Tough brand naming lessons from the streets
Written by verbal identity and branding specialist, Simon Andrew, joint founder of Sticky Name Design and native English copywriter & creative director based in Munich, Germany
How is it that something as seemingly simple as vehicle naming can go so wrong on occasion, especially when backed by the vast resources car manufacturers typically have at their disposal?
It may be due to complex decision-making processes, insufficient market research, or just plain bad luck.
More likely, though, is that marketers sometimes underestimate the complexity of getting a name right – not to mention the price of getting it wrong.
And who can blame them? A name is just a word or two, after all, not advanced AI for robotics. How hard can it be?
This short selection of naming fails, drawn from a long list of contenders, suggests that it can be very difficult indeed.
But rather than snicker at the misfortune of the luckless, our goal here is to highlight potential naming pitfalls and, hopefully, help others avoid a similar fate.
Mitsubishi Carisma
Car naming fail #10: Mitsubishi Carisma
You would expect a car named “Carisma” to possess at least some of the genuine chutzpah and street cred its name suggests. Unfortunately, though, the rather ordinary Carisma lacked more than an “h” in its name. And it was probably no more likely to make you feel better about yourself than the similarly named Suzuki Esteem. Both cars seemed to fall into the trap of advertising precisely what they lacked.
Lesson learned? Names that over-promise are more likely to draw attention to deficiencies than make a car appear better than it is.
Cadillac Eldorado ETC
Car naming fail #9: Cadillac ETC
While many manufactures opt for numbers and letters, Cadillac took it an unfortunate step further. It decided to name its top-of-the-range offering the “El Dorado Touring Coupe” and then abbreviate this to ETC. Unbelievably, no one stopped to think that the acronym is identical to the abbreviation for etcetera and, as such, might be taken to mean that the vehicle is a bit of an afterthought: the Cadillac Whatever, the Cadillac Blah Blah, or the Cadillac Can’t Be Arsed…
Lesson learned? Names that appear clever at first sight should be given a good second look-over from every conceivable angle.
AMC Gremlin
Car naming fail #8: AMC Gremlin
A gremlin is a small gnome that superstition holds responsible for causing malfunctions in mechanical equipment – not the most inspired label to attach to a new car. Perhaps AMC forgot that gremlins tend to show up at the most inopportune moments and completely ruin things, say, when you’re launching a new car. The model ceased production in 1978 after a relatively short 8-year existence, proving that using a counter-intuitive, high-risk naming strategy in order to achieve standout can be, well, highly risky. Of course, had the product been so insanely great that it was irresistible to the market AMC would have been hailed a naming genius.
Lesson learned? While dangerous names might help garner street cred they can end up doing more harm than good.
Studebaker Dictator
Car naming fail #7: Studebaker Dictator
The Dictator was most unfortunately named for a car that was big in the 1930's and 40's. Its name likely points to a time when the world took a softer view on dictators – before history reminded us just how unpleasant people fitting this job description can be.
Lesson learned? Sometimes events can overtake a name and make it memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Mitsubishi Lettuce
Car naming fail #6: Mitsubishi Lettuce
Crisp? Yes. Crunchy? Certainly. But like the car design itself, this name is fresh in the wrong way. Let us pray for tastier car names. And car designs. Sometimes naming hardware after food works brilliantly (Apple) and sometimes not so much, especially if the design is not quite as cute as the name. Also, an apple is the fruit of the tree of knowledge, no less. Lettuce, on the other hand, got zero mentions in The Bible and, to the writer’s knowledge, has never been used as a potent literary symbol for anything, anywhere, ever.
Lesson learned? Make sure your name has enough meat in it.
Mitsubishi Pajero
Car naming fail #5: Mitsubishi Pajero
The Pajero is an exceptional SUV by any measure and the marque sells really well around the world. But in some countries, it was sensibly renamed the ‘Montero’ because, in Spanish slang, Pajero means “He who fiddles with himself for sexual gratification.” Similar cross-market translation issues apply to the Mazda LaPuta (Spanish for “the whore”) and the Nissan Moca (booger).
Lesson learned? Some names get badly lost in translation. If yours ends in an “a” or an “o” test it oh-so-carefully in Latin markets.
Suzuki Every Wagon Joypop Turbo
Car naming fail #4: Suzuki Every Wagon Joypop Turbo
Some names are too much of a mouthful, let alone possible to remember. Lengthy line-extension fails such as the Suzuki Every Wagon Joypop Turbo (did someone just chuck a dictionary into a food blender?) and the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter Guts. Guts? Seriously? While “guts” might work in one way (courage) the intestinal taste it leaves in your mouth is a definite fail. And then there’s the Nissan Homy Super Long – where “homy” might seem like a misspelling of ‘homey’, or be read as ‘horny’ with the ‘Super Long’ compounding the unfortunate error.
Lesson learned? Brevity trumps strategy. The consumer wants a name, not a novel.
Daihatsu Charade
Car naming fail #3: Daihatsu Charade
One could argue that this name actually sounds pretty good and has a sophisticated ring to it – and you’d be right. A charade is a fun, up-market parlor game but, unfortunately, it also means “fake” or “ridiculous pretense”: not the kind of name you want to give to a small under-powered vehicle, trying overly hard to be desirable.
Lesson learned? It’s well worth investing a little more on developing and researching names when spending millions on manufacturing and marketing a new car.
Ford Probe
Car naming fail #2: Ford Probe
Originally intended as a replacement for the iconic Ford Mustang, the 1989 Ford Probe was likely named to evoke a feeling of space-age performance as a result of high-tech aerodynamic design. However, by the time the ill-fated name made its appearance, popular culture in the United States had already attached an entirely different, and much more unfortunate, meaning to it. See: “Probe: What aliens do to you once they have abducted you in their spacecraft…” in urbandictionary.com
Lesson learned? Awareness of the wider context around your name can prevent disastrous associations. But sometimes you do just have to write an unsuccessful name off to bad luck.
MAZDA TITAN DUMP