By: Nemesis Escalante
Brand: It is any sign that serves to identify a product, a service of the same kind, or a company in its commercial activity.
Image: It is the effective potential, the product mental representation, or the set services name offered by the franchise. The homogeneity of the services of the different franchisees is what gives the chain its brand image. (Franchise Minidictionary)
There are several brands that, due to their popularity among consumers, the product brand is used to refer to the product in general, that is, the brand becomes synonymous with the product or service it offers independently of the actual brand, and they are called Generic Brands. .
This occurs when a brand dominates a market and people strongly associate it with the product.
There are several benefits of having a generic brand such as:
- Brand recognition: when a brand is widely known by consumers, increasing visibility and awareness for the company and its products.
- Having a registered generic trademark is an intangible asset, so it can be transferable through assignment or a license of use, allowing the growth of a company and providing economic growth within it.
- When a brand becomes synonymous with the product in its category, there is a marked market dominance, which provides a company with solid competition.
- Consumers show strong loyalty towards a generic brand.
- By becoming dominant brands in their category, the company can enjoy a competitive advantage over other companies.
- Widespread use of the brand name as a generic term can result in free publicity, and greater brand exposure.
- The generic brand can provide a solid foundation for product line expansion, since consumers may be more willing to try new products under the same brand because they recognize its quality and guarantee.
Weaknesses of having a generic brand:
Although having a generic brand can have positive benefits, it can also present some weaknesses:
- The widespread use of the brand as a generic term can lead to the dilution of the brand, which means that it loses its distinction and exclusivity in the market due to excessive and improper use.
- There is a possibility that other companies will take advantage of the brand name to promote their products due to the positive association that the brand has in the minds of consumers.
- When a brand becomes generic it may be more difficult for the company to differentiate its products from those of the competition, which does not allow consumers to base themselves on the quality or guarantee of the products and only take other elements of differentiation between them such as example prices.
- By becoming generic it may be more difficult to legally protect against unauthorized use by third parties, which may lead to greater vulnerability to trademark infringement.
- The close association between the brand and the product category can make it more difficult for the company to innovate its brand or launch new products under its same brand.
Recommendations for companies that have generic brands:
Having a generic brand entails both benefits and weaknesses for a company, however, there are procedures or strategies that can be implemented to avoid the dissolution of the brand:
- Register the trademark; As a main point, it is recommended to formally register the trademark of interest for a product and/or service before it is launched on the market, because providing advertising to a brand so that it is known in the market entails investment of time, economic means, among others. Therefore, by having the right over a brand we ensure that we do not infringe intellectual property rights of other existing brands, just as we are fully assured that we have exclusive rights over its use, and we can request legal protection in the case of competition. unfair and unauthorized use.
- Maintain product quality, since associating the brand with quality helps protect its exclusivity.
- Provide advertising as a distinctive brand, even when the brand is generic, to provide value to the brand.
- Provide surveillance over the brand to detect and prevent unauthorized use.
Examples of brands that have managed to convert their naming into generics:
- Kleenex to refer to paper tissues.
- Post It to refer to adhesive labels.
- Google, which is used to refer to the action of searching on the Internet regardless of the search engine used.
- Band Aids, which should be known as adhesive plasters