10 Items Well Known Just Because of their Brand Name

It's the pinnacle of branding. Your brand's name replaces the actual name of the product. It's crazy cool if you can get your brand to this level.

Dumptster: The actual name is front loader waste container or mobile garbage bin. The name dumpster was first used in 1936, by the Dempster Brothers, who patented this style of trash container one year later.

ChapStick: It's called lip balm. You probably knew that, but did you know it was invented in the 1880s by a doctor and pharmacologist in Virginia? Dr. Charles Browne Fleet sold the rights to the lip balm for $5. Today, Pfizer owns the brand.

Hula Hoop: Humans have probably been using some form of the toy hoop-as it's known generically-for centuries, maybe millennia. But, the Hula Hoop came about in the 1950s, when Wham-O toy company introduced the plastic hoop we known today and trademarked the term Hula Hoop. You know, for kids.

Band Aid: The adhesive bandage was invented in 1920 by Earle Dickinson, an employee of Johnson and Johnson. He created it because his wife frequently cut and burned herself while cooking. What a progressive guy.

Kleenex: Facial tissue is the generic name, and legend has it that the product was created by Kimberly-Clarke Corp. for use in gas masks during World War I. Kimberly-Clarke invented the facial tissue as it's known today in 1924. Gesundheit.

Onesies: It's called an infant body suit-sounds so '80s - but the brand Onesies, owner by Gerber Childrenswear, has become the common name for it. Aww...

Post-It: The corporation 3M invented the Post-It note in 1968, but the product's generic name is sticky note, repositional note. How's that for jargon?

Wite-Out: The generic name is correction fluid, and it was invented in the 1960s by insurance company clerk George Kloosterhouse, who enlisted the help of his friend Edwin Johanknecht. They trademarked the term Wite-Out in 1974

Styrofoam: This might have the most convoluted generic name - extruded polystyrene foam. In 1941, researchers at Dow Chemical "rediscovered" a method used by Swedish inventor to create foam polystyrene. Dow Chemical owns the trademark today.

Frisbee: That flying object that you're dodging at the beach is actually called flying disc. Frisbee is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company - which you may remember from such popular toys as the Hula Hoop. Until 1958, Frisbie Baking Co. of Bridgeport, Conn., made pies, among other products. The pie tins - once relieved of crust and filling - proved aerodynamic, and New England college students began tossing and catching them. Many colleges have claimed to be home of "he who was first to fling."

Want to see more products known by their brand names? BuzzFeed has named 32.

Find New Buzzwords.

Most communications professionals have been guilty or using, and overusing buzzwords every now and then. Why do we do this, even when we know it's wrong? Even when we know it reflects poorly on us as communications professionals? Even when we know influencers hate it? Further, even when we know these words end up as e-mails in spam folders and cause a glazing (or even rolling) of eyes for those who read them? So why do we use them a lot? It's obvious, because it's the words most people want to read/hear and they are easy to understand.

This week, I invite you to try and be more creative. Pull out your thesaurus and try something new. You may find it to be more successful.

Here are some overused buzzwords you should try to stay away from:

leading

solution

best

innovative/innovate/innovator

leader

top

unique

great

extensive

leading provider

exclusive

premier

flexible

award winning/winner

dynamic

fastest

smart

state of the art

cutting edge

biggest

easy to uselargest

real time

5 Social Tips for Women to Increase Media Exposure

Locate and follow journalists and bloggers online.

Most journalists and bloggers have a Twitter handle or another online source to share content and ask questions. Take the time to follow them and read what they are working on. Get to know them on some level and join in the conversation when you can. This will help you build a relationship with them. The key is to think, how can I benefit them rather than how can they benefit me.

Leave a trail so others can follow you.

We live in a time of digital technology and we want instant answers to our questions. Journalists highly rely on the Internet for resources, and you should watch your own SEO. Make sure you have an online presence and use hyperlinks and other connections online to build your own SEO. This will make it easy for others to find and learn about you. Further, if you're going to build a social media outlet for yourself, make sure it represents yourself well. Think of your overall objective always.

Produce interesting content.

Use your website, blog or social media outlet to showcase some of your best and most interesting work, thoughts, creations, etc. Position yourself in the industry as someone who produces thought-worthy content. This does not mean you should blog or tweet just anything. Try to stay up on the news and trends, then look for unique angle that excites you and provides value. Then, learn basic SEO to try and position yourself better.

Be your best publicist.

Utilize social media releases and pitch yourself with viable story ideas to guest post on blogs with higher visibility traffic. Develop a microblogging strategy that encompasses a combination of publishing and publicity. Look for existing industry groups on social networks to increase your reach by participating in industry chats on Twitter, niche networks and message boards.

Be a resource to reporters.

Instead of pitching yourself, let them come to you with inquiries. Sign up for Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to receive daily email blasts with reporter queries from your local daily to the New York Times. Look for the stories you can serve as an expert resource to or provide helpful information to and respond.