SIM Is Like LEGO
- Posted by Steve K. on June 26th, 2008 filed in Uncategorized
- 1 Comment »
Is “thou shalt not confuse thy brand name with another” one of the 10 commandments?! Gosh, I hope not …
I recently found an intriguing little comment thread over on Phil Vischer’s blog, discussing the brand identity of the LEGO company:
According to the official LEGO website (and yes, guys, it is always used in all CAPS, so take note, please):
From http://cache.lego.com/downloads/aboutus/LEGO_company_profile_UK.pdf:
Please help us to protect our brand name:
The LEGO brand name should always be written in capital letters.
LEGO must never be used as a generic term or in the plural or as a possessive pronoun, e.g. “LEGO’s â€.
When the LEGO brand name is used as part of a noun, it must never appear on its own. It should always be accompanied by a noun. For example, LEGO set, LEGO products, LEGO group, LEGO play materials, LEGO bricks, LEGO universe, etc.
The first time the LEGO brand name appears it must be accompanied by the Registered symbol (which is printed on their website, but I couldn’t get it to copy here).
Thank you for helping us!
You don’t realize how devastating this has been for me to read! I grew up calling these little plastic toys “legos,” and now I’ve come to learn that they were really “LEGO bricks.” How could I have gotten it so wrong?!
Well, I’m sure you’re wondering: What in the world does this have to do with SIM? You see, we have a brand name, which (like LEGO) is all capital letters—S – I – M. (Except ours is pronounced S – I – M.) That is the official name of our organization. As our FAQ page explains in further detail, our trade name is “Serving In Mission,” but in some countries SIM stands for “Society of International Ministries” or, as the French speakers say, “Société Internationale Missionnaire.”
Contrary to popular belief, the name of our organization is not “Serving In Mission” or “Sim,” although I hear and read both of those versions quite regularly (sometimes even in our own in-house publications! d’oh!). One hundred years of being called “Sim” doesn’t help the cause of correcting people’s collective memories.
So what can be done to help everyone (inside the organization and outside the organization) to understand that we are S – I – M (and not these other names)? I’m open to ideas and suggestions. For now, I’ll just take comfort in knowing we’re in good company, right there with good ol’ LEGO.
June 26th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
How about dots? You know, S.I.M.
But really, what’s the point? I knew about the LEGO thing too, and it seems that the only thing it does there is make the company come off as pretentious. Is that the goal?
Your problem is an unfortunate, but simple one. SIM is ultimately pronounceable, and as such, people are always going to say it like a word, not spell it like an acronym. If your initials were ISM, MSI, and even possibly MIS or SM, very few people would attempt to pronounce what they see.
If it’s a huge deal, why not change the name to International Missions Society? IMS. Then you’d only have to fight the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for acronym recognition.