Do you know your brand history ? (True or False series #2)

by Éléonore Toubin

Do you really know your favourite brands’ history as well as you think you do ? Test you knowledge thanks to the second part of the True or False series. The first Starbucks opened in 1971 in Chicago. One of the 3 founders, Gordon Bowker, who had once been a writer before making a career as a businessman, wanted to name the place Pequod, after the hot-air balloon in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days. But another founder, Terry…

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4 Approaches to Mergers & Acquisitions Naming

by Lydia Brian

The feeling towards the mergers and acquisitions market seems optimistic for 2014, with most investment banks reporting growing numbers of deals in the pipeline. These landmark events for firms aim to create synergies, and brand value is a crucial factor, however only around half of these attempts actually succeed. One of the most common reasons for failure is conflict between the two entities, and it’s no surprise this is linked to the biggest killer for brands – brand confusion. Clear,…

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How nicknames can damage or benefit a brand, Chevy vs. “Fix it again, Tony!”

by Éléonore Toubin

Fiat entered the American market in 1908. At the time, it wasn’t yet known as “Fix it again, Tony!”; the nickname was actually crafted some 60 years later in the 1970s and 1980s when some Fiat owners reportedly encountered problems with their cars. From then on Fiat got a reputation for making unreliable and poor quality cars. The nickname “Fix it again, Tony!” was coined as an acronym for Fiat and intended as a joke. However it stuck, to the…

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& Fashion

by Éléonore Toubin

Gianluca Billo, Managing Director of Nomen Italy, tells us about the macro naming trends in fashion in his column “Naming Trends” in the Pubbico Today.   The fashion world has developed, over time, two major naming trends, identifiable with two well-defined types. The more traditional brand made ??of a name + surname (or surname only) is reminiscent of high fashion and has become a genre, a code: name and surname of the creator, designer, entrepreneur, reference to the house. Whereas…

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The Chinese Naming of Cosmetics Brands: Beauty Lies in Names

by Xiao Yi Hua

Dior, Chanel, Avon… Famous cosmetics brands all possess an elegant name, at least an appealing pronunciation, even if the word actually means nothing. That’s quite logical, because you cannot boost the sales of your beauty products with an ugly name in the age of branding. But how did brands adapt their names to the booming luxury market in Chine, the ancient Oriental dragon? I’d like to reveal the tricks of three western cosmetics brands translated in Chinese: LaMer, Estée Lauder…

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Cars in China – A name is not enough

by Gianluca Billo

  Over the last few years, the main worldwide car manufacturers in cooperation with the main Chinese car manufacturers have launched new brands for the Chinese market.   The name HORKI (Dongfeng Yueda Kia) is the union of Hor (China) and Ki (to drive), whereas ZHI NUO (BMW and Brilliance China Automotive) means “promises” or “keep one’s word”.  However, ZHI NUO uses Old Chinese which is more poetical and strongly evocative compared with modern Chinese; this is why it is…

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Do global names mean ideal names?

by Gianluca Billo

Does the ideal name really exist? Let’s take the example of IKEA, one of the most famous brands worldwide, easy to read and to pronounce all over the world. Is it pronounced the same way everywhere?  Not really. Let’s have a closer look at the Chinese market.   In China, the name IKEA (actually the sound IKEA), has been changed in order to suit their logographic language. It sounds like “Yi Jia” that recalls the occidental phonetics and means “comfortable…

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Generic top-level domains at top-level prices

by Eszter Fehér

We currently have 22 international generic top-level domains (such as the good old .com) with an additional 250 national-level ones (.co.uk for example) that we have got used to over the years. But when you get used to something, it is most likely that something will change… The applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are soaring, which will revolutionize the way domains work. It could be any extension imaginable, such as www.pedro.pizza or www.kindle.amazon. The price of applications aren’t…

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When Swedish brands fail in English

by Andrew Hennigan

Swedish is a curious language where a “puss” is a kiss, a “kiss” is a piss and when your friends tell you that you are breaking the “fart” limit they just mean that you are driving too fast. Swedish English is equally interesting and while all adult Swedes speak the language with impressive fluency, they do not always use it the way a native speaker might and sometimes they are careless with unintended meanings or suggestions in their brand names….

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