Brand world building

Member lesson

Language, coinages and in-jokes

Lesson 6 of 11 in Brand world building.

Lesson

Naming your own things is one of the cheapest world-building moves available. A brand that has its own word for a size, a process, a customer or a moment has created something that belongs to it and travels in ordinary conversation. Starbucks calling its cup sizes Tall, Grande and Venti is the familiar case.

A café regular and a barista share a nose-tapping hand sign as the barista takes a tall narrow cup, a newcomer watches smiling, and two people outside carry the same cups.
A regular orders with a private hand sign and the barista reaches for the café's own odd-shaped cup. Having your own words and jokes makes customers feel like members.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A word the brand invented for something. Ownable, and occasionally trademarkable.”

    • Canon
    • Cast
    • Coinage
    • Brand world
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The set of words the brand uses for its own things.”

    • Enforcement
    • Fan work
    • Lexicon
    • Fandom
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “A trademark becoming the ordinary word for the category, and losing protection.”

    • Fan work
    • Genericide
    • Fandom
    • Borrowed interest

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