An untapped culture for brand namers

As the world’s third most popular language, if measured by the sheer number of countries in which it is spoken (after English and French), the word Arabic conjures a huge range of exotic, ancient and complex associations for the western world, some not always positive. This shroud of mixed-up perceptions belies the fact that it is spoken by an incredible 530m peoples worldwide. But it remains a hugely under-utilised resource for modern brand language and verbal identities.

As a major vehicle for culture during the Middle Ages, Arabic in its linguistic, artistic, mathematical, philosophical, scientific and religious forms has transformed, influenced and occupied major tracts of northern and eastern Africa, Europe and the Middle East throughout the centuries and is, of course, the language of the Qur’an. For more than a thousand years, the “Arabic” brand has been a dramatic influence upon us, igniting our sense of historical perspective in Persia, Egypt and the Middle East, inspiring our sense of art and architecture in the Alhambra, romancing our souls and appealing to our hedonism in early twentieth century Beirut or captured in cinematography in Casablanca.

Arabic is a major source for languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Gujarati, Berber, Kurdish, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, Malay and Indonesian, amongst many others. It has leant the English language, often via other European languages, a vast wordloan stock, including sugar (sukkar), algebra, alkali, zenith, alchemy and nadir.

And yet, in naming or wordsmithing generally, we are much more likely to fall back upon the stalwarts of European etymology like Latin or Greek. Coffee producers recognise the value of Arabic world in naming coffee beans – but they are almost entirely alone. Is this a missed opportunity? Could our brands benefit by drawing upon at least some of the rich heritage and linguistic and cultural associations offered by Arabic?

“You got weather?”

In naming, the brief is often to find a single word/set of words which can reflect the brand, service or proposition uniformly right across the globe. Such is the ambition of globalisation. And yet different cultures sometimes have their own ways of summarising a new initiative.

The term “weatherization” – a new term born from the Stimulus Payments designed to kick start the US economy - is a good example.

Weatherization is an initiative to insulate homes to protect them from the weather, saving the home owners’ dollars and creating jobs along the way. In the UK, a country which allegedly, shares a language with the US, the term “weatherisation” (let alone “weatherization” with a “zee”) would be sneered at as an inappropriate derivation of a noun designed to encompass the characteristics of climate. But in the US, weather is used differently and therefore its derivation can be used differently. In naming terms, as in quite a few forms of marketing, the USA first looks for the directly descriptive before overcomplicating. What is seen as “too simple” in Europe, is often seen as “not trying too hard” in North America. These cultural differences should be celebrated rather than stamped out and European cultures could borrow a lot from simply looking across the pond.

The Increasing Meanings of “Recession”

“Recession” has taken on an additional role in naming terms this week as a new study has revealed that there is a direct correlation between economic recession and the state of our diets. The term “Nutrition Recession” is born.

Apparently, with fewer pounds in our purses we are more likely to switch to less nutritious food types, stock piling a health problem for the future. And so, “Recession” – a word already laden with negative associations, takes a new step down into the abyss.

But just as old words give new meaning when applied in a new way, the new phrases we create will have a reciprocal effect upon their original master too. So, while our politicians tell us that piling zillions into the economy will make economic recession more short-lived, it is estimated the nutritionists will have a much longer battle to recreate some of the enthusiasm for healthier food types which reached its zenith towards the middle of 2008. In other words, the storm clouds of nutritional deprivation may have a much longer lasting effect and the knock-on effect is that the word “recession”, which our leaders suggest is associated with “being controlled”, “short term” or “can be effected by stimuli”, will begin to have much longer-term associations.

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