9.1 Global brands are never truly
global
• Brands as sounds
• Global brands are based
on the alphabet
• Brands are based on
linguistics devices some
of which are global
(alliteration) and others
(compounding and
clipping) are local
• Visual elements of
brands
• Global brands are a
federation of ‘lexically
equivalent’ local
marketing assets
• Local consumer
responses and images
invested in similar
brands
• Local advertising
strategy & execution has
created over years
different images
9.2 What is a truly global brand name?
* A translinguistic device, both in terms of sounds
and writing
* A brand with consistent underlying core themes
* Advertising strategy has been executed for at
least fifteen years in a quite similar manner across
a very large number of countries
* Consumer needs are consistent for this product
category worldwide (airlines vs. coffee)
* Ad spending must be at least
$ 200 million per year world-wide
and more probably $ .5 billion
9.3 Linguistic elements of brands as marketing assets
- Brand Name:
* spelling (letters+numbers) => writing systems
* speaking the name => pronunciation and phonology
Matsushita vs. Technics /
* Denotative meaning => Choco-BN
* Connotative meaning => Kinder (semantics)
* Rhetorical value => persuasive content (Tide)
- Visual associated to the brand name (logo / design)
* the Whiskas example
* visual aspects in ideographic writing systems
- Global companies must play on a large register of
languages and meanings to develop «global » brands
Some examples of linguistic characteristics of brands
I Phonetic devices
1. Alliteration: Consonant repetition (Coca Cola, Cocoon)
2 . Assonance: Vowel repetition (Kal Kan, Vizir, Omo)
3. Consonance: Consonant repetition with intervening vowel
changes (Weight Watchers, Tic Tac)
4. Onomatopoeia: Use of syllable phonetics to resemble the object
itself (Wisk, Cif, Wizzard)
5. Clipping: Product names attenuated (Chevy for a Chevrolet,
Deuche for a Citroen Deux Chevaux, Rabbit for a Volkswagen)
6. Initial plosives: /b/, /c-hard/, /d/, /g-hard/, /k/, /q/, /t/, (Bic, Dash,
Pliz, Pim's)
II Orthographic devices
1. Unusual or incorrect spellings: Kool-Aid, Decap'Four
2. Abbreviations: 7-Up for Seven-Up
3. Acronyms: Amoco, DB, Cofinoga, Lu, BSN, HP, P&G