Brands have immense power...at times they become synonymous to product usage, product category, company and so on. This can be attributed to various reasons like:
- The brand has first mover's advantage in the segment
- Excellent brand recall
- Excellent message to audience
- Uniqueness of logo, brand name etc
- Strong association with the core value/offering

Below is the list of few brands that have created an "exclusive" value in their segment:

Bisleri - Bisleri was one of the earliest entrant in "mineral" water segment in India. Today with so many players in the market, people still call any packaged mineral water as "Bisleri".Bisleri has become synonym for mineral water.
Google - For many, even today, "search" means "google". No wonder people say they "googled" about something when mean they "searched"something

Crosin - "Crosin" happens to have ultimate recall when it comes to cold and fever.

Boeing - For many, any flying machine has to be "Boeing".

Jet - Right from fighter planes to commercial ones, Jet is used to indicate speed and power

Xerox - "Xerox" is a company name...today all of us use it interchangeably with "Photocopying".

Volvo - "Volvo" is a company name...today any luxurious a/c bus is referred to as Volvo

JCB - "JCB" is a company...today any earth mover is referred to as JCB

Jeep - "Jeep" is a company...today any robust vehicle in this segment is referred to as Jeep

Asian Paints - This brand creates instant recall when it comes to paints

Fevicol - Fevicol has become synonymous to "glue"

Camle Ink - When its ink, its Camle

Syntex - "Syntex" has become a synonym for water tanks made of plastic

Godrej - When its cupboard, its "Godrej"

Typewriter - "Typewriter" is a company...but any devise in this category is referred to as "Typewriter"

Nescafe - "Nescafe" has become a synonym to instant coffee

Cadbury - Anything chocolate is referred to as "Cadbury"

Readers are most welcome to add to this list....

Storyteller - who said it?

A good script is like a fully loaded gun, but one needs an ace marksman to execute that perfect shot. That's exactly the role played by a Storyteller. Before an audience can correlate with a brand, they first (consciously or unconsciously) try and identify with the storyteller. An ideal storyteller should fulfill the following criteria:

- Wide reach
- Appeal and acceptability by the audience
- A strong brand image

But most importantly she/he must "suit" the brand being endorsed. The risk then would be to have a mis-match between the storyteller and the brand because values and attributes of the storyteller get imposed onto the brand itself. Traditionally we have seen celebrities, sports stars and virtual celebrities (like cartoons) endorsing a brand and it still continues. The audience have become so immune to the onslaught of celebrity endorsements, especially to those ads where a single celebrity endorses inner wear, to resorts to cars to cell phones and everything else under the sun. Because of these one-to-many and many-to-many associations, the advertisement becomes entertainment and the message is lost in the drama.

However, the subtle change that is occurring can be easily caught by the perceptive eye. Focus is shifting from standard "endorsers" to the ones that the everyday man can connect with - take for example the recent Maggie campaign of everyday families narrating their 2-minute Maggie "experiences". This has lot to do with the psyche of the audience as such direct "connects" give the audience a feeling of authenticity and trust.