Wikimedia Foundation/Communications/Wikimedia brands/2030 movement brand project/Naming convention proposals/Option 3

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Option #3of 3 naming convention proposals
Wiki + Wikipedia
We connect the openness of Wiki, with the strength of Wikipedia.
Movement Wiki
Movement tagline [For Projects] A Wiki Project / [For Organizations] A Wiki Organization
User groups Wikigroup Penguins*
Chapters/Thematic orgs Wikipedia Foundation Antarctica*
Foundation Wikipedia Foundation
* “Antarctica” and “Penguins” are made up affiliates

**Initial localization, for illustrative purposes only
Why this is being proposed:

This hybrid naming system celebrates openness while using our biggest brand to pursue the 2030 goals. This option has evolved from the movement recommendations. “Wiki” is frequently used to name and describe many parts of the movement. It is the interconnection between projects and groups. Even though the movement has evolved over the years, “Wiki” has always been at the core of what we do and of who we are. While “Wiki” is used by hundreds of organizations and tech products, research shows it is MOST associated with our movement. In a 2020 study of 6 countries (US, Germany, Argentina, Nigeria, India, and Japan), 92% of respondents said “Wikipedia” was the first brand they thought of when they saw the word “Wiki.”


REWARDS RISKS
  • Creates a full ecosystem with “Wiki” as the core (joining projects, groups and organizations by four letters)
  • Incorporates “Wiki” into movement naming without requiring it to be protected as a stand-alone trademark
  • Strengthens the association of “Wiki” with our projects
  • Makes use of Wikipedia as our best known brand for the formal organizations in the movement who require quick and memorable branding
  • May cause confusion about other “wiki” names (WikiHow, Wikileaks etc)
  • Can be seen as a “nickname” therefore not taken as seriously


Preliminary legal comments

“Wikipedia” is our best-protected and most well known trademark, so it is relatively easy and straightforward to begin to use “Wikipedia” more broadly and prominently in movement branding. In general, we do not own “Wiki” as a registered trademark, and it may be extremely challenging to obtain sufficient protection of “Wiki” as a stand-alone mark to be able to use it in formal contexts (such as the names of movement organizations). To make this hybrid structure work, we would need to be intentional and careful about how we use “Wiki” as a stand-alone term. There will be organizations who use or will begin to use the Wiki name causing confusion around the delineation between who is part and not-part of our movement.


Ideas for localization
All proposals seek localization from communities. Initial recommendation: “Wiki” and “Wikipedia” stay the same as they are currently represented in different languages, and all other terms (“Foundation”, “group”, “Antarctica”, “Penguins”) are localized.