Kurmala Oct 4, 2010:

Harness the Power of Names, Signature Words Brands try to own a word or short phrase in the minds of consumers. When people hear the word, they think of the brand. For example, Fed Ex owns “overnight,” Coke owns “cola” and Volvo owns “safety.”

Owning a word is important because it means that your brand is positioned in the mind of prospects with an important attribute. Your brand has meaning to people in a world where there are so many brands and messages that most do not stand for anything. It’s like being the dominant response that comes up when a key word is entered on a search engine.

Owning a word can help self brands, too. Your word can be a positive attribute that defines you. It could be a niche in the market that you dominate. It could even be an idea or point of view that you are known for. Many people end up owning a word through writing a book like Larry Bossidy did with “execution,” Tom Peters did with “excellence,” Al Ries and Jack Trout did with “positioning,” and Conrad-Levinson did with “guerrilla.

Jack Welch didn’t need to increase his well-knowness as a celebrity CEO by writing a book (though he may have wanted to do some brand polishing after a messy divorce).