I have heard that Bluebird doesn't translate well into Hokkien, which is a very widely spoken language in Asia.I did some research to find out what it translates into, and what implications this could have for us, and this is what I found.
Microsoft, means small and flaccid (Micro) and (Soft). Mercedes Benz, on the other hand, refers to “one moving forward swiftly.” If you want to play the international branding game, you must adjust for foreign meanings/connotations, even slang.
When I was a child, Nissan sold a car called the Nissan Bluebird. In Hokkien, the local Chinese dialect, Bluebird means PENIS. Needless to say, no one wanted to be caught driving the car.
This is not to say the ENGLISH or foreign brand does not exist; quite the contrary. You create a local brand, and provide association with the ENGLISH brand, as in the case of COCA-COLA, posted above. Now both brands have “equal but separate” brand value.
There are many Hokkien speakers among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia as well as in the United States. Many ethnic Chinese emigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian, and brought the language to what is now Burma (Myanmar), Indonesia (the former Dutch East Indies) and present day
Malaysia and Singapore (formerly Malaya and the British Straits Settlements). Many of the Hokkien dialects of this region are highly similar to Taiwanese and Amoy. Hokkien is reportedly the native language of up to 98.5% of the Chinese Filipino in the Philippines, among which is known locally as Lan-nang or Lán-lâng-oē ("Our people’s language").
Hokkien speakers form the largest group of Chinese in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.The link below demonstrates the problem.
http://mollytoh.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/ ... rrier.html