Apart from the brand that has been built up over a hundred years, there are two other important reasons.
One is its fifteenth mysterious formula - 7X. Coca-Cola regards this formula as the highest secret, it is said that only a few senior executives know about it. In order to ensure absolute security, the company has also ordered that these few people are not allowed to take the same flight or car.
The other reason is that Coca-Cola can be invincible in China because it has an incomparable Chinese name.
Coca-Cola has always been considered the best translated brand name in the advertising industry. It not only maintains the phonetic translation of English but also has more implications than English.
The four words "Coca-Cola" vividly hint at the feeling that the product brings to consumers - delicious, refreshing, happy - both tasty and enjoyable. This makes consumers' appetites full, and the "irresistible feeling" arises spontaneously.
Because of this, cola has gradually become the synonym for the category and the industry standard. It is said that when Pepsi entered China, it was forced to translate its name into "Bai Shi Ke Le" (百事可乐) instead of just "Bai Shi" (百事).
Many people may have already heard how cola was created, but few probably know about its naming process.
In 1886, John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, USA, accidentally created Coca-Cola. His assistant, accountant Robert Robinson, was a classical calligrapher. He thought that two capital letters C would look good, so he used Coca-Cola as the name for this strange drink.
In the 1920s, Coca-Cola was already being produced in Shanghai. At first, it was translated into a very strange Chinese name, called "Ke Ke Ken La" (蝌蝌啃蜡), which was understandably not well received. Therefore, the export company responsible for Coca-Cola's overseas business publicly advertised a reward of 350 pounds for a better translation. A Shanghai professor named Jiang Yi, who was then in Britain, won the prize with the four characters "Ke Kou Ke Le" (可口可乐), defeating all other competitors.
Now looking back, Coca-Cola really got a great bargain, exchanging a cost of 350 pounds for billions of yuan in sales in China today.
It is reported that Jiang Yi's descendants will sue Coca-Cola to reclaim the benefits they should have received over the decades.
Some say that the Chinese are the smartest people in the world, and the fact that many foreign brands entering China are translated perfectly by us is a strong proof.
For example, the car brand (Benze) was initially translated as "ben si" (笨死), and in Hong Kong, it was called "ping zhi" (平治). It wasn't until the name "ben chi" (奔驰) was found that it began to race freely across the land of China.
Translating BMW into "bao ma" (宝马) was a stroke of genius, while calling it "bie mo wo" (别摸我) is like explaining CBD as the abbreviation for CHINA BEIJING DABEIYAO, which would certainly make the founders unhappy.
A successful translation feels like scratching a thousand-year-old itch for the brand.
There are many other successful examples.
Walkman was invented by Sony. Initially, Sony defined Walkman as a portable player. Later, all portable players were called Walkman. Of course, this was also a huge strategic mistake by Sony. They did not treat Walkman as a brand but promoted it as a product.
Citibank has more than a hundred years of history. No one can trace who translated the name at the time, but its origin is quite interesting. According to a friend of Citibank, the reason it was translated into this name is simply because it comes from the United States, and the American flag is very flashy.
Nestle's founder, Henri Nestle, "Nestle" means "little bird's nest" in German, "Nestle" is both the founder's name and represents "safety, warmth, maternal love, nature, and health."
Let's look at a negative example: KPMG.
Although the name "Bi Ma Wei" (毕马威) does not have too bad associations, it is easy for Chinese people to associate it with "Qi Tian Da Sheng" (齐天大圣), making it easy to be mistaken for a township enterprise.
KPMG entered the mainland market in the late 1970s. Their person in charge had to register with the industrial and commercial department, and since they did not understand Chinese, they registered the company using the phonetic sounds of the three founders' names, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell. Of course, now "Bi Ma Wei" (毕马威) is already a famous financial company domestically, changing the Chinese name would result in intangible asset loss for the enterprise, so it is no longer necessary for "Bi Ma Wei".
But if in today's world where brand association is increasingly important, someone still uses such a name, it could be fatal for the enterprise.
Naming a company and product is like naming your own children. Parents pay close attention to the implications of their child's name.
For enterprises, the name should preferably accurately convey the connotation of the brand to consumers, making the brand more refined and approachable.
A good name should carry the connotation of a brand, communicate the brand's proposition and promise, helping bosses conquer a vast territory!
This article is sourced from Pin-Dao website. Original link: http://www.pin-dao.com/finances/200802290043.html