Cloud Nine marijuana cigarettes - Doctor Who novels
• Coughing Nails cigarettes - Deus Ex
 • Die-Before-Your-Kid-Goes-To-College Lights - Late Night with David
Letterman
• Drome Cigarettes - Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (a play on "Dromedary",
the kind of camel pictured on Camel cigarette packages)
• El Dorado Cigarettes - Family Guy
• Fantastic Cigarettes ("long in the leaf and short in the can") - The Firesign
Theatre
• Gasperettes - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Gee, Your Lungs Smell Terrific - Late Night with David Letterman
• Hashmore cigarettes - The Muller-Fokker Effect
• Hendi Winzerman's Small Cigars - Hellsing anime and manga (a play on
the Henri Wintermans brand)
• Highmaster marijuana cigarettes - When H.A.R.L.I.E. Was One
• Hint o' Lint 100's - Late Night with David Letterman
• Holy Smokes cigarettes - Deus Ex
• Holy Spirit Cigarettes - Kentucky Fried Movie
• Kentucky Slims Chicken-Flavored Cigarettes - Futurama
• L&M Turkish Prison Standards - Late Night with David Letterman
• Land-O-Smiles marijuana cigarettes - The Man in the High Castle
• Laramie cigarettes (and Laramie Jr.) - The Simpsons
• Llama Cigarettes - The Shadow also, presumably unrelated in NCIS (Llama
being an obvious reference toCamel
• Marion Barry "Extras" - Late Night with David Letterman
• Mazedonia Zigarettes - Syldavian brand in Hergé's Tintin album L'Affaire
Tournesol (1956)http://www.zompist.com/syldavian.html.
• MoonMist Cigarettes - Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan
• Morley cigarettes - The X-Files, Millennium, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
others
• Mr. Butt - Late Night with David Letterman* Manitoba Cigarettes - King of
the Hill
• Nails cigarettes - "Dogma"
• Napalm cigarettes - Pollen by Jeff Noon
• Necromancer cigarettes - Discworld
• Oscar Mayer Smokable Weenies - Late Night with David Letterman
• Ozark Eddie's Mentholated Skeeter Chasers - Late Night with David
Letterman
• Puffin Cigarettes - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Red Apple cigarettes - Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, From Dusk Till Dawn, Kill
Bill
• Sleepy's Mattress-Flashers - Late Night with David Letterman
• "Sun-Kissed" Cured Cannabis Cigarettes - an American product seen
in France, in which UV light converts the inactive isomers converts into Δ9-
THC, Carl Sagan's Contact
• Triboro - NCIS - an obvious reference to Marlboro
• Victory cigarettes - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
• Whifflets - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Cigarettes bearing only the sign of the dollar - Atlas Shrugged by Ayn
Rand

Cigars
• Cigars of the Pharaoh - Hergé's Tintin album Les cigares du
pharaon (1934)
• Dutch Butts - Futurama
• Le Grand Cigar - Futurama
 • Pantweed's Slim Pantellas - Discworld
• Royal Kooparillo - Futurama (a single cigar costing $1,000.00, it's wrapper
is a piece of the original US constitution)
• Zuban Cigars - Futurama (supposedly "the finest cigars in the universe")

Other tobacco products

• Blackheart chewing tobacco - Discworld
• Jolly Sailor pipe tobacco - Discworld
• Longbottom Leaf - The Lord of the Rings
• Old Toby's pipeweeds - The Lord of the Rings

Household products

• Binford Tools - Home Improvement, Toy Story

• Blam-O - What's Happening!!
• Carl Farbman furniture - Seinfeld
• Charlotte's Dead Spider Poison - The Simpsons
• Darling's Household Appliances - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L.
Sayers
• DEF-CON Owl Poison (Kills Owls Dead) - Futurama
• Ecce Omo - a parody of Omo detergent in Pedro Almodovar's Women on
the verge of a nervous breakdown
• Fibro-Val detergent - Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Freeze-O-Lux coolers - Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
• Galaxy Glue - The Incredible Shrinking Woman
• Godti Makers - Mafia-made, nanotechnology-based material synthesizers
(Transmetropolitan)
• Gritto Soap - The Three Stooges
• Gritty Kitty cat litter -- Ren & Stimpy
• Keflon cookware - Seinfeld
• Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor - Back to the Future trilogy
• Mr. Sparkle - (Japanese dishwashing detergent) - The Simpsons
• Sanfect disinfectant - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Sopo - Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers
• Strong Force Krazy Glue - Futurama

Hair, hygiene, and beauty products

• Bronzoluxe Creme - Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law

• Command Purpose Condoms - Strangers in Paradise
• Crelm Toothpaste - Monty Python's Flying Circus
• Dapper Dan Pomade - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Dead Cat Soap - Firesign Theatre
• Dibbler's Homeopathic Shampoo - Discworld
• FOP Pomade - O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• The French Stuff - Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law
• Lover Soap - Stranger in a Strange Land
• The Lung Brush - Saturday Night Live
• Mere and Stingbat's Herbal Wash (with herbs!) - Discworld
• Ocean Breeze Soap ("For people who don't want to stink It will make you
clean") - The Muppets Take Manhattan
• Ori-dent electric toothbrushes - Seinfeld
• Robo Fresh - Futurama
 • Rinse 'n' Run Scalp Tonic (with extra herbs!) - Discworld (parodies Wash &
Go shampoo/conditioner)
• Sonky's Preventatives - Discworld condoms (a genericised brand, as in "a
packet of sonkies")
• Spurt Toothpaste - Looker
• Super Lip (Ladies's Depilatory) Putney Swope
• Soul Glow - Coming to America
• Toothpaste - The Toothpaste Millionaire

Petroleum Products

• π-in-1 Oil - parody of 3-in-1 Oil, Futurama

• Aladdin Oil - Reodor Felgen's sponsor in Pinchcliffe Grand Prix
• Creak Oil - The Simpsons
• Lexoil - DC Comics
• Mobil Dick Whale Oil - parody of Mobil and Moby Dick - Futurama
• Mom's Moron Oil, for Dumb Robots, Futurama
• Mom's Old-Fashioned Robot Oil (made with 10% more love than the next
leading brand) - Futurama
• Noburpolene - "The only gasoline with added bicarbonate of sodium"
- Three Stooges episode Sing a Song of Six Pants
• Petro Mundo - Captain Ron
• Roxxon - Marvel Comics
• Snake Oil - Rudolf Blodstrupmoen's sponsor in Pinchcliffe Grand Prix

Stores, retailers, and fast-food outlets

See List of fictional stores

~~~~~~~~~~

Vehicles

See List of fictional vehicles

~~~~~~~~~~

See also: List of famous fictional automobiles

~~~~~~~~~~

Other products

• Various ACME products - Wile E. Coyote and other Looney Tunes animated
cartoons
• Arachno Spores - "The fatal spore with the funny name!" - Futurama
• Akina iconographs - imp-powered "cameras" in Discworld
• Baby Smokes-A-Lot - doll, Family Guy
• Bag-O-Glass - Saturday Night Live
• Bamboo Boogie Boots - Futurama
• Bioalchemic Products - imp-powered personal organisers in Discworld
• "The Daily Supernova" - a newspaper, Futurama
• Dirty Hoe Topsoil -- The Simpsons
• Flemin's Port-a-Can - Now, with juicy shrimp and coconut urinal cakes
-- Tom Goes to the Mayor
• Dr. Flimflam's Miracle Cream - Futurama
• Flod - "the most perfect cube of fat, ever" -- Ren & Stimpy
• Gravistat - a wall-mounted device used to adjust gravity level, Futurama
• Gulliver's Buffet Trough-style Trough Breakfast -- Tom Goes to the Mayor
• Happy Fun Ball - "Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball." - Saturday Night Live
• Kegelcizer - Futurama
• Lexcorp, Lexoil, Lexair, Lex-Mart etc. - Various brands owned by Lex
Luthor in DC Comics
• Li'l Bastard - line of mischief-making kits for young children, often used
by Bart Simpson in The Simpsons
• Log, from BLAM-O - a toy sensation from Ren & Stimpy
• Loose Blood - mysterious product advertised on Firesign Theater
• Magnavolt car security system - Robocop 2 film
• Molten Boron - Futurama
• Nishi - brand of electronics, The Big Hit
• Ono-Sendai - brand of cyberdecks and other computer gear
in Neuromancer
• Old Glory Insurance - covers robot attacks ("For when the metal ones
decide to come for you - and they will.") Saturday Night Live
• Oops, I Crapped My Pants! - adult diapers. Saturday Night Live
• Ortho-pure Procreation Pills - The Running Man film
• Phat Rascall Bedding -- Tom Goes to the Mayor
• Poop (cola, chocolates, etc.) - Invader Zim
• Poopin Diggins - The Bob Show
• Pregnercise - Futurama
• Screw You, Pal tires - "If you can find a better set of tires, screw you,
pal!" Saturday Night Live
• Señor Science Scientific Melting Kit - The Brak Show
• Señor Science Carnivore Footwear Removal Device - The Brak Show
• Shankman's Rubbing Compound - "When something needs rubbing, think
Shankman!" Futurama
• Sketch-N-Etch - doodling machine in a couch gag in The Simpsons
• Slashco knives - The Simpsons
• Strong Force Krazy Glue - Futurama
• Super Adhesive Industrial Glue - Family Guy
• Thompson's Teeth - "The only teeth strong enough to eat other
teeth!" Futurama
• Try-Hard 1-11 pacemaker battery - "Picks up where your heart left
off." Saturday Night Live
• Ubik - From the Philip K. Dick novel of that name. "Safe when used as
directed".
• Va-poo-rise - vaporizes dog poop, Envy
• Victoria's Circuit - a lingerie store for robots, Futurama
• Willard - personal organizer, knockoff of the Wizard brand - Seinfeld 9th
season episode "The Wizard"