Background:

One of our all time favorite names for a chain of outlets. When our clients gravitate too much back towards a plain descriptive name, we love to point out how they all say, "we need to stop at Kinko's". What's more, they aren't necessarily going there for copies any more. The beauty of a great name personified - it can grow with you since it doesn't pigeon hole your business.

And it is a dramatic branding weapon in the battle for the mind. Most of Kinko's competitors are still running around calling themselves Copy Shops or Quick Print shops......we forget their actual names as they all blur together. They are competing on price with 5c cheaper copies. Kinko's is reaping the financial returns of selling ever more value-add services - where the price is seldom questioned.

So how did they come up with this name that has the interesting alliteration and great "sticky" consonants? No it is not in any dictionary. It is simply the founder's college nickname! Bet you can now guess what his hair style looks like!

We are not sure we have been fair to the company on only give the logo a 6 for presentation - this must have been our visual eye voting. Rumour has it the company abandoned all fancy logos and simply went with the red dot over the i when they realized their name alone was so strong. Perhaps we should have rewarded them more for this decision.

[Editor: Logo has now changed to the one you see here, building off the strong Fedex branding.]

You already know where to find them on a local street corner, even at three a.m. But you can also visit them online at www.kinkos.com and email in your project.