From delicious drinks and fine means of transportation
Do you drink Coca Cola? Sure! Do Chinese people also drink Coca Cola? No. Excuse me? One of the most famous brands in the world, which you can still get in the deepest jungle in a half-forgotten vending machine, is unknown in China? Of course not. China is one of the most important markets for the drinks gurus from Atlanta. Only the name Coca Cola does not exist in China. Coca Cola is a drink for everyone, including the masses. However, the masses in China have little use for Latin characters. So a suitable translation with Chinese characters had to be found. If you proceed phonetically, you quickly run the risk of conveying unintended meanings in the Middle Kingdom, which can have a counterproductive effect. Phonetically, “Kou-ke-kou-la” corresponds to the Western pronunciation. The only problem is that it means “bite the waxy tadpole” in Chinese. That’s not exactly a recommendation. That’s why Coca Cola is marketed under the name “Kekou kele”, which means “tasty and makes you happy”. This description not only sounds similar, but also conveys what the marketing experts intended. What great advertising based on the meaning of the name alone!
Even the well-known brand with the blue and white propeller in its logo, BMW, is not marketed under the BMW name. When BMW built up its reputation and the name became synonymous with sporty and high-quality vehicles, China was just setting out for capitalist shores. Western brands were foreign and unknown. How was a Chinese person supposed to pronounce the Latin letters? So to conquer the country, a Chinese name was needed. They chose “Bao Ma”, which means “precious horse”. After all, this also sounds very much like BMW, expresses exactly what BMW wants to stand for and – every Chinese person understands it and can imagine something by it.
Care should also be taken with numbers. The 4 stands for death, the 8 for wealth. For this reason, Alfa Romeo changed the name of the 164 model to 168 in Taiwan, for example. Traffic in Taipei is bad enough, but who wants to sit in a car that already promises death because of its type designation? Better a car that promises prosperity.
Of investments and “sacred cows”
Of course, such names do not fall from the sky, nor are they the ingenious ideas of a Chinese employee who has an epiphany after his second coffee in the office. Such names need to be created with care. After all, companies commission well-known agencies for commercials, which develop proposals with sense and understanding in order to maximize the advertising impact and present the respective product appropriately. The creation of a suitable Chinese name must also be seen in this context. And here we are already at a sore point: money. Everyone in Germany knows that advertising is necessary for consumer goods and that good advertising is not cheap. People are prepared to accept this and invest accordingly. But in a name that half the world already knows?
Global companies already have a different background and, of course, different resources. They develop strategies to conquer the market with resources that allow them to take appropriate action. It seems to be more difficult for so-called SMEs. Clearly, resources are limited here and are usually invested in activities that have proven successful elsewhere. This is easy for any manager to understand. But that is also the keyword – elsewhere! Especially in the largest country in the world by population, there are obviously laws of success that do not correspond in all respects to those that have proven themselves “elsewhere”, and the “sacred cow” brand, of all things, is one of them!
Of “Chinese” foreigners and “English” Chinese
It is not uncommon for Chinese employees or representatives to be asked how names should be written in Chinese so that they sound as similar as possible. With the known risks that many are not aware of, often not even the Chinese employees. Interestingly, this even applies to people’s names! And this is where the Chinese show us how it’s done. If you meet a Chinese person who has a lot to do with foreigners, he introduces himself with a Chinese surname, but usually has a Western, mainly English, first name. Of course, no Chinese parents call their children Vanessa, Robert, Tom or Elizabeth. But it makes it easier to deal with Europeans or Americans, and therefore easier to do business. These first names, or perhaps even better “stage names”, can of course be chosen by the Chinese themselves, and they often choose a name that they associate positively with other role models, such as the names of popular actors.
When in China, do as the Chinese do
No Chinese has been waiting for the achievements of German SMEs, but everyone wants to sell their products to the Chinese. If you don’t have a unique selling point for specific reasons, but want to make the Chinese happy, you should therefore think carefully about how best to position your brand in China – preferably with a name that really appeals to the Chinese! This is not only good for sales, it can also be an advertisement in itself. Because tea is simply tea, but Coca Cola makes people happy and tastes good. What more could you want?
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Intercultural training China
