Research-based Advertising to Preserve Brand Equity but Avoid 'Genericide'

Betsy Gelb and Gillian Oakenfull

The quest for brand equity motivates marketers to build a favorable brand image to differentiate their offerings from those of competitors.

Research-based Advertising to Preserve Brand Equity but Avoid 'Genericide'

Gillian Oakenfell and Betsy Gelb

In the mid 1990s, Xerox Corp, the $20-billion giant of the copier industry reportedly considered a name change (Triplett, 1994). Obviously the problem was not unattractiveness or poor image associated with the Xerox name: it was fear that the name might be ruled generic – indistinguishable in the minds of consumers from the product category and, therefore, free to be used by any copier company along with its own brand name.

Extremely high brand equity, in other words, can be dangerous, precipitating an advertising...

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