Instead of getting into a BMW, a Chinese person talks of his Precious Horse. He doesn't drink a beer called Heineken, but one called Happiness Power.
Deciding what to call a Western product in China is a very sophisticated and scientific process. Most Western names mean nothing to the average Chinese person, so the object is to find a name near enough to the original Western name, but with sounds and characters that resonate with the Chinese people. Reebok became Rui bu, which means 'quick steps', Nike pronounced the Chinese way (Nai Ke) sounds like the words for 'enduring' and 'persevering', not bad for sports shoes. Marriott's Chinese name means '10,000 wealthy elites' and Pentium (Ben teng in Chinese) means 'galloping'. Many car names include the character for 'horse' since horses are symbols of strength in Chinese culture.
Some products, eg Rolls Royce, Cadillac and Hilton have converted their names into Chinese characters that mean nothing to the Chinese people, but the unfamiliar sounds give the products a certain upmarket and exotic cachet.
Microsoft was advised not to use its Western name, Bing, in China, as the character pronounced 'bing' in Chinese means 'virus' or 'disease'. Instead, the search engine is called the subtly different Bi ying, which means something like 'responds without fail'. Unfortunately for Peugeot, the Chinese for this car manufacturer's name sounds very similar to the Chinese for 'prostitute'.
For more brand translations, see this New York Times article.
Interesting. On one hand, one wouldn't want to lose the brand recognition associated with the product in the home market, but I suppose that when one crosses linguistic AND cutural boundaries its going to get lost anyway. I suspect the best option might be to try to hold the visuals / graphics and rename the product for that specific new market.
Posted by: John | November 14, 2011 at 12:12 AM
Yes, thanks, John. Good points.
Posted by: Virtual Linguist | November 14, 2011 at 07:13 AM
Wow! I didn't know that, Thanks for sharing this useful information.
Posted by: sourcing from china | January 31, 2012 at 10:28 PM
Microsoft was advised not to use its Western name, Bing, in China, as the character pronounced 'bing' in Chinese means 'virus' or 'disease'.
Posted by: china outsourcing | November 11, 2012 at 07:50 AM