I saw this at a gift shop yesterday. It took me a few minutes to finally figure out the pronunciation and meaning of the brand. What's wrong with me?
"Sakit" in the Malay or Indonesian language means "sick". So, I could not figure out why the sign advertising eco-friendly tote bags was talking about "sick to me"! What kind of advertising would ever wish sickness on anyone, much less the buyer?!
It finally dawned on me - SAK is pronounced as "sack", as in bag. So "SAKitToMe" really is talking about a bag (sack) for myself! Ah, the light went off!
The brand may take off in an English-speaking country, but certainly not in this part of the world, where Malay and Indonesian is used daily. This is one clear example of monolingual branding. While the tote bag and eco-friendly are spreading worldwide, English language may not. Choice of a name may sound catchy in English, but sound strange in another language - as in this case.
Would I buy the bag? Sure, if I needed one, but given that the name "sakit" is part of it, I may think twice and buy another brand instead. Not that the bag doesn't appeal to me, but I don't want to have my friends think I'm crazy for buying a bag that wishes me sickness. It will take too long to try and explain the pronunciation and clever play of the English language. Forget it. I'm not being paid to advertise for them. I just want a bag that will serve my needs.
So the next time you are asked to think of a brand name, think across languages. Before deciding on a name for her daughter, my friend came round asking all of us what her daughter's name sounded like in different languages and Chinese dialects. She didn't want her daughter to be a laughing stock when she started school. Same goes with branding.
Western companies need to start thinking global, even in brand names. We're a multi-lingual society, wherever we live.
So, take the step to learn a new language today!
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