The conundrum of branding

Branding a product is always a tough decision, especially when it is aimed at an international audience. Words that sound perfectly logical in one language can mean something completely different –and sometimes unfortunate- in others. An example that often comes to my mind when thinking about branding fails: the detergent Barf, which in Persian means “snow”, but in English… Evokes everything but crispy, white sheets.

It would be like branding a cute line of lipsticks “Kiss”, which would be very becoming… Until it reaches Sweden, where “Kiss” means “pee”. Not something you usually want to put in your lips!

Today I found this interesting article in The Economist. “Branded a fool” talks about this specific problem, namely international branding. There is a whole industry dedicated to this field, and there are strategies and guidelines here and there. And they make all kinds of sense, too: 

• “People avoid extra effort every chance they can; a name that is hard to spell or remember is harder to Google and buy from”: well, a brand is, after all, something created to make the product stick in our minds so that we feel like purchasing it. And every day we have increasing difficulties remembering even our phone numbers. So yeah.

• “Pronounceability in a wide variety of languages may be more important”: duh, try pronouncing “Donaudampfschiffahrtsgesellschaftskapitän” – hard even for German natives! Certain languages have spelling systems that can be a nightmare for foreign speakers, and words like this one are certainly not going to stick.

• “An evocative name sets off a chain of associations in the mind”: yes… to an extent. Like I said, a lipstick brand called “Kiss” is certainly evocative, but depending on which country we are in, the perception might change dramatically!

While the process of coming up with a brand name for a new product is absolutely fascinating and it has a lot of strategy and know-how involved, taking it abroad without any risk can be just as easy as contacting a good language agency. One that is specialized in the languages spoken in the regions you want to launch your campaigns in, and that have excellent localization services and cultural adaptation skills.

In inWhatLanguage, we can proudly say that we have the best team for these situations. With our worldwide network of native, in-country translators, we can assure that, if a brand has the slightest chance of causing a misunderstanding in the region due to the language, culture or even regional dialects, we can save you the trouble.

Let us help you overcome language barriers and conquer the business world without worries!