Avoiding brand name bloopers overseasWhat's okay in English may have a nasty implication is some other

language. To be safe, companies call in consultants, run names through computers

ARA, ARAS, ARAT. A Latin verb con-jugation? Not on your life! These arethree of the computer non-words thatEsso Chemical Co. has collected forthe arduous task of selecting brandnames for new products distributedaround the world.

In fact, Esso has perhaps the largestcollection of meaningless four, five,and six-letter non-words in the world.It's far from easy to pick a productor brand name, for the appropriateword in one language could provescandalous in another. That's whymany companies, such as Esso andPfizer, go through painful computerresearch before naming a product.

A computer programed for variousvowel-consonant combinations (likeARA, ARAS, ARAT) produces almost end-less sheets of such non-words printed inneat lists for evaluation. Four-lettercombinations yield 44,900 possiblenames, while five-letter combinationsform about 500,000.

At Esso these lists are turned overto key executives, including John Tut-tle, the company's trademarks andbrands coordinator, who weed out un-usable words and select those that look

promising. But even with electronichelp, the task isn't easy—and it be-comes increasingly tricky when deal-ing with an international market.

For example, Esso can market itsfertilizer ENGRO any place in theworld except French-speaking coun-tries where a possible association withthe French words en gros (in effect—Ican get "some cheap") forced a modi-fication. In French-speaking countries,the name ENGRO becomes ENAGRO

A Southern leather preservativesmanufacturer had a similar problemwhen he planned to market his line inthe Common Market countries underthe brand name DRECK. The manu-facturer, who had selected the namebecause it "sounded virile," changedhis mind, however, when he discoveredthat in German it means "dirt."

Customs foreign to U.S. business-men can cause other complications,which make the task of selecting anoverseas brand name or advertisingslogan a tedious and oft-risky task.After portraying his product on alady-lovely with a statue of Buddha inthe background, a ladies footwearmanufacturer/exporter found that in

Southeast Asia, where feet are re-garded as most indelicate parts of thehuman body, to show one's soles whilesitting is considered grossly dis-courteous. The indelicate advertisingwas considered a religious affront, andthe blooper brought bushels of anti-American propaganda.

Pronunciation problems also be-come a major factor in product nameselection, especially where widespreadoverseas markets are involved. Choiceof the name Esso, for instance, wasinfluenced by the fact that it can beidentically pronounced in most of theworld's languages. Even the Arabicscript version, when spoken, comes outess'-oh.

In India, however, where 14 officiallanguages can complicate almost anycommunication, Esso solves a brandmarketing problem by emphasis on atrademark instead of the name. Thecompany uses an elephant along withthe familiar Esso oval to identify itskerosene—but the company had to bevery careful to depict an elephant ofobvious Indian ancestry rather thanan African species.

In Portugese-speaking countries,

Elephant brand: How ESSO identifies kerosene in India

1Computer names: More than 40,000 choices

ARA •

• ARAB

ARAL

ARAN

0 ARAR

ARAS

ARAT

£ ARBA

»«" ARBAL *

ARBAN

• ARBAR

ARBAV

ARBES

£ ARBET

ARBIA

A RCA

0 ARCAL

ARCAN

ARCARlUUli0 ARCAY

BRCES

ARCEt

0 ARC 1 A

ARCID

•ADA

AROAL

A AD AN

AROAR

ARDAY

AROES

AROET

AROIA

ARLA

ARLAN

ARLAR

ARIAS

ARLAY

ARLET

ARLIA

ARLIO

ARNA

ARNAl

ARNAR

ARNAY

ARNES

ARNET

ARNIA

ARNIO

«APA

ARPAL

ARPAN

ARPAR

ARPAY

ARPES

ARPET

ARPIA

ARPIO

ARRA

ARRAL

ARRAN

ARRAY

«RRES

ARRET

ARRIA

ARRiO

ARSA

ARSAL

ARSAN

ARSAR

ARSAT

ARSAY

ARSIA

ARSIO

ARTA

ARTAl

ARTAN

AKTAR

ARTAS

ARTAY

ARTIA

ARTIO

ARTRA

ARTRAL

ARTRAN

ARTRES

ARTRIA

ARTRIO

ARVA

ARVAL

ARYAN

ARVAR

ARVAY

ARVES

ARVtl

ARVIA

ARVIO

BUSINESS ABROAD/JULY 24, 1967 17

Esso uses the word JACARE (crocodile)to identify its kerosene products. InTurkey, the brand name CAZAR (Turk-ish verb "to hunt") identifies Essogrease products.

Brand name experts list several pre-cautions to be taken before a firm ex-poses a brand name to the international

Same sound: Its' still ess'-oh

market. The first safeguard should bealmost routine—a check through adictionary for possible objectionablemeanings in each of the languages usedin the countries where the product isto be sold.

The search becomes more difficult,however, when slang and other out-of-the-ordinary words have to be investi-gated. Max Lekus, president of TheInstitute for Brand Name Research,has accumulated from more than 40languages lists containing thousands ofunacceptable words not usually foundin standard language dictionaries. Hislists cover the entire gamut of foreignvariations on English "four-letter"words.

Companies with foreign subsidiarieshave the advantage of being able tocheck names easily on location, so tospeak. Handy sources in this countryinclude foreign businessmen, U.N. of-fices, and, obviously, the consulates,and other official business-oriented of-fices representing the foreign countriesinvolved.

Lekus and other marketing consul-tants also urge conferences with in-ternational trademark attorneys. Theysay this is the best way to avoid pos-sible legal complications on names andslogans selected for use abroad.

"Choosing an international brandname is a delicate and dangerous busi-ness," said Lekus. "Thousands of dolrlars have been spent curing damagecaused by poorly coined words andphrases utilized for products and ad-vertising campaigns. An ill-chosenname not only can result in expensiverelabeling and distribution costs, butoften irreparable damage to a companyimage—and at the very least, a longdelay in penetrating a market if themarket is not lost forever." D

BUSINESS ABROAD/JULY 24, 1967