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I think it is deceiving to compare apples to oranges this way. Coca-cola is highly popular due to its branding across the board, not just the Chinese name they
by mrtron 15y ago
I think it is deceiving to compare apples to oranges this way. Coca-cola is highly popular due to its branding across the board, not just the Chinese name they chose.
McDonalds is left out, but is just translated to 麦当劳 which sounds as close as possible to the syllables mac-don-alds (Màidāngláo). McDonalds is much more popular and prevalent in Asia than Subway, despite their 'worse' name that means nothing. The television commercials for McDonalds capitalize on the foreign nature of the company usually showing white people eating.
- PakG1 15y agoSeriously about usually showing white people in commercials? That's not what I see here, and I live in China right now. McDonald's and KFC, the two foreign fast food leaders, seem to have done a fairly good job localizing. Heck, I can't get any apple pies here, only pineapple and taro. And they serve chicken wings at McDonald's. Chicken wings! :) KFC goes one further, currently marketing a new Chinese BBQ pork set meal with rice and veggies.
- billpaetzke 15y agoHa. Yep. And in Thailand they serve broccoli pies[1] and corn pies. Weird! :) [1] http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228089_10100220946213845_3400786_51861994_3032657_n.jpg http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/228089_101002...
- mrtron 15y agoThis reminds me of a post I wrote a while back about McDonalds in Kuala Lumpur. 2 of their main combos were KFC style chicken. http://troysimpson.co/branding-why-i-ate-mcdonalds-in-kuala-lampur http://troysimpson.co/branding-why-i-ate-mcdonalds-in-kuala-...
- redcap 15y agoYou say McD is more popular in Asia than Subway. Please bear in mind that Asia is larger than just China. The "worse name" you mention here is only relevant to China and has no relevance to the rest of the Asian market.
- mrtron 15y agoI said it specifically to include other countries than China. I was living in Taiwan for a while, which uses the same Mandarin name for McD. And in other asian countries McD is far more popular than Subway.
- yiran 15y agoThe McDonalds v. Subway battle is exactly the reason why Subway needs a clever name. With McDonalds and KFC dominating the Chinese fast food market, Subway needs a point of differentiation. Fortunately, both of the leaders had chosen mediocre names, which gives Subway a slight advantage.