“Colgate launched a toothpaste called Q in France. But Q was the name of a notorious French pornography magazine.” Reebok had a marketing disaster when it launched Incubus women’s running shoes in 1997. Because Incubus was notorious for raping women while they slept .
“Ford’s Pinto model did not reach the required sales numbers in Brazil. Because the word Pinto in Brazil means “little penis” colloquially. Ford removed the Pinto brand from all its cars and replaced it with the name Corcel, which means “horse.” .
“Mitsiboshi had to change the model name of its SUV in Spain because the word Pajero means masturbation in Spanish.
“Beko means light woman in Russian. How much do you think it cost the team that created Beko, which thought the name Arçelik was crippled abroad, and did not research its suitability for our (Russian) neighbor Russia?”
“It will be difficult to introduce Fakir, a German brand of industrial and household cleaning machines, into homes in Turkey. (Currently Fakir is not targeting homes anyway)
“Why do you think our first hardware store hypermarket, ‘Götzen’ of German origin, failed to gain a foothold in Turkey? (Going for Götzen was not successful.)
“What do you think is the luck or bad luck of Tüylüoğlu Bakery?
“Does the ‘Salwarli Meat’ butcher shop chain sell shalwarli meat? If not, why is their meat shalwarli?”
“Gotu Kola” is the Latin name of a medicinal plant. Can you sell a herbal medicine with this name to the Turks? (But someone is trying to sell it)
“One of the reasons Schlotzky Dell failed was its name. It’s hard to pronounce, it’s hard to understand, it’s hard to write.” (Al Rees says) Why do you think Isisu, Daihatsu and Suzuki have been stagnant for years?
“The trade association began to grow rapidly after changing its name to Aviva.
“He shortened the name Internazionale and made it Inter.
“Güllüoğlu must create a new brand abroad. See: Lalin.
When General Motors named a new Chevrolet car “Baretta” without getting permission from the Italian arms manufacturer, the lawsuit cost GM $500,000.
“As Harlem Savings Bank of New York grew, they opened branches in both Harlem and upstate New York. When they realized they spelled their name incorrectly, they changed their name to Apple Bank with an additional expense of $10 million.
“House&Garden, which began publication in the early 1900s, was a very popular garden magazine. Over time, success spoiled it. In 1987, they changed their name to ‘HG’. After the name change, the decline began. Fortunately, they realized their mistakes before it was too late, In 1993, they returned to their old names and are now at the top again.
“The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most beautiful films you will ever see. It also won an Oscar. But unfortunately, this film, which cost $27 million because its name was poorly chosen, only managed to make $18 million at the theater.” At the box office, it was released in Türkiye as the best “The Shawshank Redemption” “Price”
“If Yataş, who started her business life by producing and selling household goods, had known that she would one day enter the furniture industry, do you think she would have called herself Yataş?
“Do you think that Teleset, which started its business life by producing and selling TV stands, has now become a furniture brand or a telecommunications brand?
After reading the above information, we can classify naming errors as follows.
Expendable names: These are names given without a registry search. If there is such a trademark at home or abroad and it is registered in front of you, then you are wrong.
Turkish Letters: Another issue we should pay attention to is the international applicability of the brand name. Since its structure is different from Western languages, it is necessary to be more careful when choosing Turkish brands and company names. Especially local companies that want to become a brand in the world should always choose names that are easy to spell, pronounce and write when naming their brands. Names containing the letters ç, Ö, ı, Ş, Ü, Ğ, H, V and C should be taken into consideration as there will be problems in writing and reading them.
Inappropriate names: The name you give should not have bad meanings in other languages. Otherwise it will be difficult for you to become a global brand.
Names that cannot face the future: If your name has a category so poorly and so sharply that it does not include other categories, your job will be difficult.
Names that are difficult to understand: Names that are difficult to understand, read, pronounce and write are also difficult to become global brands and to be remembered.
There are two lessons to be learned from this article; Firstly, be very careful when naming names (which I will discuss in a separate article). Secondly, do not be a fan of names. If your name is bad, change it. the previous:
“The Japanese simplified their names, which were easy to pronounce in their own language but not pronounceable by foreigners. They chose names like Panasonic and Fuji.
“The Chinese also call themselves Western names to make life easier for Westerners.
Murad Shilan