There’s certain brands that grow in popularity so much so that the brand name is used to describe a specific product.
But here’s the catch, this doesn’t happen overnight. The brand has to be positioned correctly in the market, and the necessary investments be made in bringing the brand to the masses.
The more people see the brand, the more likely they’re to remember it and thus, associate it with a specific product category.
If you grew up in a predominantly black community, you may relate better with the following brands as they are commonly used as generic names for products.
Colgate
Colgate is one of the most iconic brands in the world. The brand was founded in 1806 by William Colgate, it started by producing toothpastes in 1873, and they were sold in jars.
Over the years, Colgate toothpastes have become so popular in South Africa to a point where most black South Africans use Colgate toothpaste as the generic term for toothpastes.
Happy Socks
The Happy Socks brand was founded in 2008 by two Sweden friends, Viktor Tell and Mikael Soderlindh. Happy Socks was created with the intentions of inspiring happiness in the lives of its founders, and those around them.
In South Africa, Happy Socks have become so popular that any colourful socks are called Happy Socks even though they may not be the case.
Checkers
Checkers is one of the top 5 retail brands in South Africa, the company was founded by Norman Herber in 1956. Over the years, the brand ran into some financial troubles, and was acquired by the Shoprite Group in 1991.
Unlike Shoprite, Checkers is targeted at the upper class and you will not find any of its supermarket stores in the townships. Ironically wise, Checkers is a popular term used for plastic bag in the townships.
Dawn
Dawn lotion is a product of Unilever that was launched in South Africa during the 1960s. According to the company’s website, Dawn is one of the biggest brands in the Body lotion market.
Its reputation in the townships has led the brand to be used as a common word for all body lotions.
Rama
Rama margarine is one of the most trusted margarine brands in most South African families. The brand has become so popular that any margarine brand is referred to as Rama.
Coke
Coke is a short name for Coca-Cola. The formula was created by John Pemberton in the 19th century as a patent medicine. The formula was then bought by Asa Candler, whose marketing led the brand to dominate the soft-drink market for decades.
South Africans use Coke to refer to any soft drink you can think of.
Sta-Soft
Sta-Soft is by far the most popular fabric conditioner in South Africa. This has led to many South Africans referring to any fabric conditioner as Sta-Soft.
Simba
Simba, pronounced Zimba in the townships, is a product of PepsiCo. The Simba brand was as born out of the vision of the Greyvenstein family in the Eastern Cape during 1957.
You will hear a South African saying “I am craving for amaZimba Chips we Lays”.
Chappies
Arthur Ginsburg introduced South Africans to Chappies in the late 1940s and over the years, the brand has become synonymous with the word bubblegum.
To this day, South Africans still refer to any bubblegum brand as Chappies.
Vaseline
In most South African neighborhoods, the words ‘petroleum jelly’ are completely non-existent — Unilever’s Vaseline brand is to be blamed for all of this.
Vaseline was discovered in 1859 by a chemist, Robert Chesebrough. The name Vaseline is a combination of two words —
one being German (Wasse for water) and the other being Greek (Oleon for oil).
