BRANDING

Company names, product names, and slogans are one part of the branding process.

Companies literally invest millions of dollars to launch a new product … and then may discover that its name or slogan has a very negative connotation in the target country. Some examples:

Ford discovered that its Pinto car when introduced in Brazil was slang for “penis.”
Puff tissues discovered that “Puff” in the UK means a fag (derogatory term for homosexual) and in Germany is a whorehouse.

Auerbach provides the cheapest insurance possible: testing or screening company names, product names, tag lines and slogans before your venture begins. With decades of experience, we have a rapid and cost-effective method to ensure that your desired name or tag line is either positive or neutral in up to ten key languages at a time.

For English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, we normally evaluate your names in major dialects because languages are spoken differently across countries. For example, a Swedish vacuum cleaner manufacturer launched a TV commercial in the UK and Commonwealth Africa where it made perfect sense. But when the company launched same commercial in the US, the slogan “Nothing sucks like Electrolux” had a slightly different connotation.

Evaluating Chinese is a separate matter because we must consider the written language in both Simplified and Traditional characters as well as their pronunciation in key dialects in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Each region or country has its own slang and word usage that could prove offensive. Rendering product or company names into Chinese involves three possible methods.

Please contact us to discuss your needs.

Machine Translation Mis-translations

ORIGINAL ENGLISH

The Global Sales Incentive Program is completely discretionary and “Company” retains its right to administer the Plans in its sole discretion, including the right to alter, amend, modify, or discontinue at any time without obligation to make an award, unless otherwise specifically required by local law, for any reason, including but not limited to the following:

Machine translation into German:

Das Global Sales Incentive Program ist vollständig diskretionär und das Unternehmen behält sich das Recht vor, die Pläne nach eigenem Ermessen zu verwalten, einschließlich des Rechts, jederzeit ohne Verpflichtung zur Vergabe einer Prämie zu ändern, zu ergänzen, zu modifizieren oder einzustellen, sofern nicht ausdrücklich etwas anderes von lokal gefordert wird Gesetz, aus irgendeinem Grund, einschließlich, aber nicht beschränkt auf die folgenden:

Back translation of MT German into English:

The Global Sales Incentive Program is entirely discretionary and the Company reserves the right to administer the plans at its sole discretion, including the right to change, add, modify or discontinue at any time without obligation to award any award, except as expressly provided otherwise required by local law, for any reason, including but not limited to the following:

Far better Human editing into German:

Das Globale Anreizvergütungsprogramm ist vollständig dem eigenen Ermessen des Unternehmens anheimgestellt und “Company” behält sich das Recht vor, die Pläne nach eigenem Ermessen zu verwalten, einschließlich des Rechts, jederzeit ohne Verpflichtung zur Vergabe einer Prämie zu ändern, zu ergänzen, zu modifizieren oder einzustellen, sofern nicht ausdrücklich durch lokale Gesetzgebung vorgeschrieben, aus beliebigen Gründen, einschließlich, aber nicht beschränkt auf des Folgenden:

Machine translation into French:

Le programme mondial d’incitation à la vente est entièrement discrétionnaire et “Company” conserve son droit d’administrer les plans à sa seule discrétion, y compris le droit de modifier, d’amender, de modifier ou d’interrompre à tout moment sans obligation d’attribuer une récompense, sauf exigence contraire spécifique par les autorités locales. loi, pour quelque raison que ce soit, y compris, mais sans s’y limiter, ce qui suit:

Back translation of MT French into English:

The Global Sales Incentive Program is entirely discretionary and “Company” retains its right to administer the Plans in its sole discretion, including the right to modify, amend, modify or discontinue at any time without obligation to award a reward, unless specifically required otherwise by local authorities. law, for any reason, including but not limited to the following:

Far better Human editing into French:

Le plan mondial des primes exceptionnelles est entièrement discrétionnaire et Société conserve son droit d’administrer les plans à sa seule discrétion, y compris le droit d’altérer, d’amender, de modifier ou d’interrompre à tout moment sans obligation afin de faire une attribution, à moins que cela ne soit spécifiquement requis par la loi locale, pour toute raison, y compris, mais sans se limiter aux raisons suivantes: