Global Brand Naming Challenges

Global brands strive to create and maintain a constant identity across the world. Finding a brand’s unique identity and strategy is difficult. It is even more challenging for a brand to market in different countries and locations.
​
There are various challenges, such as language barriers, cultural differences, regulatory bodies, technology, coordination with remote teams, different time zones, etc. Global branding is also influenced by various factors such as the country’s economics, political landscape, and other social and cultural factors. Whether for a new product or a re-brand, brand naming requires a lot of time to conduct research, interviews, and analyze the data to find a name that differentiates a brand from competitors and is acceptable in a given market.

Consumers are willing to pay more for brands that establish themselves as trusted leaders in their respective domains. As such, a business may have to involve participants in the targeted market to help choose a name that is the best fit. This task involves various activities, including coming up with many names and having participants select suitable ones. This screening process also evaluates the selected names against what the name means or communicates.

A business may have to go to the extent of creating advertisements with the top selected names to measure participants’ reactions. This is a process that takes time, considering that the chosen name does not deviate from the objectives of a business.

A business has to decide between using one name or coming up with custom names for each targeted country. This is because words in different cultures have different meanings, and a chosen name should not offend consumers in a given location. The name chosen should be one that is easy to pronounce, does not have a negative meaning, and makes sense when translated to a local language.

There are also legal barriers that require good lawyers who can research to find out the legal status of a name in a given region; if the name is already registered by another business. Some countries may have similar-sounding words that already belong to a brand or have names that violate trademark laws in that country. As a result, a business can use different names for different markets. At times, business owners decide to use a name despite the possibility of someone taking legal action against them.

Brand naming also affects the logo to be used, requiring reviews to ensure wording or symbols used do not offend the target market. To help in the brand naming, it may be necessary to involve a local branding firm that understands the culture of a given area or an international firm that will research the cultural sensitivity issues. It may also help to engage or consider a partnership with a local retailer or distributor who understands the language of local consumers.

Despite the challenges that come with naming a brand, once consumers are impressed by the name, a business can take advantage of that and use the name to sell more than one product. Businesses can do this by using an umbrella name for many products.