Coca-Cola’s Chinese name is 可口可乐 (kěkǒu kělè), which means roughly “tasty and enjoyable”. It sounds close to “Coca-Cola” and says something good about the product at the same time, which is why it is the example most often given of a Chinese brand name done well. The name dates from the late 1920s and has been in use ever since.
For a hotel, resort or travel brand choosing a Chinese name, it shows what the best names manage: a sound that links to the global brand, and characters whose meaning the brand is happy to own.
IPPWORLD has never worked with Coca-Cola. This article covers only the well-documented parts of the story.
Key Takeaways
- 可口可乐 is a hybrid name: it approximates the sound of “Coca-Cola” and its characters mean roughly “tasty and enjoyable”.
- Its second half, 可乐, became the everyday Chinese word for cola. A name that fits the language that naturally is rare, and a sign of how well the characters were chosen.
- For a hospitality brand, the lesson is to aim for sound and meaning together, test both, and then keep the name unchanged for as long as the brand exists.
What the name means
可口可乐 is four common characters in two pairs, and both pairs carry a meaning that suits a drink.
| Part | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可口 | kěkǒu | tasty, pleasing to the palate |
| 可乐 | kělè | enjoyable, something that brings happiness |
Read as a whole, the name suggests a drink that tastes good and makes you happy. Said aloud, kěkǒu kělè echoes the rhythm of “Coca-Cola”, with a repeated 可 (kě) that mirrors the repeated sound in the English. The characters are everyday ones that most readers recognise at a glance.
A short, well-documented history
The name has outlasted almost a century of change in China.
- Late 1920s. Coca-Cola began bottling in China, in Shanghai, and adopted 可口可乐 as its Chinese name.
- After 1949. Coca-Cola left mainland China, as many foreign businesses did.
- 1979. Coca-Cola returned to the mainland following the normalisation of relations between China and the United States, among the first Western consumer brands to do so. It returned under the same name.
The name is written 可口可乐 in Simplified characters on the mainland and in Singapore and Malaysia, and 可口可樂 in Traditional characters in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Only the last character changes form, and the name reads well in both.
The best Chinese names are heard as the brand and read as a reason to buy.
When a brand name becomes a word
可乐 is now simply what Chinese speakers call cola. It appears in other brands’ names too: Pepsi, for example, is 百事可乐 in Chinese. A coined name that the language adopts as an everyday word has fitted the language unusually well.
For most brands, including hotel and travel brands, that is neither likely nor necessary. The useful point is the reason behind it. The characters were chosen so that they made sense to Chinese readers on their own terms, not only as a sound-alike of the English. A name that makes sense in the language is easier to remember, easier to say and easier to trust.
What hotels and travel brands can take from it
Most hospitality brands will never find a name as neat as 可口可乐, but the same principles apply.
- Aim for sound and meaning together. A name that echoes your English name and carries a positive meaning gives guests two ways to remember it. Where you cannot have both, choose deliberately: sound when your English name is already known to Chinese-speaking guests, meaning when your English name is made of words worth translating.
- Make the meaning fit the experience. 可口可乐 talks about taste and enjoyment, which is what a drink sells. For a hotel or resort, the right meaning might be about rest, welcome, place or occasion. A pleasant meaning that has nothing to do with the stay is a missed chance.
- Prefer characters guests can read easily. Common characters are quicker to recognise on a booking screen, a map or a sign, and easier to type.
- Check both scripts. Write the name in Simplified and Traditional characters and make sure it reads and looks right in each. Our guide to Simplified vs Traditional Chinese for hotels explains which guests expect which form.
- Commit for the long term. Coca-Cola has used the same Chinese name for close to a century. A hotel or travel brand’s Chinese name should be chosen with the same horizon in mind and then used identically everywhere.
The full method, with hotel examples and the checks every candidate should pass, is in our guide on how to name your hotel or brand in Chinese.
A name is the first piece of brand voice
Choosing a Chinese name is transcreation in its most compressed form: a few characters carrying sound, meaning, culture and the brand’s tone of voice at once. Once it is chosen, it becomes a fixed term that every later piece of content has to use exactly. Our article on keeping one brand voice across languages covers how names, taglines and signature phrases are recorded and held across markets.
At IPPWORLD, we are an award-winning transcreation agency that specialises in creative translation and marketing localisation for the hospitality, travel, lifestyle and retail sectors, named Best Hospitality Creative Translation & Localisation Agency 2019 at the LUXlife Hospitality Awards. We define transcreation as creative translation: a process that adapts the emotional expressions and contextual relevance of the source message, beyond the literal meaning of words. Four things have to arrive together: language, emotion, culture and the brand’s tone of voice.
Other public brand stories in this series: Airbnb’s Chinese name, McDonald’s and Golden Arches and Red Bull in China.
Conclusion
可口可乐 works because it does two jobs at once: it sounds like the brand and it says something the brand wants said. Its staying power comes from characters that make sense to Chinese readers in their own right. A hospitality brand naming itself for Chinese guests should set the same standard, test it in both scripts and both sound and meaning, and then hold the name steady for the long term.
Next step
If your brand already has Chinese content, or a Chinese name, that is accurate but is not landing with the guests it targets, an audit is the sensible first step. Our guide to running a translation audit when your marketing feels off explains what to look at. When you are ready, get in touch with IPPWORLD to explore options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Coca-Cola’s Chinese name mean?
可口可乐 (kěkǒu kělè) means roughly “tasty and enjoyable”. 可口 means tasty or pleasing to the palate, and 可乐 means enjoyable or bringing happiness. The name also sounds close to “Coca-Cola”.
When did Coca-Cola get its Chinese name?
In the late 1920s, when the company began bottling in Shanghai. Coca-Cola left mainland China after 1949 and returned in 1979 under the same name.
Why is 可乐 the Chinese word for cola?
Because the second half of Coca-Cola’s Chinese name became the everyday word for the drink. Other brands use it too; Pepsi, for example, is 百事可乐.
Did IPPWORLD work on Coca-Cola’s Chinese name?
No. IPPWORLD has never worked with Coca-Cola. The name dates from the 1920s and is included here because it is the best-known public example of a Chinese name that combines sound and meaning.
Should a hotel’s Chinese name sound like its English name or mean the same thing?
Ideally both, as 可口可乐 does. If you must choose, go for sound when your English name is already familiar to Chinese-speaking guests, and for meaning when your English name is made of words worth translating.