The world-over, marquee brands have seen their brand names turned to verbs. Xerox, Google, Godrej, etc have all seen their trademark brand names being used as verbs. View this visual recount of the "brand-verbing" phenomenon that has caught many a brand - and not entirely by design!

1. ICONIC BRANDS DOUBLED UP
AS VERBS
There are instances where brand names get replaced as verbs to indicate a
certain action. This phenomenon is popularly referred to as "Brand-verbing."
For long, Xerox has come to replace
the term “photocopy”. In daily
parlance, to “Xerox” is to get a
“photocopy” done.
Product names becoming
synonymous with a product might
bring historic glory to a company.
However, it might make it harder to
enforce the term as a trademark.
While historically, companies were hesitant to
allow their trademarks to become verbs, it
appears there is a shift in approach today.
"Brand-Verbing" at Play
Factors that Influence Brand Names to Turn to Verbs
1 2 3 4
Mass Usage Utility Lack of Alternative
Term
Convenience
Technology Brands that have Turned to Verbs
Google is one of the first
technology brands to have
found place in people's lingua
franca to come to mean "to
search" for something.
The Value Levers that Connect Brands to Consumers
How well does the
brand benefit
connect to the
consumer?
Promise Strategy Story Freshness Experience
The choices the
brand makes to drive
adoption and
connect
How does the brand
communicate their
key differentiators?
How well does the
brand stay fresh and
on top of trends?
How well does the
brand experience
live up to brand
promise?
POSITIONING BRAND PLAN COMMUNICATION INNOVATION CULTURE
SOURCES:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generic_and_genericized_trademarks
Copyright © 2016 ICFAI E.D.G.E. All Rights Reserved.
To post on Social Networking
Platform Twitter is referred to
as "To Tweet". The
"verbification" of this social
action is quite widespread. Facebook is another brand which
has come to signify social action
on its platform. "To Facebook"
something is to search for or
write about someone.