Make sure to tune into this week’s The Name Game on VoiceAmerica.com. (Tuesdays at 3 p.m. EST, 12 noon PST) I’ll be speaking with Pete Warhurst, President of PODS, a company I named about ten years ago, and one that sold last month for approximately $430 million. So from 70 storage boxes originally called “Portables” to a worldwide brand named PODS (Portable On Demand Storage) that defines its category… now that’s a good demonstration of the power of branding.

And since PODS is now the Kleenex of portable storage, and the word many consumers use to describe the actual storage units (much like people ask for a “Coke” no matter what type of cola is served) we will be asking Pete questions specific to creating and owning a word in the English language. Just how feasible and/or reasonable is it, to set out to own a word such as Apple, or Amazon, or Monster? It’s certainly not for the fainthearted, but it is doable if the timing, product and service is right. And we’ll discuss just when all those things align perfectly, and when you can actually attempt to own a word. It’s the naming equivalent of hitting a bases loaded home run, but that’s not necessarily what’s needed to win the game. Sometimes a bunt is all that’s required to score. So listen in as we talk with Pete and talk about his meteoric rise of the past ten years, and the role that branding played in his success.