If you’ve paid attention to TV ads or glanced at medical/life science news recently, you’ve probably noticed a shift in the naming conventions for pharmaceuticals. It seems like, every day, there’s a new drug or medical product with a brand name that would make even the most obsessive Scrabble™ player blush. It’s a torrent of Qs, Vs, Zs, Xs, (and sometimes Y), the occasional vowel, prefixed and suffixed by various syllables whose sole purpose seems to be to individualize, rather than inform. This trend seems to have infected even the names of companies and other marketing spheres.

Though Shakespeare encouraged us to look past names, research conducted over the past few decades has increasingly confirmed that names have a subconscious role in shaping what we think of an object or idea. Linguists have demonstrated that even the very sounds that go into a word can subtly alter our perspective of the thing it names. We’ve known for a long time that language plays a big role in shaping how we view the world, but researchers are increasingly applying this lens in life science marketing. Brands, marketing campaigns, and product names all seem to be affected by the names and language we use to describe them. While it certainly seems beneficial to make the names of our brands, campaigns, or pharmaceutical products unique, that isn’t the only role our language can play in our marketing strategy.

In this blog, Cobalt explores the role of linguistics in shaping how customers and clients alike respond to the language we use in marketing and communications, specifically within a life science context. Finally, we’ll offer some tips and tricks for using this research in your marketing strategy.

Tone & Translation & Tailoring Your Message (Oh My!)

Translation plays a big role in the global marketing world. There are plenty of examples of pharmaceutical brands and companies working hard on a marketing campaign or product, only to find a little language mishap bogging down its progress in new markets. One Chinese pharmaceutical company trying to bring their product to the US, for example, ran into issues when one of their active ingredients was incorrectly translated, leading to a recall.

“Direct translation,” or translating a phrase from another language literally and word-for-word, is often the culprit behind these kinds of linguistic mess-ups. In health care environments, direct translation can endanger patients, as in the case of Willie Ramirez, who was given incorrect treatment because of a failure in translation. His family brought him to the emergency room, saying he was intoxicado, which, in Cuban Spanish, can indicate any form of ailment because of food or drink. The English-speaking providers, however, treated him as if he was intoxicated. Researching your audience and how they might interpret the language you use, then, is pivotal to your messaging’s warm reception.

Beyond mere translation issues, cultural differences are an immensely important aspect of market research when working with clients from around the world. Not all cultures respond to messaging in the same way: studies show that tailoring your messaging towards specific tones, phrasings, and popular culture references can boost engagement from audiences with different backgrounds. At the same time, marketers must be careful not to make too many assumptions based on demographics alone because culture goes far beyond demographic data.

One important aspect of global marketing in the life sciences or pharmaceutical industry is how different countries view pharmaceuticals and their place in marketing. At Cobalt, at least, we are used to marketing to individuals and organizations where pharmaceuticals are understood to be under the purview of the private sector. In countries such as Canada, where medical care has been largely socialized and is managed in the public sector, “advertising pharmaceuticals” (directly to consumers, at least) can seem like an oxymoronic phrase itself. Researching how different countries view pharmaceuticals and their place in society can be an important cultural consideration when planning your marketing strategy.

Phonaesthetics and the “Background Work” of a Language

Translation issues and cultural diversity are the most common obstacles to overcome when marketing to audiences of various backgrounds, and you’ll find many blogs and articles suggesting ways to localize your marketing strategy and research your audience. But language also can have some more esoteric effects on how an audience might receive your message.

In fact, psycholinguistic researchers (academics who study how language influences our psychology and our interaction with the wider world) have demonstrated that the very sounds that constitute our language can have effects on how one’s branding or marketing is received. The study of this aspect of language is known as phonaesthetics and sound symbolism, or the study of how sounds (especially in language) influence our sense-perceptions related to the word.

To demonstrate this, look at these two pictures, which might be familiar to you if you have ever taken a college-level psychology class:

Let’s say you are deciding on some names for these images (you can even imagine they are logos for a prospective brand or marketing campaign). Your clients are already settled on two that they like a lot, Bouba and Kiki, though they are still arguing over which gets which name.

Just based on your intuition, which image receives which name? Most respondents agree that the image on the left should receive the name Kiki, the other, Bouba. But why does this seem so intuitive to us, and why do we all seem to agree? We don’t have all the answers yet, but psycholinguists have concluded it’s possible that the language we use to name certain objects and ideas is not entirely arbitrary: that is to say, maybe language isn’t just “made up.” This isn’t something isolated to English-speaking audiences, either. Though there are always exceptions, most of the world’s languages seem to conform to this association between rounded objects with sounds such as “b” and “m,” and jagged objects with sounds such as “t” and “k.” Given this, you might want to consider the associations with these sounds when developing your branding strategy, as there seems to be a bigger connection between what we see and what we say than we might initially think.

Sounds don’t only seem to affect images, logos, and other symbols. Linguists have found that different vowels can affect what size or shape we expect real objects to have. One of the earliest studies into the phonaesthetic phenomenon involved presenting subjects with a small and a large table and the artificial words mal and mil. Subjects were more likely to associate the larger table with the word mal and the smaller table with the word mil (as you likely did as you were reading this).

Various other studies have shown that phonaesthetics/sound symbolism can play a role in marketing and branding. Linguist Chi Luu, writing for JSTOR Daily, notes that linguists are often consulted in brainstorming sessions during many organizations’ attempts at rebranding, and many studies conducted by linguists demonstrate that the sounds and words we use in branding can produce unexpected effects in the audience. Vowel sounds like “u,” seem to be associated with negative emotions, including feelings of disgust. Similarly, brand names that begin with “plosive” consonants (sounds like “k,” “g,” “b,” “p,” etc., which involve an abrupt start or stop to airflow from the mouth) seem to encourage brand recognition, recall, and draw attention more than other consonants and vowels. Scholars suggest this might be the result of an association between such sounds and a sense of durability and stability. Scholars deduce that, if you’re marketing a product that portrays itself “light” or “fluffy,” you should avoid similar sounds.

Let’s Tie It Together: Selling with Sound

How can you use this information in your marketing? While we understand that not every business is equipped to find a linguistic/cultural consultant for each of their campaigns (we aren’t either), we have some suggestions for ways to consider sounds when developing your next great idea.

Strong Consonants

If you’re in the process of revamping your branding and messaging, try to give some thought to the emotions, associations, and senses you’re hoping to evoke in your audience. If you’re looking to encourage your audience to associate your brand, product, or service with something cutting-edge, durable, and stable, your brand name could benefit from some hard-hitting consonants, via alliteration or even just in the first few letters of your brand name.

Voiced consonants seem to be associated with heaviness and strength: Moderna, a pharmaceutical company that rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, captures their use well. Though their name doesn’t start with a plosive consonant and instead begins with a nasal one, they maintain a consistent series of voiced consonants, interlaced with back and front vowels that blend its cutting-edge tone with a sleekness that is captured in the word “modern” and “RNA.”

Back Vowels

If you’re looking to promote a product that conjures associations with grandness, largeness, or expansive change, consider emphasizing back vowels, like the “a” in words like ball and mall. Certain back vowels, though, seem to blend associations between largeness/heaviness with burdensome qualities (such as the “u” in blunder, clumsy, etc.), so be judicious with their usage. In the same way, when brainstorming campaign concepts, sounds can be a useful tool in generating subconscious calls to action or ideas to which you want to call attention.

Alliteration

Most people in marketing already have a knack for using sound symbolism in their taglines and email subject lines, even if they don’t realize it. Alliteration (either consonance or assonance can work) helps bring attention to a tagline, header, or email subject line by giving it a poetic, witty feel. Once again, you should prioritize quality over quantity (see the alliteration?), as linguistic wordplay can sometimes border on silliness if overdone.

Cultural Research

In terms of cultural research, doing a quick Google search on pop culture references, phrases, or taboos to avoid, and other facts about your target audience should reveal a path forward when formulating a name or campaign concept. Be wary of myths and legends when doing this kind of research. For example, most people know the story of how Chevy Nova sales struggled in Latin and South America because “nova” means “no go.” As it turns out, this is an urban legend. The word “nova” has the same meaning in English in Spanish. Put a space between the words — “no va” — and you do indeed communicate “no go.” Spanish-speakers did not do this subliminally, however, for the Chevy Nova sold just fine in places like Mexico and Venezuela.

Initial Thinking

For a final fun fact, studies have also found that people are far more likely to seek products, services, or brands that share initials/letters with their own name. Someone named Corrina or Conan, it seems, is far more likely to be attracted to a name like Cobalt Communications than a Bob or a Frank. If you’re looking to go full-on subliminal with your marketing or hoping to grab a very specific person’s attention, try sneaking their initials somewhere in your branding and messaging.

Conclusions: Consider Language when Communicating Complexity

These are just some of the examples in which complex ideas can be lost in translation or influenced by the way languages function, whether it be the aesthetics of a certain word, our associations with it, or our more difficult-to-translate idioms. Even though it’s probably unnecessary to have your friendly neighborhood psycholinguist give the OK to every marketing campaign, motto, or tagline that you develop, it is important to understand how our brains act in relation to language. It’s the one thing that draws all aspects of communications together, whether it be graphic design, content writing, or other messaging.

If this blog post piqued your interest and you’d like to explore how the five senses (one of which is “sound” more generally) can impact your messaging and branding, look at our other blog post, which covers that exact topic.

Like What You’ve Read?

Cobalt is a life science communications company with a love for science, language, design, and everything in between (which is really everything, when you think about it). We strive to make complex ideas like those above easier to understand for our audience and we’d love to do the same for yours. Drop us a line if you’d like to work on something great together.