What is the brand?

Just as people have signatures¹, by which they may be identified, so businesses have trademarks that distinguish² their products. Nearly everyone knows the golden arches of McDonald's or the wave on a Coke can or bottle.

According to a code adopted in 1963 by the IAPIP³, a trademark may consist of words, letters, numbers, names, the shape of a product or its packaging, combinations of colors. Each of these identifying symbols is a form of property⁴ that belongs to the company that uses it.

A brand name is one of the most common trademarks. Sometimes, a company name is used as part of a trademark (e.g. Heinz Tomato Ketchup). The names may be contrived⁵ (e.g. Ekonika or Sladko). Some brands have names of people. Tea brand Dilmah is composed of the parts of names Dilhan and Malik, sons of the tea producer. Some brands have mistakes in their names. Brand of vegetable oil is called Zolotaya semechka, but according to the rules of the Russian language, it should be called Zolotoye semechko.

One of the most successful brands in the world is the Barbie. It was created in 1959 for those girls who wanted to have dolls looking like young women, not babies. Barbie has had 75 professions – from astronaut to presidential candidate. In 1961, Ken – Barbie's boyfriend – was introduced. She has little sisters and friends from different ethnic groups. Now there are 15,000 different things and costumes for Barbie. Her popularity never ends. One Barbie is bought every 2 seconds.

Notes: ¹signature – подпись

²to distinguish– отличать

³IAPIP (International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property) – Международная ассоциация по охране промышленной собственности

⁴property – собственность

⁵to contrive – придумывать

Business etiquette

Te beginning of the 21st century saw great interest in business etiquette in the USA. It can be surprising, but in this era of takeout foods¹ and dress-down² Fridays, etiquette is becoming very important. The bookstores are filled with different handbooks about special features of doing business in various countries, on e-mail manners, table manners, etc. Colleges and universities are giving their students a competitive edge³ in the job market, offering special courses. Businesses are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for seminars and workshops⁴ on business etiquette.

An etiquette expert Dorothy Johnson tells the story of the businessman who came to her for help after he was not employed by a big corporation. At a lunch meeting with a senior manager of the company, he sat down and immediately started eating the salad in front of him. He looked up and saw that his boss, who had not picked up his fork yet, was staring at him. "I knew right then they were going to send me out," he said. If he knew the manners, he would have known to wait until his host started eating.

The recruiters⁵ do not offer jobs to candidates who salt their food before tasting, because it shows a tendency toward hasty⁶ decision-making, or to those who order very expensive food at restaurants.

Etiquette has not been a priority during the last two decades. Nowadays, top corporations hire specialists to teach business etiquette, which could include anything from how to place a napkin to how to hold polite dinner-table conversation.

Notes: ¹takeout foods – бутерброды

²to dress-down – одеваться неформально (в американских фирмах в пятницу можно приходить на работу

в джинсах и без галстука)

³competitive edge – кoнкypeнтнoe пpeимущecтвo

⁴workshop – пpaктичecкoe зaнятиe, мастер-класс

⁵recruiter – cпeциaлиcт пo найму кaдpoв

⁶hasty – поспешный, необдуманный