For companies wishing to take their products truly Global, it is now a virtual necessity that any potential products or brand names are properly tested in each target-country prior to launch. Transatlantic can assist by completing checks on possible brand names to ensure these names are not offensive in foreign languages, culturally insensitive, confusing, difficult to pronounce, unfit for their purpose or similar to any existing names already in use.
Transatlantic has a wealth of experience in this area and has completed many highly confidential linguistic research projects for a number of leading global companies. These projects have been completed in up to 80 languages, and we are proud to say that the names of many everyday, well-known products have been tested by us prior to their worldwide launch.
There are many examples of why a company planning on going global should utilize this service, one of the best known being Chevrolet's launch of the Nova in Latin America. Since ‘no va’ means ‘it doesn’t go’ in Spanish, Latin American car buyers shunned the car, forcing Chevrolet to pull it from the market. The Swedish company Electrolux coined a snappy strapline in Europe which it used extensively for its vacuum cleaning products. The motto, “Nothing sucks like an Electrolux," was, however, a truly terrible marketing disaster when it was employed in America.
The linguists Transatlantic uses for these projects are all living in the country where the product will be launched and so are totally up-to-date with local brands and what is accepted culturally.
