The fundamental strategy for maximizing the power of a trademark is consistent, continual and repeated USE of the trademark. Trademarks are, of course, designs, logos, words or other symbols that identify a particular commercial source of a product or service. USE of the trademark is required for a trademark to even exist. And, USE of a trademark is legally required for a trademark to be registered and to have the maximum amount of legal protection. But USE is also the fundamental strategy for maximizing the power of a trademark. Use the trademark on the product itself (if possible and appropriate). Use the trademark on packaging, on instructions and warranty cards, on your website, in correspondence, on buildings and signage, on trucks and company vehicles, on employee uniforms, on checks and pay stubs and on or with anything else. The more your trademark is used, the more likely consumers and customers will recognize the trademark and associate the trademark with the product or services being offered.
Consistent use is also important. In other words, use the whole and complete trademark continually and repeatedly, not the trademark with some element added or something removed. If you add or subtract from the trademark, then you weaken your trademark, minimizing its power. Further, adding or subtracting elements creates a new trademark from a legal and marketing standpoint.
This leads to another strategy for maximizing the power of a trademark — focus on promoting one trademark at a time. A powerful trademark creates customer loyalty and drives sales. Thus, when starting out, it is essential to focus and promote and market one primary trademark. Once that primary trademark is well-established, registered and beginning to become famous, then secondary and affiliated trademarks can be launched. But here, too, the best strategy is to focus on one new trademark at a time.
Creating a powerful trademark is also about generating a pleasant emotional reaction in the mind of the consumer when they see or experience the trademark. At a practical level, one strategy for maximizing a trademark’s power is to use it and associate it with positive imagery, colors and personalities. “Positive” in this sense depends on the product or service being offered and the customer base. Thus, a trademark associated with fine jewelry might have a different kind of “positive” imagery than images used for a trademark associated with a grunge or death metal music group.
Along the same lines, another practical strategy for maximizing the power of your trademark is to associate it with concepts and ideas that are appropriate for the product/service and “fit” with how you want consumers to “see” the product and/or your business. Examples include concepts like elegance, refined or durable. Linking these concepts to your trademark will help maximize its power. As an example: “TRADEMARK is Elegance!”
Aside from the commercial value, maximizing the power of your trademarks also maximizes the legal protections that your trademark has. The more powerful your trademark, the easier it is to protect your trademark from infringement. Further, a powerful trademark is likely to be (or become) a famous trademark and famous trademarks have extra protection under US trademark laws. For more information or if you have questions about creating and registering a trademark, contact the trademark lawyers at Revision Legal at 231-714-0100
