Does the ideal name really exist? Let’s take the example of IKEA, one of the most famous brands worldwide, easy to read and to pronounce all over the world. Is it pronounced the same way everywhere?  Not really. Let’s have a closer look at the Chinese market.

In China, the name IKEA (actually the sound IKEA), has been changed in order to suit their logographic language. It sounds like “Yi Jia” that recalls the occidental phonetics and means “comfortable home”.

The Chinese market would rather have global brands change completely or be readapted. Another possibility is that global brands have realized they could be better understood, spread or appreciated if closer to the Chinese language. This creates an open challenge for the main European or International firms: be closer in the right way to the Chinese market and create the right names in order to suit such a rich and varied culture and language.