Branding experts say it is an ingenious way of securing customer loyalty. Persuading people to use the terminology of a company create a sense of belonging and loyalty to a brand.
Companies like Starbucks have a particular language to describe their coffee - half-caf, black, no-whip. Sizes are tall, grande, venti, and trenta

Brading and specialized vocabulary

Whenever a company gets consumers to refer to their product using branded terminology instead of a generic description, they are drawing them into their own community.
Many companies use this technique. Starbucks has not only a branded vocabulary but also a system for teaching it. The company has trained its baristas to reply to customers in Starbuck lingo.

Creating a tribe through a common language

<img src="https://www.1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg" srcset="https://www.economist.com/img/b/200/112/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 200w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/300/169/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 300w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/400/225/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 400w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/600/337/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 600w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/640/360/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 640w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/800/450/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 800w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/1000/562/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 1000w, https://www.economist.com/img/b/1280/720/90/1843magazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/il_manual_crop_16_9/public/Starbucks-Jake-RED-header-V2.jpg 1280w" alt="" width="724" height="407">You used to be able to walk into a café and get a coffee with minimal fuss. These days ordering a drink requires knowledge of a sophisticated lexicon. Seasoned customers of Starbucks, the world’s biggest chain of coffee shops, utter a rapid-fire trail of adjectives when asking for a drink, rehearsing a menu system that blends generic descriptions of hot drinks – half caf, black, no-whip – with branded jargon. Instead of small, medium and large, the company touts its own set of sizes: tall, grande, venti and trenta (the last two are trademarked by Starbucks). The coffee chain also has a particular language to describe how the milk should be added, referring to macchiatos as “marble” and mochas as “zebra”. Starbucks even uses its own grammar: you say your size before your syrup, your preferred milk before your primary drink.The company enshrined these linguistic rules in a booklet in 2003, “Make It Your Drink”. Starbucks claims it came up with the system to enable baristas to make drinks more quickly and efficiently. Branding experts say it is also an ingenious way of forging customer loyalty. Companies that persuade people to use their own terminology create “a sense of belonging and enhanced loyalty to the brand” according to Dawn Lerman, a professor of marketing at Fordham University in New York, in her book “The Language of Branding”.

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Y ou used to be able to walk into a café and get a coffee with minimal fuss. These days ordering a drink requires knowledge of a sophisticated lexicon. Seasoned customers of Starbucks, the world’s biggest chain of coffee shops, utter a rapid-fire trail of adjectives when asking for a drink, rehearsing a menu system that blends generic descriptions of hot drinks – half caf, black, no-whip – with branded jargon. Instead of small, medium and large, the company touts its own set of sizes: tall, grande, venti and trenta (the last two are trademarked by Starbucks). The coffee chain also has a particular language to describe how the milk should be added, referring to macchiatos as “marble” and mochas as “zebra”. Starbucks even uses its own grammar: you say your size before your syrup, your preferred milk before your primary drink.

The company enshrined these linguistic rules in a booklet in 2003, “Make It Your Drink”. Starbucks claims it came up with the system to enable baristas to make drinks more quickly and efficiently. Branding experts say it is also an ingenious way of forging customer loyalty. Companies that persuade people to use their own terminology create “a sense of belonging and enhanced loyalty to the brand” according to Dawn Lerman, a professor of marketing at Fordham University in New York, in her book “The Language of Branding”.

Why we speak Starbucks

Brading and specialized vocabulary

Creating a tribe through a common language

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