Case Study China: Coca-Cola
- Ann Desseyn
- Jul 15
- 1 min read
When Coca-Cola first entered the Chinese market, local shopkeepers created their own Chinese characters to approximate the brand's pronunciation. Unfortunately, some of these versions translated into meanings such as "Bite the Wax Tadpole", creating confusion and weakening the brand's image.
Coca-Cola subsequently invested significant time and resources to develop the official Chinese brand name 可口可乐 (Kěkǒu Kělè), meaning "Tasty and Enjoyable."
From an MC³ diagnostic perspective, the business risk extended beyond branding.
An MC³ diagnostic would examine:
Was the intended brand identity interpreted consistently across the target market?
Were local stakeholders influencing the message before communication controls were established?
Did leadership validate how the brand would be perceived within the local cultural environment?
Could stronger multilingual communication controls have prevented reputational and financial risk?
The objective is not to identify a branding mistake. It is to determine whether multilingual communication controls are sufficiently robust to protect international expansion from avoidable business risk.
Following diagnosis, MC³ strengthens multilingual communication controls, helping organisations reduce communication risk, safeguard brand value and improve international market readiness.
The next question I would ask is:
If your organisation entered a new international market tomorrow, who would control how your brand is understood?
