Brand names and brand management play a crucial role in the marketing of any product or service. Yet, as the world is becoming more globalized, it is becoming more difficult to develop brand names that can be applied across countries. Frequently, large multinational corporations will spend lots of time and money doing market research to see how different names are received in different countries and languages.
Kraft Foods recently dealt with the consequences of choosing a brand name that has positive connotations in one language, but negative associations in another. The name of the company’s new global snack brand, Mondelez International, was chosen for the French word, monde, which means “world” in French, and “delez”, which is close to the word “delish”. Yet, when put together, “mohn-dah-leez” is a profane word in Russian, referring to a sexual act.
Kraft, which claims that they had focus groups to test the names in 28 languages, one of which was Russian, has a growing presence in Russia. This name, which could be considered offensive by Russians, may potentially harm the company’s growth in that country. Kraft has yet to approve the name worldwide, and will most definitely take this most recent revelation into consideration.
Of course, there have been many similar examples in which company names, product names and brand names that work well in one country, turn out to be disastrous in others. These days, as many companies are looking to have a global presence, it is more important than ever to ensure that a chosen name translates well into the market language. Trusted Translations, as a global leader in multilingual translation services, is happy to provide a free quote for any of your translation needs, and can help make sure that all parts of your marketing campaign are translated safely and effectively into your target language.
