Names have Meaning

"Confusing alphabet-soup names like CLK, CLC, CLS, SLK, GLK, CL, SL and SLR have made it hard for customers to keep track of Mercedes-Benz's vehicle lineup, and to fix that the company is looking at returning to more traditional names based around the A, B, C, E and S-Class names," states an article in Motor Authority.

As I have just finished suggesting names for another batch of products, I am reminded of how important it is that the names connect to something - anything that will help the consumer of the product understand what it is he is buying. I know that it gets tougher and tougher with the number of your own products and those of competitors. Naming your product is a process that should never be given short shrift or handled in a bull session. Names must be especially vetted in a global marketplace in various languages. For example, if planning to sell in Germany, never use the word MIST - it means dung in German. Had to check myself on that one - was it...mist or dust that I just suggested? When Ford launched an advertising campaign in Belgium, the headline ‘Every car has a high quality body’ came out as ‘Every car has a high quality corpse’. Car bodies and human bodies often are different words. If this sort of thing amuses you check for more examples at this website.

Why would you ever name a dark charcoal gray product Mont Blanc if you knew that blanc means white in French? In a global environment, it is more important than ever to have at least a passing knowledge of foreign languages. Even a passing knowledge of geography would have been helpful in this case, because you would know that Mont Blanc is snow-capped year round. English may be the ipso facto lingua franca, but rather than risk embarrassment, make sure to check globally before you commit to the expense of printing literature and labels.