Global by Design

McDonald’s has a new slogan “I’m Loving It.” I’m not fan of the slogan – and am not sure McDonald’s even needs a slogan any more — but I do enjoy watching how companies extend their slogans across markets.

So far, I’ve found that McDonald’s translated the slogan into Spanish as “Me Encanta.” In Spanish, the slogan feels a bit more elegant. It will be interesting to see what the company does for other languages/countries, if anything.

Companies are largely better off skipping slogans altogether if comes down to using these vague, meaningless phrases, particularly if they are going to need these slogans to work globally. It’s hard enough to get a slogan to succeed in one country let alone a half dozen. Nike ended up not translating its “Just Do It” slogan because it had such a tough time translating the meaning across languages/cultures.

• Just Don’t Do It: The Art of Slogan Translation
• There is no such thing as a global slogan
• McDonald’s Celebrates 15 Years in Russia
• Will Wal-Mart Ever Stop Growing?
• The Last Days of Brand America
• McDonald’s Scores with “McRice Burger”