Word Ownership by Company

What companies “own” common terms? According to a September 2012 Researchscape survey of 1,030 consumers, Nintendo owns fun in a way unmatched by any other brand, with 291 mentions for Nintendo, for an 85% share of the term (i.e., 51 respondents described other brands as fun). The next most used term for one brand is innovative for Apple, chosen by 157 respondents, but for only a 39% share of the term, as each brand is described as innovative by some respondents.

Certain brands are forever associated with their products: Barnes & Noble and books, HTC and phones, HP and printers, Google and search, Nintendo and games, Dell and computers, Samsung and televisions. Brands that transcend simple product mentions are Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Sony. (This is especially telling for Amazon, which sold only books in its early years and yet brings 27 other terms to mind more often than books.)

Here are the top 30 words used to describe companies, listed by the greatest number of mentions of a word to describe a particular company.

Word Ownership – Sorted by Mentions for Leader

Which of these most common terms have the least claim to ownership by one brand?

Word Ownership – Sorted by Lowest Share by Leader

See also:

Words Describing Companies

Company Profiles – Table of Contents