Global naming no-nos
This is my working title for an upcoming booklet on global naming—do we like it?
Across various Truth in Branding series booklets, I’ve talked about truths. I’ve busted myths.
But I’ve never really wrangled no-nos.
Until now.
And what better place to find a whole lot of no-nos than in names that need to travel around the world?
Side note: My last early summer live class focus is How to Filter Out Naming Risks—overcome your fear of talking to your clients about trademarks, linguistics, and other potential issues that could prevent them from using a name successfully. Join me in class on June 25 and 26 at 8am Eastern!
At the moment, I’m working on a draft that gathers a lot of insights I’ve gained about things that don’t work well when you’re naming for an audience that spans languages and cultures. The full volume will come out at the end of the year—you can sign up for the Wild Geese Studio’s Truth in Branding newsletter if you want to be the first to get it. (I’ll probably also write about it here.)
The only blanket rule of global name development: If you assume a name will be “fine,” you’re probably wrong
Unless you're fluent in every language and dialect spoken around the world, as well as the cultural contexts tied to the use of those languages and dialects, you're unlikely to successfully create, launch, and manage a name globally without a *little* help.
But to give you an advantage, here are some no-nos to avoid when trying to develop a name that works all over the world.
No-no no. 1: Trying to land a name that means the same thing everywhere
A very small handful of words, even if they are spelled a little differently around the world, look and sound similar while also meaning the same thing.
Words like:
Taxi (spelled “taxi” in most places, and shows up with similar spelling/pronunciation in other languages: “taksi” in Croatian, “tacsi” in Welsh)
Maestro (I ran some linguistic research for a client earlier in the year on this word and was surprised to find how global its meanings were)
But this list is finite, and doesn’t guarantee its meaning will be understood as it relates to a brand’s name.
No-no no. 2: Trying to land a name that will be pronounced the same everywhere
You might be able to get a name that many can pronounce (lucky you!), but they're going to pronounce it differently. Think about how differently a word like "water" or "drawer" is pronounced in Philadelphia versus Los Angeles. Now take that name to two further location, like Helsinki and Seoul.
You might have trouble convincing everyone, everywhere, to pronounce it exactly like they do at your headquarters in Milan or Milwaukee. That's ok. As long as they can pronounce it somehow.
Some brands don’t mind teaching consumers how to say their name if it’s too complex—and if you’re going around the world, that will probably happen somewhere
You can do it on-pack, the way Fage yogurt used to announce on its label: "Pronounced: FA-YEH!"
You can do it via campaign, the way Chipotle did when it introduced itself to the U.K. in 2014:
Chi-pole-tayChi-pottleShi-pot–layChi-poat-lay
Some brands just roll with the pronunciations, and even nicknames, consumers give them. They don't (legally) go to market as different names, but they embrace local ways of referring to them in marketing. Felipe Valério of Estúdio Fragma (who is also my We Are Naming counterpart in Brazil), collected more examples of how brands teach consumers to say their names here and here. They’re good.
McDonald's 2022 "Wanna Go To McDonald’s?" spot was another way to do this. It featured people in 10 languages and four dialects asking, "Wanna go to McDonalds?" and included its various global nicknames, like "Mecces," "Maccy D's," and "McDo."
No-no no. 3: Trying to force sounds that don't exist in other languages
Arabic doesn't have a P.
Urdu doesn't have a V.
German will pronounce that W like a V.
Italian doesn’t have “th” and “sh” sounds.
It goes on. Even a simple English word you think “everyone knows” can create headaches for speakers of other languages.
More no-nos to come…
Other no-nos on my list for the book:
Thinking that if a name is limited to a local market, linguistics don't matter
Trying to sound global but giving away your origins through spelling choice (think “Color” vs “Colour”)
Assuming a consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel pattern will always lead to success
Demanding a name be available for a "global" trademark
Let me know if you have a favorite global naming no-no, or a question about a linguistic issue, and I’ll try to include my thoughts in my next Truth in Global Naming book.
Happy naming!
Caitlin
Want more naming resources?
Take an upcoming Naming for Everyone class
Download free booklets from the Truth in Branding series on naming and trademarks
Love this! Italian does have an “sh” sound, it’s just spelled differently (ex, Sciacca, sciascia, lasciare, etc).