Comm 605 Observation Paper #4 Liz Horgan March 29, 2010

The name Coca-Cola in China was first rendered as Ke-kou-ke-la. Unfortunately, the

Coke company did not discover until after thousands of signs had been printed that the

phrase means "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax" depending on the

dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 Chinese characters and found a close phonetic

equivalent, ko-kou-ko-le, which can be loosely translated as "happiness in the mouth".

http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/translation.funnies.html

Communications are problematic enough when all are speaking the same linguistic

language, yet when language is not common between agents/entities and translation is required,

funny things happen. As shown above, a message and a meaning in one language can become

something very different in another.

Coke’s initial methodology of phonetically translating Coca-Cola into Chinese came from

a distinctly Western, American cultural perspective of assumptions and traditions. Peter L.

Berger, in thoughts on the social construction of reality, cautions us that when dealing with

multiculturalism there is a need to be open minded, as cultural influences affect meaning making

(Ihlen et.al., 2009). The attempt to introduce product into a new culture started out with a

marketing-as-usual approach, but as Coke discovered, cross cultural communication problems

quickly surfaced with the simple re-naming exercise. Being understood in Chinese is

complicated. China has multiple languages and dialects (Wikipedia, 2010), so that even the

basic selection of language for business is tricky. Concern over slang, meaning and cultural
connotation all are components that enter into the decision of naming. “Bite the wax tadpole”

has a bizarre meaning and far less legitimacy, given my Western point of view, than “happiness

in the mouth” (2010, Ojohaven). The second naming effort seemed a much better effort, and by

keying in on Coke’s repetitive motifs of happiness, the Company promotes one of its universal

messages as it works on creating awareness of Coke in China.

Niklas Luhmann describes a system of communications that can illuminate some of the

difficulties in communicating globally, across cultures and through different languages (Ihlen

et.al., 2009). With Coke expanding into China, the Company has to make sure it is responsive

to the Chinese social/cultural systems. The brand name required filters and adaptation so the

utterance, ko-kou-ko-le, generates understanding.

As Coke’s presence grows in China, so too will its challenges. Luhmann speaks to issues

of legitimacy (Ihlen et.al., 2009); applying Luhmann practically, greater strategic

communications/public relations activities will be needed to keep the product in consumer’s

minds and to constantly shore up both the organization’s and the product’s legitimacy in order to

bolster its right to exist. Luhmann’s theoretical underpinnings (Ihlen et.al., 2009) also suggest

that Coke will have to be responsive to the other systems within which it operates.

Interdependence between product sales and business growth takes place in the Chinese political

and cultural landscape. Simply increasing visibility may not be enough to ensure growth and

survival. China is a huge market, the challenges Coke will face in that country are already

foreshadowed by the problems such as those recently encountered by Google (Ingram, 2010).
 Globalization creates opportunities, but as this naming example shows, it is not without

mis-steps as organizations strive for understood meaning and legitimacy in the quest for sales

and profits.
References

Ihlen, O., van Ruler, B. & Fredriksson, M., (2009). Public relations and social theory. New

York, Routledge.

Ingram, M., (March 25, 2010). Google and China: What you need to know.

Retrieved March 28, 2010 from http://gigaom.com/2010/03/25/google-and-china-what-you-

need-to-know/

(2010). http://www.ojohaven.com/fun/translation.funnies.html

(March 23, 2010). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language