Having conducted many brand naming assignments over the years I understand the need to thoroughly research names and their intended application, particularly if they are to represent a company or its products and services beyond the market from which they originated. Here the name is at the mercy of different languages, customs, behaviours, superstitions and folklore. Sometimes it's just the absence of common sense. Sometimes it's a calculated gamble by the company to avoid paying what can be significant fees for naming and language research and trademark checks. It's one thing to avoid infringing someone else's copyright, it's another to prevent you and your products being ridiculed.
See what you think...
Listed below are selected brand-related blunders sourced from various websites...
The name Coca-Cola rendered phonetically in Chinese can sound like the words for 'bite the wax tadpole' or 'female horse stuffed with wax'.
Electrolux managed to successfully sell its vacuum cleaners in the UK with the advertising slogan 'Nothing sucks like an Electrolux'!
'Come alive with the Pepsi Generation' in Taiwan loosely translates as 'Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave'.
Car manufacturers seem to feature prominently in the blunder stakes...
Why did Honda name their small car Jazz? In Asian markets it was known as Fit which they were to release as the Fitta in European markets. Sadly 'fitta' is a crude reference to female genitalia in Swedish and Norwegian.
The Chevrolet Nova wouldn't sell too well in Latin America, probably because its name 'no va' in Spanish means 'won't go'. It was also alleged that the Ford Pinto in Brazil was soon renamed Corcel when it was discovered that 'pinto' translates as 'tiny male genitals'.
Daihatsu named one of their less successful models Town Cube,
Mazda Bongo Friendee Auto Free Top didn't make very many friends.
Honda has a StepWGN and a Comfortable Runabout Vehicle.
Isuzu Bighorn was rather suggestive.
The Rolls Royce Silver Shadow was almost named Silver Mist, which translates as 'organic fertiliser' in German.
And the car that has now achieved icon status in Australia, the Nissan Cedric (not far behind the Leyland P76).
Daihatsu's Opti Aerodown Beex was quite a mouthful.
But the award goes to... the Subaru Sambar Dias II Picnic-Car Astonish.
US brewer Coors lost out in Spain where its 'Turn it Loose' campaign came out as 'get diarrhea'.
There is a drink called SARS sold in New Zealand.
In Poland Osram translates as 'I'll shit (on something)'.
A Japanese top guitar band was named Thee Michelle Gun Elephant.
Standard Oil Company renamed itself Esso in the US and Enco everywhere else in the world, until its Japanese colleagues confided that 'enco' translates as 'stalled car'.
There is a chocolate bar in Germany called 'Zit'.
People of Spanish origin in Australia are quite amused by the Mitsubishi Pajero which translates as a vulgar term for a masturbating man.
On packaging for a Rowenta iron - 'Do not iron clothes on body'.
In Spanish speaking markets Parker Pen intended to use the slogan 'it won't stain your pocket and embarrass you'. This was translated as 'it won't stain your pocket and get you pregnant'.
Jolly Green Giant in Arabic means 'intimidating green ogre'.
The name Gerber, of baby food fame, means 'to vomit' in French.
There is a brand of cigarettes in Malawi called 'Life'.
A French soft drink is called Sic.
There is a Japanese sports drink called Pokari Sweat.
The US appetite-suppressant candy in the 70s/80s called Ayds.
A children's cough medicine from Boots had on its label 'Do not drive a car or operate machinery'.
In China the old Kentucky Fried Chicken slogan 'finger licking good' translates as 'eat your fingers off'.
Puffs tissues from the USA tried to sell its product in Germany only to be told that its name translates as whorehouse.
Schweppes Tonic water in Italy got translated as Schweppes Toilet Water.
When Sharwoods launched its cooking sauce brand 'Bundh' it didn't realise that 'bundh' in Punjabi has the English meaning 'arse'.
A famous drug company marketed a new remedy in the United Arab Emirates. To avoid any mistakes they used pictures. The first picture was of someone not looking too well, the next picture showed the person taking the medication and the last picture showed them looking well. Oh dear, what they forgot is that people in that part of the world read from right to left!
Bacardi concocted a fruity drink with the name 'Pavian' to suggest French chic ... but 'Pavian' means 'baboon' in German.
I guess this all points to having the good sense to thoroughly research industries, markets, countries, cultures and languages and to choose your naming consultants well. They have a big job to do. And it isn't getting any easier out there.
Happy naming.
Tony Heywood
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Photos are a Brand's Best Friend
Copy writers will have a fit. They'll choke on their toast and marmalade, spit chips, fall off the bus and miss their deadline. They won't like it but I'm going to say it anyway. In the 1 to 3 seconds a designer has available to capture the attention of a magazine reader, direct mail recipient or TV addict, a picture can create an impression on that person far faster and more comprehensively than words can. Extend that to 10 seconds and I may have to pay up on the $10 bet. Get the designer and copy writer to work together to combine a great photo with a great headline and you're on the road to success.
Let's talk about photographs. As far as photo libraries are concerned, the photos they offer tend to fall into two categories – predictable and inspired, mostly because they have to cater for a wide range of tastes and applications. Slowly but surely the typical 'americanised' shots from the big agencies are becoming more universal in their appeal. Photo libraries are big business. The impending sale price of Getty is rumoured to be $1.5 billion. Photo libraries got wise in the '90s to the fact that talented photographers see the opportunity to shoot for a photo library to be far easier and more secure financially than the heart breaking routine of touting portfolios around creative agencies hoping for the big shoot to appear.
When we talk about branding we're essentially talking about the ability to create an impression OR put another way, the ability to create within a person a positive perception of a product, service, individual or organisation. Photography plays a key role in achieving this. Branding is also about differentiation. Being able to make something or someone stand out in the crowd. Giving them an unfair advantage over competitors. To achieve this you have to appeal to one or more of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Although there are several creative agencies out there extolling the virtues of experiential branding and brand theatre, the two senses that brand communicators rely on are sight and hearing. Take websites for example. we look at them and read them, therefore graphics and words are vital. We also listen to them when audio files are played. Therefore the human voice and music can command our attention and influence our understanding and appreciation.
The visual sense is the most important. Static images, moving images and words. As far as moving images are concerned, broadband and the rise of sites like YouTube have revolutionised the way video is regarded and consumed online. Quality is an issue and will be until ultra high speed web access is achieved.
Photography is used quite differently. And here is where video directors will hate me, but I'm going to say it anyway. Video does not rely on getting every second's worth of tape perfect. Photographers however strive to get every single image as perfect as possible. Content, composition, lighting, colour balance, visual effects obtained later in Photoshop and more. Photography today integrates creative talent with technical mastery. Canon's latest top end professional SLR boasting 21.1 megapixels is not for the faint hearted.
So where's all this leading? As part of the brand development process, your brand consultant/designer will consider the creation of a portfolio of images in a recognisable and consistent style that you can 'own' as a key component of brand expression. When these photos are regularly featured in communications and marketing materials, audiences will begin to recognise their style and increasingly associate them with your brand.
Sporting goods manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and fashion houses for example devote huge attention to detail when commissioning photographs which exude the absolute essence of the sporting lifestyle, the SUV pounding across the desert or the stylish black suit on the catwalk model. As far as branding goes, we're not talking about the content so much as the recognisable style of the photo. If the name was covered up would you still recognise it as Nike, Toyota and Boss?
It is important therefore that you identify the brand values that the photos must project before the designer or art director embarks on a photo library search or prepares a brief for a photographer. Failure to do so will devalue your brand and make life difficult for your copy writer. And we don't want that now do we?
Photographing people is especially difficult, demanding a fine balance between creative talent, people skills and technical mastery. Few photographers have this balance. Check out Paul Simcock at www.paulsimcock.com – one of San Francisco's finest when it comes to delivering on tough brand building assignments. We show some of his fine photos here on this post.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
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Let's talk about photographs. As far as photo libraries are concerned, the photos they offer tend to fall into two categories – predictable and inspired, mostly because they have to cater for a wide range of tastes and applications. Slowly but surely the typical 'americanised' shots from the big agencies are becoming more universal in their appeal. Photo libraries are big business. The impending sale price of Getty is rumoured to be $1.5 billion. Photo libraries got wise in the '90s to the fact that talented photographers see the opportunity to shoot for a photo library to be far easier and more secure financially than the heart breaking routine of touting portfolios around creative agencies hoping for the big shoot to appear.
When we talk about branding we're essentially talking about the ability to create an impression OR put another way, the ability to create within a person a positive perception of a product, service, individual or organisation. Photography plays a key role in achieving this. Branding is also about differentiation. Being able to make something or someone stand out in the crowd. Giving them an unfair advantage over competitors. To achieve this you have to appeal to one or more of the five senses - sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Although there are several creative agencies out there extolling the virtues of experiential branding and brand theatre, the two senses that brand communicators rely on are sight and hearing. Take websites for example. we look at them and read them, therefore graphics and words are vital. We also listen to them when audio files are played. Therefore the human voice and music can command our attention and influence our understanding and appreciation.
The visual sense is the most important. Static images, moving images and words. As far as moving images are concerned, broadband and the rise of sites like YouTube have revolutionised the way video is regarded and consumed online. Quality is an issue and will be until ultra high speed web access is achieved.
Photography is used quite differently. And here is where video directors will hate me, but I'm going to say it anyway. Video does not rely on getting every second's worth of tape perfect. Photographers however strive to get every single image as perfect as possible. Content, composition, lighting, colour balance, visual effects obtained later in Photoshop and more. Photography today integrates creative talent with technical mastery. Canon's latest top end professional SLR boasting 21.1 megapixels is not for the faint hearted.
So where's all this leading? As part of the brand development process, your brand consultant/designer will consider the creation of a portfolio of images in a recognisable and consistent style that you can 'own' as a key component of brand expression. When these photos are regularly featured in communications and marketing materials, audiences will begin to recognise their style and increasingly associate them with your brand.
Sporting goods manufacturers, automobile manufacturers and fashion houses for example devote huge attention to detail when commissioning photographs which exude the absolute essence of the sporting lifestyle, the SUV pounding across the desert or the stylish black suit on the catwalk model. As far as branding goes, we're not talking about the content so much as the recognisable style of the photo. If the name was covered up would you still recognise it as Nike, Toyota and Boss?
It is important therefore that you identify the brand values that the photos must project before the designer or art director embarks on a photo library search or prepares a brief for a photographer. Failure to do so will devalue your brand and make life difficult for your copy writer. And we don't want that now do we?
Photographing people is especially difficult, demanding a fine balance between creative talent, people skills and technical mastery. Few photographers have this balance. Check out Paul Simcock at www.paulsimcock.com – one of San Francisco's finest when it comes to delivering on tough brand building assignments. We show some of his fine photos here on this post.
Tony Heywood is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, founder of Heywood Innovation in Sydney Australia and joint founder of BrandSynergy in Singapore.
tony@heywood.com.au
www.heywood.com.au
Share on Facebook
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