by Peter R. Geyer, Managing Principal, Geyer Global Partners
There is an old marketing tale (that is handily debunked here) about how back in the 1970s Chevrolet tried to market the Nova automobile in Mexico, only to find that it sold poorly. When they looked into the matter, they discovered that "Nova" in Spanish could be read as "no va" which roughly means "doesn't go."
There is an old marketing tale (that is handily debunked here) about how back in the 1970s Chevrolet tried to market the Nova automobile in Mexico, only to find that it sold poorly. When they looked into the matter, they discovered that "Nova" in Spanish could be read as "no va" which roughly means "doesn't go."
While it turns out that this story
is not actually true, it does demonstrate the usefulness of having somebody
familiar with your new overseas target market actually review your product, its
marketing, and its positioning prior to release. What may seem like an
awesome name or marketing strategy in one language or culture, may actually end
up sending all the wrong signals in another language or culture. Even the
best product in the world can be unnecessarily burdened if it unintentionally
sends the wrong signals to its international customer base.
As I have had occasion to walk
around Berlin since moving here 6 months ago, I have run across several
businesses that appear to be very successful here in Germany, but that I think
would have a tougher time in the North American marketplace. I make my
comments here with absolutely no malice or ill will. I declare here
upfront that I have absolutely no relationship with any of these companies, and
that I have no idea whether they currently have, will have, or ever have had
any plans to expand into North America or anywhere else. I merely offer my own unsolicited
observations based purely on their names as a starting point for a conversation.
If you have been to a train station
anywhere in Germany, you have probably seen the bakery shop Le Crobag.
Since 1981, this award-winning Hamburg-based bakery franchise has offered
freshly prepared croissants, sandwiches, breads, and other tasty sundries to
commuters and other travelers from 120 stores located in train stations and
transport hubs. It is an excellent concept – selling high-quality,
freshly prepared products in high-volume and low-cost, to consumers who are on
the move and don't have time for a more substantial meal – and from what I can
tell as a casual observer, it is a reasonably well-executed model. With a
website that is not only in German, but French, Polish, and English, it would
appear that Le Crobag has aspirations of international expansion.
What is up with that name?
When the company was first founded,
Le Crobag was originally called Le Croissant, but I assume that name was changed
because the original was too generic. Unfortunately, from a North
American perspective (if I may be so bold as to speak for an entire continent),
the Le Crobag name has a few issues. The French article "Le" is
a good start, as it immediately gives the consumer an idea of who they are, and
what they do. But the word "Crobag" is an epic fail.
First, it sounds like an epithet that a teenage boy would call a female
teacher. I can immediately imagine hearing somebody say, "Mrs.
Crabtree just gave me an "F" in social studies. What a
crobag!" Second, the word Crobag does not even sound French, so the
French article preceding a decidedly non-French subject creates an unpleasant
dissonance in the consumer's ear. I get that the original idea of the
name was probably combining the words "croissant" and
"bag," which makes sense, as they are selling croissants that will be
taken away in bags. It might be more phonetically pleasing to a North
American consumer to make the entire name French, by substituting the English
word "bag" with the French word "sac." While the name
"Le Crosac" still sounds like a teen epithet, it is at least
linguistically consistent, and thus less jarring.
On Karl-Marx-Allee in Berlin, there
is a very nice bathroom fittings boutique called Bad Couture. Its large
glass windows are filled with attractive and stylish items to make your home’s bathroom
look like a place where you would want to spend more time. Unlike Le
Crobag, Bad Couture is a single store and, as far as I know, it has no
aspirations for growth overseas. That is probably a good thing.
While Bad Couture is an excellent name in Germany - where it is a mixture
of German and French meaning "Bath Design" - it would be a death sentence
anywhere in the English-speaking world.
What is up with that name?
Bad Couture is a real-world example
of what is being warned about in the apocryphal Chevrolet Nova story told
earlier. While Bad Couture makes perfect sense in a German-speaking
context, Bad Couture in an English-speaking context is an explicit statement
that the contents of the store are of tacky or poor design. A
particularly pernicious trap that this particular name would fall into in North
America is that it is combining two different languages into a single name
(much like Le Crobag). Even though the phonetic sound of Bad Couture is
not displeasing to the ear, its mix of languages would confuse an
English-speaking consumer. Americans generally will know the meaning of
"Couture" through wide-spread exposure to fashion magazines and
television shows about the fashion industry, and even if they do not, the word
is close enough to the English word "Culture" to carry with it
positive aspirational connotations. However, the German word "Bad" has the
disadvantage of having the exact same spelling as an English word with strongly
negative connotations. First impressions are key, and you don't want the
first impressions to be either confusion or negativity.
Of course, I do not want to pick only on
the Germans. Having lived previously elsewhere in Europe, I was amused by some
American companies that caused me to think, "Oh my! They'd better
not try to export that to Europe!" And in a spirit of fair-play, I
will share with you my particular favorite.
Formerly a chain, but now reduced
back to its original store in Westwood, Massachusetts, Frugal Fannie's was
originally, apart from being a retailer in its own right, a clothing
wholesaler. Back in 1983, when one of their major customers went bankrupt
and Frugal Fannie's found itself with a warehouse full of clothing with no
buyer, they decided to open this warehouse to the public for a weekend to try
to get rid of their overstock. That weekend sale was so successful that
they held another one. Frugal Fannie's realized quickly that they were on
to a new concept in retail: keep overhead incredibly low, open only on
weekends, and sell clothing at steeply reduced prices.
What is up with that name?
Fannie is the nickname of one of
Frugal Fannie's founders, and frugal definitely describes the type of consumer
that they are targeting. But heaven help them if they ever decide to take
their concept to Great Britain. I had the good fortune to attend boarding
school in England back in the late 1980s. At the time, what Americans
call "fanny packs" were all the rage. These are belted pouches
that can be strapped to your waist and that are large enough to carry cameras,
wallets, keys, or other bulky items that may not fit in your trouser
pockets. I had one of these fanny packs, which I would use when going
into town (really, it was the 1980s, it wasn't that bad back then).
However, whenever I would say something to the effect of, "Where is my
fanny pack? I need somewhere to carry my wallet," my British friends
would either give me exceedingly odd looks, or they would immediately fall to
the floor laughing hysterically. It turns out that the word
"fanny" is somewhat archaic British slang for female genitalia.
Even though its spelling is slightly different, if Frugal Fannie's moved to
Great Britain, it is probably not the best marketing to have a sign over the door that
brings to mind a "cheap c**t." (My sincere apology to all
concerned for that last comment, but the British slang term is equally vulgar
in its meaning.) Admittedly, the word fanny in North America is also
humorous for being polite slang for somebody's backside – generally used by
mothers who shy away from using the word “butt” in front of their children –
but the joke lacks the same vigorous punch that it carries in Britain.
I of course realize that the names
of all of the companies I have mentioned here were developed with a particular market
and a particular consumer in mind. For where they are now, these names
are perfectly good and are perfectly appropriate, and I certainly mean none of
them any malice or harm by taking their names out of their original and intended context.
But I use them here as examples of how, when you move to a new country or to a
new continent, the old rules for coming up with an effective name no longer
apply. That is why it is so important to get advice from somebody with
intimate understanding of the target market in order to ensure something as
basic as your name does not create the wrong impression.
For more information on how Geyer Global Partners can help your business to "Go Global," visit our website at www.geyerglobal.de.
For more information on how Geyer Global Partners can help your business to "Go Global," visit our website at www.geyerglobal.de.
