Comments on: Sharifa law: Unfortunate name choices… http://www.begtodiffer.com/2010/01/sharifa-law/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sharifa-law Branding for humans Wed, 16 May 2012 20:01:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Jennifer http://www.begtodiffer.com/2010/01/sharifa-law/comment-page-1/#comment-30826 Jennifer Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:14:19 +0000 http://www.begtodiffer.com/?p=1971#comment-30826 :-) A blog post about how we should consider cultural differences while branding or whenever doing business. Here is another example: my last name is "Ng" ... which is quite a common Chinese name in HongKong. On my first trip to South Korea, I had some puzzled looks and even some smirks when I handed out my business cards to my counterparts. I brushed it off but later I understood why. When I entered the computer lab, I saw rows and rows of our boards and then in one area, marked with bold RED, "NG" on each one ... Huh? They smirked and told me that is how they marked their "No Good" boards ... my self-esteem took a dive that day and had to work extra hard or I feared to be called "Ms. No Good" who came all the way from Canada and could not fix the problem. No kidding. :-) A blog post about how we should consider cultural differences while branding or whenever doing business. Here is another example: my last name is “Ng” … which is quite a common Chinese name in HongKong. On my first trip to South Korea, I had some puzzled looks and even some smirks when I handed out my business cards to my counterparts. I brushed it off but later I understood why. When I entered the computer lab, I saw rows and rows of our boards and then in one area, marked with bold RED, “NG” on each one … Huh? They smirked and told me that is how they marked their “No Good” boards … my self-esteem took a dive that day and had to work extra hard or I feared to be called “Ms. No Good” who came all the way from Canada and could not fix the problem. No kidding.

]]> By: Dennis Van Staalduinen http://www.begtodiffer.com/2010/01/sharifa-law/comment-page-1/#comment-30821 Dennis Van Staalduinen Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:28:39 +0000 http://www.begtodiffer.com/?p=1971#comment-30821 Oh my. You could see a few unfortunate giggles coming out of that one. When I go to visit my sister in Stratford Ontario, we always have to drive by the large FAG Bearings plant, and I always try to imagine handing over a business card with that at the top. Hmm. I'm sensing a blog post coming on.... Oh my. You could see a few unfortunate giggles coming out of that one.
When I go to visit my sister in Stratford Ontario, we always have to drive by the large FAG Bearings plant, and I always try to imagine handing over a business card with that at the top. Hmm. I’m sensing a blog post coming on….

]]> By: Jennifer http://www.begtodiffer.com/2010/01/sharifa-law/comment-page-1/#comment-30819 Jennifer Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:19:57 +0000 http://www.begtodiffer.com/?p=1971#comment-30819 Well I almost worked for a company called ... (wait for it) Sohard. Link: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/mercury-buys-sohard/291069.article Actually I was working for the parent company first so when the press release came out, of course, a lot of chuckles all around. A few years later, the joke was on me when I was reassigned to go work with them. HA. In all honesty, it was a case of cultural difference. The name was created as a contraction between the words "Software" and "Hardware" (the main products) ... So ... Hard. In German, this meant nothing really. As I travelled across the pond to meet my new counterparts, I dreaded having my new business cards arriving in the mail at the head office ... Gulp. Or handing them out at a huge conference like RSNA ... When I arrived, I was relieved to see that the original name was no longer but the new parent name with GmbH attached would suffice for now. *phew* Well I almost worked for a company called … (wait for it) Sohard. Link: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/mercury-buys-sohard/291069.article

Actually I was working for the parent company first so when the press release came out, of course, a lot of chuckles all around. A few years later, the joke was on me when I was reassigned to go work with them. HA.

In all honesty, it was a case of cultural difference. The name was created as a contraction between the words “Software” and “Hardware” (the main products) … So … Hard. In German, this meant nothing really.

As I travelled across the pond to meet my new counterparts, I dreaded having my new business cards arriving in the mail at the head office … Gulp. Or handing them out at a huge conference like RSNA … When I arrived, I was relieved to see that the original name was no longer but the new parent name with GmbH attached would suffice for now. *phew*

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