Transliteration

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  1. transliteration is a very important practice when
  2. moving products and businesses to global markets.
  3. First off, what is transliteration,
  4. Transliteration is used when branding a business or product
  5. and global markets that have a different writing systems.
  6. This can be done from the roman alphabet to non roman scripts such as Russian
  7. Arabic,
  8. hindi,
  9. hebrew,
  10. thai
  11. korean,
  12. japanese, traditional and simplified chinese
  13. ideally,
  14. transliteration seeks seeks to conserve the sound of the word in the new
  15. language while also attempting to capture the spirit and values of the brand.
  16. This isn't always possible.
  17. So sometimes companies have to choose between having
  18. the new brand names sound like the original
  19. or carry the original meaning into the new language.
  20. Transliteration is a key part of a brand's
  21. localization strategy and should not be taken lightly.
  22. Here are three common examples of transliteration issues that
  23. have happened in the past with popular brands.
  24. The first example Coca Cola when it was first introduced in China in 1927,
  25. they decided to just translate the characters into
  26. the new language rather than rename it completely.
  27. Unfortunately,
  28. this resulted in names like female horse fastened with wax and bite the wax tadpole.
  29. Obviously this was not what coca cola wanted for their brand image.
  30. So they soon changed their name to be both a close transliteration
  31. and a more accurate representation of the message of their brand,
  32. their new name, keiko,
  33. kayla and mandarin now translates to permit mouth
  34. to be able to rejoice for delicious happiness.
  35. This new name not only sounds similar to the original coca cola name,
  36. but also evokes positive emotions among chinese consumers,
  37. Kentucky fried chicken or KFC unfortunately had a similar mishap in china
  38. when they originally tried advertising with their slogan of finger looking good,
  39. it translated to eat your fingers off
  40. needless to say that was quickly changed.
  41. These naming mistakes are not just limited to the food and beverage industry.
  42. For example, Mercedes Benz was first named Benson
  43. in mandarin, which translates to rush to die.
  44. Of course, they soon changed it to the similar benji, which means galloping.
  45. A spectacular example of a lucky transliteration is the case of kit kat in japan,
  46. even though kitkat is originally from England,
  47. it has become the top selling chocolate in japan.
  48. Why is this?
  49. There are several reasons,
  50. but one main reason is that the japanese pronunciation is keto Cotto,
  51. which sounds remarkably similar to kitto katsu,
  52. which translates to you will surely win.
  53. Kit cats are now a very popular gift given to students
  54. during exam times to be used as a good luck charm.
  55. Thus, the brand became synonymous lee associated with good luck
  56. and what brand would not want that
  57. Kitkat has used this lucky coincidence to their advantage in several ways.
  58. One of these ways is by producing an
  59. advertising campaign modeling themselves as a lucky charm.
  60. They also partnered with the japanese post office and
  61. sold special kitkat packages where consumers could place a stamp
  62. on them and write a personal message of encouragement to
  63. their friends and family and then mail those packages.
  64. This campaign was so successful that promotional
  65. packages sold out in just one month.
  66. Japan also offers over 300 different flavors of Kit Kat depending on the seasons.
  67. Some of these flavors include macha green tea,
  68. red bean soy sauce and socket.
  69. This variety of unique flavors appeals to japanese customers and it contributes to
  70. the company's success in the quote unquote kitkat capital of the world.
  71. As seen in previous examples, transliteration is very important.
  72. In fact, how you localize your brand name could be the most important
  73. decision you make when entering the new
  74. global markets with different written languages.
  75. Your new brand name could lead to devastating pitfalls,
  76. pitfalls and loss of sales or it could be a wealth of creative opportunity
  77. as seen in the case of Kitkat
  78. and they're very lucky transliteration and marketing success
  79. and as we all know, names are extremely important.
  80. They are the first impression consumers get of your product
  81. and it will always be associated with your brand.
  82. Don't make the same mistakes other global companies have when transliterated,
  83. be sure to do your cultural research and who knows it
  84. could turn into an amazing marketing opportunity if done right,
  85. Thank you