Do you ever play word association games with your employees or even among friends?
For example, if I say bookseller would you answer Amazon or some other company?
What about coffee? You might say Starbucks but I bet not as many people would give that answer as would have a few years ago.
Does shipping elicit the response of UPS or FedEx? How many of you thought of the US post service first?
What word jumps out when I say airlines? Was it the name of an airline or a four-letter word that flashed first? I bet a lot of you cringed.
What word jumps out when people talk about your business or industry? Is it your company?
Even more importantly, what word leaps into someone's mind if we say the name of your company?
I hope it isn't one of the four-letter ones.
Not to be contrary, but “love” is a four-letter word I wouldn’t mind associated with my company. So long as it’s in the healthy, “isn’t she great!” way and not the creepy, “I want to smell her shoes” way.
Ahhh.love would be a wonderful word to come to mind, wouldn’t it.
Four-letter words are usually thought of as being profane. But, you,
Kathleen have picked the best of all.
Funny, Kathleen and I had the same thought. I guess we just expect you to say something that’s cheerful (rather than rude)!
To be clear, what I meant was that when I saw “four letter word” on your blog, the word “love” popped into my head too (just like Kathleen), rather than something mean. I associate you with cheerful and nice, so I thought of something friendly.
Wow, it is very nice to be associated with cheerful, nice and friendly Thank you, Jodi. But, just to set the record straight, I spent 4 years in the navy where I learned that a sentence must contain at least 4 swear words. 🙂
Now, of course, that seems to be accepted language for too many people I hear on the streets.