On Some Problems of Global Brand Naming

刘东光（浙江金融职业学院 浙江 杭州 310018)

Brand names could affect consumers'perceived quality of products in single-cue and multicue situations (e.g.,Peterson and Jolibert 1976),price (e.g.,Donoho and Nelson 1989),and purchase intentions(e.g.,Dodds,Monroe,and Grewal 1991).［1］

In domestic market,most brands are registered in Chinese Characters,like Lining (李 宁 )，Liuyanghe （ 浏 阳 河 ）,“Hengyuanxiang”(恒源祥)etc..These names have been popular to Chinese customers.But when they enter oversea markets,foreigners often give a cold shoulder to them,because they are hard to say,to spell,to read,and to remember.What’s worse,local customers have no way to enjoy the cultural connotation contained in these brands.

Some businesses use Pinyin as their brands,like Changhong (长虹),for they look similar to western letters.Yet they also fail to get satisfying result.Since pronunciation of Pinyin is quite different from English words,they still bring local customers reading difficulty.Furthermore,these practices will lose brand identities and the original connotation of the brands may be distorted.

1 Principles for Designing Global Brands

When producing a global brand expression,companies should consider the following principles.

1.1 Using English letters as elements of brands constitution

English letters are recognizable all over the world.That’s why Nike,Panasonic,Sony,Siemens can be accepted universally.

1.2 The phonetic requirements of brand names

1.2.1 The phonetic characteristics of brand names

The concept of"linguistic competence"has been widely employed in brand naming particularly in the North American market.To many American practitioners,a good brand name can be judged from its sound.For instance,American brand designers find names such as"Chanel,""Tide,"and"Coca Cola,"etc.to bear distinct features of sound appeal(Cohen,1995)and,therefore,advocate such phonetic appeal as a universal feature of successful brand names.

It is also well documented that the brand names with the beginning of explodents such as B,C,D,G,K,P,Q,T etc.are comparatively liable to be recognized and memorized.（Schloss，1981；Vanden Bergh，1983；Vanden Bergh 等 ，1984）Parsimony in spelling and simplicity in pronunciation also contribute to sound appeals.Usually a brand name should not bear more than three syllables.

1.2.2 The phonetic symbolism of brand names

Creating a successful brand name depends not only upon the creation of a name that is congruent with the product category,but one that phonetically fits the positioning of the brand within that product category(Yorkston and Menon 2004).[2]the fit between a product category and brand name can affect variables such as recall,preference,and inference (Lowrey,Shrum,and Dubitsky 2003;Meyers-Levy,Louie,and Curren 1994;Pavia and Costa1993;Saegert and Young 1983).[3]

Sound of brand names conveys some meaning.Research has shown that the front vowel sound tends to be associated with smaller and faster dimensions and the back vowel sound with larger and slower dimensions,and that front consonants are associated with perceptions of weak and pleasant,and back consonants are associated with strong and unpleasant(Folkins and Lenrow 1966;Miron 1961).

1.3 Exceeding the boundary of geographical cultures

Brand names have become conceptual vehicles for local consumers to understand socially and culturally appropriate norms and behaviors,and the cultural norms and behaviors also become relevant in brand naming.In the case of the"Dog Ignores"(狗不理)brand,when the adopted orphan,Mr.Doggy,made a fortune on his steamed dumplings in the 1800's,he could hardly have expected New Yorkers to accept his"Dog Ignores"legacy.Brand naming is imbedded in the sociolinguistic backgrounds of the consumers.

When marketers choose brand names,the below steps are strongly recommended to follow.

2 Procedures of Global Brand Naming

Step 1 Preliminary Investigation In the stage,marketers are suggested to review corporate culture,and brand identity.The regulation or laws of target countries should be studied for brand naming.In addition,the labels of competitors deserve more attention to avoid infringement issues.

Step 2 Choosing approaches and producing the choices of brand names In this step,you should consider whether you remain original names or translate them.If translation is needed,what methods are employed.According to the methods,some choices should be figured out.

Step 3 checking if the brands meet the phonetic requirements It can include what we mentioned above,like with the explodents as the beginning of names,less than 3 syllables and conveying proper meaning which fits the feature of the product category.

Step 4 checking if the cultural connotation of the brands can be accurately interpreted by local consumers.The cultural connotation should be translated on the basis of local cultural norms and behaviors and the translation should avoid evoking some negative association.

Step 5 Making the final decision about the brand name,and apply for registration According to the company’s marketing strategy,pick out the one that fits most and make a legal registration.

In the international markets,problems in brand naming will hinder the steps of a company’s overseas expansion.This article puts forwards some phonetic and cultural considerations for producing a global brand expression and points out the five-step procedures to do it.

［1］F.C. (Frank)Hong,Anthony Pecotich,and Clifford J.Shultz II.Brand Name Translation:Language Constraints,Product Attributes,and Consumer Perceptions in East and Southeast Asia[J].Journal of International Marketing，2002，10:29-45.

［2］Eric Yorkston&Geeta Menon.A Sound Idea:Phonetic Effects of Brand Names on Consumer Judgments[J].Journal of consumer research,2004，06:49.

［3］Tina M.Lowrey&L.J.Shrum.Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference[J].Journal of consumer research,2007，34:407.