Mind share

Advertising ultimately seeks to establish what is called mind share (or share of mind). Mind share is the status a brand can achieve when it co-exists with deeper, more empirical categories of objects. Kleenex, for example, can distinguish itself as a type of tissue. But, because it has gained mind share amongst consumers, it is frequently used as a term to identify any tissue, even if it is from an opposing brand. One of the most successful firms to have achieved this is Hoover, whose name was for a very long time synonymous with vacuum cleaner (and Dyson[?] has subsequently managed to achieve similar status, having moved into the Hoover market with a more sophisticated model of vacuum cleaner).

Mind share can be established to a greater or lesser degree depending on product and market. In Texas, for example, it is common to hear people refer to any soft drink as a Coke, regardless of whether it is actually produced by Coca-Cola or not (the more accurate term would be 'cola').

A legal risk of mind share is that the name can become so widely accepted that it becomes a generic term, and loses trademark protection. Examples include "escalator" and "mimeograph". 'Aspirin' is a special case -- the US government[?] took the trademark away from Bayer during the first World War, not because the term was being used generically, but as "enemy property," because Bayer is a German company.

see also advertising, promotion, marketing

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A group of people who operate a great deal synergy in their work can be thought of having a mind share. This is the ideal state of a group. .....{could someone expain this? I'm not sure what is being said}