The ground has been officially broken: IKEA (pronounced “eye-KEY-uh”) is coming to Charlotte.

The Swedish mega-store is known for its affordable home furnishings, tasty meatballs, and distinctive Scandinavian names. And while the word-nerd in me gets jiggy at the sight of products named POÄNG and BESTÅ ENÖN, some may think that IKEA simply enjoys seeing us clumsy Americans struggle with three extra letters in the alphabet.
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I’m going to hop in my Beamer and grab some Mickey D’s for lunch!

I guarantee that you understood exactly what I meant when you read that sentence. In today’s world, we’ve become accustomed to using nicknames in place of brand names, but have you ever stopped to wonder HOW these brand names become nicknames? Sure, we all have a natural tendency to abbreviate, but do certain nicknames have a meaning?

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Have you ever wondered where the names for the floor plans of new homes come from? Or, for that matter, why they have names in the first place? Do buyers even pay attention to the names? Like the name of any other product in the marketplace, it can be a powerful marketing tool whether the purchaser knows it or not. Consider some of the most popular home names: Windsor, Kensington, Charleston, Canterbury. Names like these make the most ordinary of homes feel stately and important.
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Lovemarks. No, I’m not talking about the possible cause for a rapid increase in turtle neck sales among high school girls. According to Kevin Roberts, author of Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands, making an emotional connection with your consumers, earning their respect and love, will yield brand loyalty.
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