149 SELECTION 1 Business Communications Inference 6. The Chinese automobile brand names suggest that which group is more interested in speed? a. Chinese men b. Chinese women c. wealthy Chinese people d. Chinese business tycoons SELECTION Detail 7. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a word commonly used in popular Chinese brand names? a. happy b. lucky c. love d. power Detail 8. What is the meaning of rui bu in Chinese? a. quick steps b. dashing speed c. strength d. happy things Detail 9. The Chinese name of which of the following Western brands sounds like its original name but is a meaningless group of sounds in Chinese? a. Mercedes b. Marriott c. Coca-Cola d. Cadillac Author's Purpose 10. Which of the following states the primary purpose of this selection? a. to entertain readers with amusing examples b. to inform readers of the difficulty of branding Western products for Chinese markets c. to discourage Western businesses from marketing their products in China d. to make fun of the attempts of Western companies to market products in China Answer the following with T (true) or F (false): Inference Detail Inference 11. "Happiness Power" is a beer brand. 12. Mai dang lao, McDonald's Chinese brand, has no meaningful translation. 13. The article implies that branding of Western products in China has become more complicated over time. 14. The main point made by the last paragraph is that the Chinese name for the cleaning product, Mr. Muscle, translated to "Mr. Chicken Meat." 15. The branding of products in China has developed into an important industry of its own. Main Idea Inference 40 Qian li ma, or "thousand-kilometer horse," suggesting unusual strength. 145 Business Communications SELECTION 1 Skill Development: Note Taking Annotate this selection and then make Cornell-style notes of the key ideas as if you were planning to use your notes to study for a quiz. SELECTION Some brand names translate naturally. For example, when Garnier introduced one of a select few Chinese words with unusually positive associations that are used 35 tering to the wind." According to the director of Garnier's brand consultancy, the in many brand names. Garnier added the word yang, which means "flying" or "scat- Qing Yang brand name connotes "very light, healthy, and happy--think of hair in the air, just what the brand intends. Other universally positive Chinese words com- monly found in brand names include "le" and "xi" (happy). "Ti" (strength or power),"ma" (horse), and "fu" (lucky). Thus, Kia sells one model in China named MARKETING 'TASTY FUN' AND 'DASHING SPEED' After a long day's work, an average upscale Beijinger can't wait to dash home, lace on a comfortable pair of Enduring and Persevering, pop the top on a refreshing can of Tasty Fun, then hop into his Dashing Speed and head to the local tavern for a frosty glass of Happiness Power with friends. Translation? In China, those are the 5 brand-name meanings for Nike, Coca-Cola, Mercedes, and Heineken, respectively. To Westerners, such names sound pretty silly, but to brands doing business in China, the world's biggest and fastest growing consumer market, they are no laugh- ing matter. Perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, brand names in China take on deep significance. Finding just the right name can make or break a brand. 10 "Often, a company's most important marketing decision in China is localizing its consistency name, "asserts one global branding analyst. "It's also a notoriously tricky one." important? Ideally, to maintain global consistency, the Chinese name should sound similar to the original, while at the same time conveying the brand's benefits in meaningful symbolic terms. Nike's Chinese brand name, Nai ke, does this well. Not only does it 15 sound the same when pronounced in Chinese, its "Enduring and Persevering" mean- ing powerfully encapsulates the "Just Do It" essence of the Nike brand the world over. Similarly, P&G's Tide is Taizi in China, which translates to "gets out the dirt," a perfect moniker for a tough-acting detergent. Coca-Cola's Chinese nameKe kou ke ledates all the way back to 1928. It not only sounds much like the English name, the 20 Chinese symbols convey happiness in the mouth, a close fit to Coca-Cola's current "open happiness" positioning. Other names that wear well on Chinese ears while also conveying a brand's essence include Lay's snack foods Le shi ("happy things); Reebok-Rui bu ("quick steps"); and Colgate Gau lu jie ("revealing superior cleanliness"). Chinese brand names can convey subtle meanings that might not be apparent 25 to Western sensibilities. For example, "Dashing Speed" seems appropriate enough for an upscale automobile brand like Mercedes. So does BMW's name Bao Ma- which translates to Precious Horse." However, in China, "precious has a feminine connotation, whereas "dashing speed" is more masculine. This works out well for both car makers, which target different genders among China's upper crust. For 30 instance, BMW is a market leader among affluent Chinese women. its Clear shampoo in China, it lucked out. The Chinese word for "clear"-Qing-is -Us. sar makers Organizing Textbook Information for Study CHAPTER 3 146 1 SELECTION 50 in this post There was a time when Western companies entering China simply created brand name that was phonetically similar to the domestic name, even if it had no meaning in the Chinese language. In fact, such obviously foreign-looking and sounding names often communicated a sense of Western cachet. For example, Cadil. 45 lac went with Ka di la ke-a meaningless group of sounds that gave status to the luxury brand. And McDonald's got away with Mai dang lao, a term that sounds like the English version but whose characters translate into gibberish"wheat "should," and "labor." Other global companies with short names such as IBM or Gap simply expect consumers to learn their Western names. Today, however, with so many foreign brands entering the crowded Chinese market, most companies expect more of their Chinese brand names. If Chinese con- sumers can't pronounce a name or don't know what it stands for, they are much less likely to buy it or talk about it with others, in person or in social media. Instead, with some work, companies can come up with names that will engage and inspire buy- 55 ers. In China, it's not Subway, it's Sai bai wei-"better than 100 tastes." It's not Marriott but Wan Hao, or "10,000 wealthy elites." However, finding the right names and characters can be a daunting challenge Brand name development in China has become more of a science than an art, involv- ing global branding consultants, computer software, linguistic analysis, and exter 60 sive consumer testing. Some global names require careful recrafting. For example Microsoft had to rethink the introduction of its Bing search engine in China, where the most common translations of the character pronounced "bing" are words like "defect" or "virus," not good associations for a digital product. Microsoft changed the name of its product in China to Bi ying, which means "very certain to respond 65 Still, the brand is having difficulty shaking the resemblance to the original name 147 SELECTION 1 Business Communications fungti SELECTION 1 70 WRITE ABOUT THE SELECTION DISCUSSION, EXPLORATION, AND EVERYDAY LIFE Similarly, S. C. Johnson belatedly renamed its popular Mr. Muscle line of clean- ers to Mr. Powerful (Weimeng xiansheng) in China, where Mr. Muscle had a less compelling second meaning "Mr. Chicken Meat." And French automaker Peugeot thought it had a winning brand name with Biao zhi, only to learn too late that it was too close to biaozi, slang for prostitute. It's no surprise that the brand generated more off-color jokes than sales. (898 words) -From Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler, Marketing: An Introduction, 13th ed. Sources: "Lost in Translation? Pick Your Chinese Brand Name Carefully, "Shanghalist, March 28, 2014, http://shanghaiist.com/2014/03/28/hutong-schoolpick-your-chinese-brand-name-carefully .php: Michael Wines, "Picking Brand Names in China Is a Business Itself," New York Times, November 12, 2011, p. A4; Carly Chalmers, "12 Amazing Translations of Chinese Brand Names," today translations, August 27, 2013, www.todaytranslations.com/blog/12-amazingtranslations-of- chinese-brand-names/: Angela Doland, "Why Western Companies Like LinkedIn Need Chinese Brand Names," Advertising Age, March 5, 2014, www.adage.com/print/291960/; and Alfred Maskeroni, "Can You Identify All These Famous Logos Redesigned by an Artist into Chinese?" Adweek, February 10, 2015, www.adweek.com/print/162867. Recall Review your notes. Stop to talk, write, and think about the selection. Your instructor may choose to give you a brief comprehension review. THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THE SELECTION If you, as a marketing manager for your company, were charged with creating a brand name for a new product, what factors would you have to consider? How might you design a marketing campaign to recover from a branding mistake like those mentioned in the selection? Considering how easy it is to make a critical mistake when promoting a product or service in a foreign country, how would you avoid such errors? Response Suggestion: Imagine that you want to sell a product in a foreign country. How will you design a brand name that will appeal to the target audience? Whom will you consult? How will you learn about the language and the culture? The reading, "Marketing "Tasty Fun' and 'Dashing Speed" covers the following discussion topics: overseas marketing, branding and marketing U.S. products overseas, and issues with translation. Select one or more of these topics to explore with classmates and brainstorm ways that these topics affect your every day life. For example, what ways could you ensure that a product you have devel- oped is marketed accurately overseas