There’s a funny thing that brands do. They do this thing where they totally and utterly lose any connection with the actual meaning of their names. Apple, Orange, Dell, Polo, Mars – these are all brand names that are linked to the things they brand, not the actual words.
I’ve spent many an hour dreaming up names for things. And always tried to remind myself and my client that ultimately, nobody thought of actual led zeppelins when they said the bands name. I’m pretty confident when hearing the bands name, very few of us actually picture zeppelins in collars with leads… or whatever it may conjure in your own minds eye when forced to.
Now I find that there are some words that are so overused, so misused that the same thing has happened to them.
Sustainability. What does it mean to you? A marketing opportunity? A buzz word? A hippy thing? A movement to save the species?
So much nonsense has absolutely shat in the face of sustainability and its very point. That’s why so many ecologically motivated people I meet yack on about how green stuff needs a new brand. Pardon the controversy, but I reckon sustainability is the perfect word for finding a way forward that doesn’t have an end. A future that, well, is sustained.
What do you think?
