Менеджеры и менеджмент (Executives and Management) - 65 стр.

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can think of have a...an R or a...a...an L in their name, even though many Japanese people pronounce the sounds
'r' and '1' the same. A...an exception is the four-wheel drive Mitsubishi Shogun (a... as it's called in the UK),
but...er...in most countries it's called the Pajero – er...except, in Spanish-speaking countries where that word is
very rude indeed. There the same car is the Ranchero.
Er...many international car names have been invented specially. They don't mean anything in any language
but they're just supposed to sound attractive – most of the brands I've already mentioned are invented words.
Some more examples of these on sale in the UK are the Ford Mondeo, the Toyota Celica and the Citroen Xan-
tia.
But sometimes they may have to change the brand name to make it acceptable in different countries. In
Europe, General Motors cars are marketed under the Opel brand name. In Britain, these cars are Vauxhalls- a
name that most Europeans find very hard to pronounce. But there's a definite trend to create European brands:
um...the Opel Kadett used to be called the Astra in the UK, now it's the Astra all over Europe. And here in Brit-
ain the Vauxhall Nova has taken on the European brand name Corsa – in Spanish and Italian No va means 'it
doesn't go', which wouldn't have been a suitable name for a reliable small car! And in the USA they have a car
called the Rabbit – a sort of light-hearted, amusing image, hasn't it? That's what we call the VW Golf, because
consumers here seem to prefer a more serious sporty image.
A fashionable product like... er... computer software has to have a marketable, and a...a memorable brand
name. And as more products are developed increasingly meaningless new names have to be invented, which
nobody else has thought of before.
Computer software products on sale in the UK often have brand names consisting of two words without a
space between them. So instead of being called Page Maker, the product is called PageMaker with a capital M
in the middle. Then...um...there's WordPerfect (with a capital P in the middle) and QuarkXPress (with capital
X and capital P in the middle). Um...but Microsoft Word is two words and... er...there are no capitals in the
middle anywhere.
Now, having said all that, what I'd like you to do is to think of some... er... foreign brand names that you
think are unsuitable for the market in your country. Get together with a colleague and you've got three minutes
to make notes. OK?...
T a s k 7. Read this article from The Guardian and then sum up its most important facts.
Are brand names being pushed off the shelf?
According to the Wall Street Journal: "More and more shoppers are by-passing household names for the
cheaper, no-name products one shelf over. This shows that even the biggest and strongest brands in the world
are vulnerable."
It has been clear for some time – principally since recession began to be felt in the major economies of the
world – that the strength of brands has been under fire. During the second half of the eighties, the Japanese, for
example, showed themselves willing to pay a huge premium to buy goods with a smart label and image to
match: they were fashion victims par excellence, be it in choosing their luggage (Louis Vuitton was much fa-
voured) or in buying their booze, where a 20-year-old version of a good malt whisky could fetch the equivalent
of $60 or more. Over the past year or two, that enthusiasm to spend big money on a classy label has waned
markedly.
But we may be witnessing the death of the brand.
First, every story that now appears about the troubles being experienced by makers of luxury goods triggers
wise nods and told-you-so frowns.
Two days ago, LVMH in France, which owns Moet et Chandon champagne, Louis Vuitton and the Christian
Lacroix fashion house, reported lower earnings for the first half of 1993 than it did a year ago. As David Jarvis, in
charge of the European operations of drinks company Hiram Walker, puts it: "A few years ago, it might have been
considered smart to wear a shirt with a designer's logo embroidered on the pocket; frankly, it now seems a bit
naff."

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