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Deciphering The Indecipherable — The Dictionary of Branding
Welcome to the Scarcliff | Salvador Dictionary of Branding, the
most comprehensive glossary of branding and naming on the Web. Our
goal is to produce and maintain an up-to-date record of the terms
of art in use in our field, including the latest branding concepts,
naming styles and techniques, tagline types, and commercially-useful
linguistics terms.
Each entry is cross-referenced if appropriate and includes examples
from the marketplace wherever possible. Please contact us with your
suggested additions and corrections.
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Engram (naming, linguistics)
The neural change hypothesized to account for the memorability of
a name in the mind of the hearer. A particularly memorable name
such as Monster may trigger specific engrams in your mind.
Compare Psycholinguistics.
Epicene (naming, verbal branding)
A noun whose single form can designate either a male or a female.
The words author and poet are both examples of epicenes.
Eponym (naming, verbal branding)
Any brand name derived from a personal name, even if that person
is fictitious, mysterious, or legendary. Aunt Jemima, Betty
Crocker, Michael Jordan, and Barbie are all eponymous
brand names. Compare Matronym and Patronym. [French éponyme
< Greek eponumos ‘named after’ < epi- ‘after’
+ onuma ‘name’]
Ethos (brand anthropology)
The distinctive beliefs of a company, typically instilled, consciously
or unconsciously, by its founders.
Euonym (naming, verbal branding)
Any brand name particularly well-suited to its positioning and/or
purpose.
Euphemism (naming, verbal branding)
Any inoffensive substitute for a term considered offensive or inappropriate.
For example, Cottonelle UltraSoft Double Roll bathroom tissue
is a lengthy euphemism for toilet paper. [Greek eu ‘good’
+ pheme ‘speech’]
Euphony (naming, verbal branding)
A smooth, mellifluous sound effect, irrespective of meaning . For
example, to most English speakers, the name Charmin is pleasant
to the ear, regardless of its meaning. Compare Dissonance. [French
euphonie < Late Latin euphonia < Greek euphonia < euphonos
‘sweet-voiced’ < eu- ‘good, well’ + phone
‘sound’]
Exclamatory Sentence (naming, verbal branding)
Any brand name consisting of a complete exclamation designed to
express an emotional reaction to the product and invariably marked
with an exclamation point. The advantage, and disadvantage, of this
approach is that it fully states its message, leaving nothing to
the imagination of the consumer. Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific!
shampoo and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! margarine are
both exclamatory sentence brand names.
Exonym (naming, verbal branding)
Any place name which is pronounced or spelled very differently in
its language of origination. For example, the Italian city of Firenze
is typically referred to in English as Florence.
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