Introduction
Throughout this class, evidently since this is a logo design class, we have for sure already seen countless logos with varying designs, color palettes, typography, shapes, and many more features. We can all agree that these are all vital features that all play a big role in creating a visual identity or a logo for a company, brand, research center, whatever you name it as long as it has a visual identity, it has a logo.
Aside from all those important features of what constitute a logo, another important thing that I have learned with logo designs is that logos either include or do not include their brand names. Some famous examples where the company’s logos do not include their brand names include Nike, Apple, McDonalds, Starbucks, Target, Dominos, LG, Mercedes Benz, and many more logos. The most important thing with these logos is that whenever we see these logos, we’re still able to immediately associate these logos to the brand without the brand names written out in the logo.
However, there are also effective logos at the other side of the spectrum that do include brand names within their logos, such as: Pizza Hut, Ford, Coca Cola, IKEA, Lego, Intel, Lays, and many more.
Naturally, especially for those types of logos where the brand name is a representative element, these international companies and brands will make sure include the brand names within the logo design or else it would not stand out as much. Or people would just not be able to immediately associate the logo to the brand or company without the inclusion of the brand name.
As I was wondering about these logos rely heavily on the brand names, a question suddenly popped into my mind: What would happen if these logos, originally written in whatever language like English or Spanish, wanted to expand into other countries that speaks an entirely different language? Would these companies still choose to use the same language for their brand names within their logos or would they change it?
The reason why I came up with this question was because in China, the national language is Chinese. I remembered that sometimes whenever I was walking down the city streets in China, I would see that a few foreign companies or brands with logos with their brand names translated completely from their original language into entirely Chinese.
However, the interesting thing that I also noticed was that there were different methods of translating or adapting their brand names within their logos in order to fit with Chinese. Therefore, this sparked my curiosity and inspiration for today’s blog, which is about why and how do international franchises or brand companies choose to change or alter their logo designs in Chinese or Mandarin speaking countries?
Generally why do companies change the brand names of their logos in different countries?
After doing a bit of research, I was able to find a couple of main reasons as to why companies would choose to change their brand names of their logos in other countries: The first reason is because perhaps there was a word within the brand name that had already been recorded or taken by other local companies. In some instances, these foreign companies when trying to move into another country’s local market, their brand names might have already been taken or registered by another similar local brand in that country. Therefore, this forces the foreign brand or company to have to change their brand name within their logos. But, an important thing to note here is that the new logo still has to retain other representative elements of the original logo, such as its colors or typography or others. A few examples of this first reason could be seen from companies and brands such as “Dunkin Donuts” and “Magnum”. In the case of “Dunkin Donuts”, when the company wanted to expand into Spain, it was not able to use its original brand name as the word “Donut” was already registered by another local company in Spain called Panrico. Therefore, the company decided to change the name to “Dunkin Coffee” while keeping the logo in order to make it more recognizable. A similar case happened to the famous ice cream brand “Magnum” where the company had to change its name to “Magic” in order to not lose its essence because the word “Magnum” had already been registered by a competing brand in Greece.
The second reason as to why companies would choose to change their brand names from their logos in other countries was because particular words within the brand name could have a negative double meaning in the original language. In other words, it is when the original brand name could be perceived as inappropriate or unconventional in other countries. An example of this would be the body deodorant brand, “Axe”. The word “Axe” was originally created in France and the word “Axe” might have meant something pleasant or at least fitting in the French language. However, when it was expanding into the English-speaking market, it had to change its name to “Lynx” as the word “Axe” could be too violent for a deodorant brand.
The last but not least reason for changing its brand name within their logos is the reason which I want to focus on, and that is because of the language barrier. For example, China is now one of the world’s largest markets for literally anything so large companies would definitely want to expand their markets into here. However, as China’s home language is Chinese, these companies would sometimes even translate or change their brand names that fits with the Chinese language.
How do foreign companies with English brand names change their brand names in Chinese or Mandarin speaking countries?
According to an article called “Translation of Western Brand Names in Chinese as a Marketing Strategy” by Denise De Salvo, she identifies three main strategies of changing English brand names into Chinese.
The first strategy is “Phonetic Translation”, which refers to reproduction of the sound of the brand name with Chinese words. In other words, using Chinese words that sounds the most similar to the English name. For example, the famous Italian car brand, Ferrari, is written as 法拉利 (Fǎlālì), which sounds similar to how we pronounce Ferrari in the English language. However, the downside of this strategy is that there is no meaning at all in Chinese so it might lose its essence as a product.
Final Thoughts
Overall, it was really interesting and an educational experience for me, especially when I found out the different reasons why companies would choose to change their brand names and how English brand names are strategically translated into Chinese for Chinese speaking countries.
References:
Hong, F. C. (Frank), Pecotich, A. and Shultz, C. J. (2002) ‘Brand Name Translation: Language Constraints, Product Attributes, and Consumer Perceptions in East and Southeast Asia’, Journal of International Marketing, 10(2), pp. 29–45. doi: 10.1509/jimk.10.2.29.19534.
Veronica ValenzuelaI draw, paint and sometimes even colour at SiloCreativo. I have always wanted to be a writer. “5 Reasons to Change Your Logo in Other Countries • Silo Creativo.” Silo Creativo, 28 June 2021, https://www.silocreativo.com/en/5-reasons-change-logo-countries/.
Hi Ryan, thank you so much for sharing so many insightful resources and information with us. Now to answer your question, if I were the boss of an international brand and had to make a decision, I would personally choose to retain the company’s visual identity and perhaps focus on the extended elements of the brand that can be much more adaptable to local markets, such as slogans, advertisements, products, etc… A great example of a brand that manages to retain its core brand values and adapt to different international markets is Mcdonald’s. The brand in itself is so strongly associated with selling beef burgers in the West but sells no pork or beef in India, for instance. This allows them to appeal to both Hindu and Muslim customers, which together account for around 95% of the population, without having to change their visual identity.
Super interesting entry Ryan!
It is funny because we wrote about similar things. In the case of my blog entry, I thing what would work better for matters of inclusion in Sri Lanka would be a literal translation of what the brand’s name means. Because, as it happens with brands in the UAE, I think a phonetic translation doesn’t tell you anything about the brand and sometimes even the pronunciation of the original brand’s name is modified because there are certain sounds that don’t exist in a specific language. A funny anecdote was that when I discover that “Lay’s”were named like that in the US, I thought it was a completely different band than the one I knew in Mexico because I couldn’t believe their name wasn’t “Sabritas” haha.
Love this post, Ryan! I would definitely choose the Phonetic translation strategy because I think it holds the closest value of the original company name. My reason is this: first, if my company is large enough to be taken international, there would likely already be brand recognition in the market I am entering. Secondly, brand names are either seen or heard. When people see the translated logo, no matter what method is used, it doesn’t look like the original. Thus, brand recognition comes from the audio. Resultantly I think it’s essential to maintain the sound of the brand name, regardless of the loss of meaning. For example, if people hear something that sound like Apple or Ferrari, no one is going to get confused because the brand has become more prominent than the actual meaning of the word.
Thank you so much for this blog post, Ryan! Your findings regarding the translation of brand names was really fascinating to read and consider. Personally, I like to refer to the etymology of translation as it originates from ‘translat’ meaning to carry over. Hence, I would have my team come up with alternative names that our brand could go by but make sure to capture the essence of our product and get that across to our foreign consumers, opting for the “Symbolic Strategy”. If they can find a balance between the sound/phonetics and meaning that would be a bonus.
Really really liked this article Ryan. Very detailed. I just wanted to point out that sometimes when I travel to a different country and notice that a brand name seems different in a logo (example: the Dunkin Coffee that you mentioned), it makes me feel like its not the original company and just a copycat brand because copycat brands do exist in many parts of the world. But yeah, just a thought that I had.
For the question that you raised at the end, I think it depends on the market you want to expand to. Of course if it is a major market like China then you need to do whatever it takes to expand there, even if it requires you to rebrand. Because if you don’t, then you will be losing a lot of customers.