Question

Topic: Branding

Does Us English In Brand Adversely Affect Non-us?

Posted by Mark454675 on 12/15/2016 at 3:27 PM ET 125 Points
I'm involved in a team working on a new digital startup "for a global market" and have we been trying to come up with a name for it. One of our team members came up with a name that quite a few people liked and it included the word "travelers" in it.

Would that spelling (as opposed to "travellers") in any way irritate, confuse, sub-consciencelessly deter/put-off non-Americans such as British, Europeans, Australians or Canadians/NZers?
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 12/15/2016 at 5:46 PM Accepted
    Speaking as a Brit living in the US, yes, it probably would.
  • Posted on 12/15/2016 at 6:19 PM Accepted
    Easy enough to find out with an Adwords A/B split test. Cost will probably be just a few hundred US$, and results will be in hand within a few days.
  • Posted by saul.dobney on 12/16/2016 at 9:37 AM Accepted
    Possibly - if you do a Google check with site:uk there is the odd use of travelers and a hotel chain called travelodge and a rail service called traveline - so the best advice would be to run the test. For a domain name you'd also want to make sure both spellings are available.

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 12/16/2016 at 8:39 PM Accepted
    Using a alternate spelling for a name is very common as a way to help protect a trademarks. Standard words are hard to trademark, where non-standard are easier. For example, if you use the name Infiniti instead of the word infinity, it might get a little more protection. Or Kar instead of car.

    But if the name change looks like a misspelling, as your example does, then there could be negative implications.
  • Posted by Pollywog on 1/1/2017 at 10:12 AM Accepted
    Naming for a global market is tricky, not just because of alternate spellings, but also due to differing cultures. You'll want to hire a linguistics company that specializes in branding to review the name for all potential issues in every country and language where the brand will be marketed.

    As for your original question, I would rule that name out and find another one without a spelling issue. Try to keep the brand name to a single word.


    Devon Thomas Treadwell
    Founder/Creative Director
    Pollywog | A Naming Company
  • Posted by Shelley Ryan on 1/5/2017 at 11:42 AM Moderator
    Hi Everyone,

    I am closing this question since there hasn't been much recent activity.

    Thanks for participating!

    Shelley
    MarketingProfs
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