Affluent Savvy
Affluent Savvy
Photo: Sam Lion
In some Asian languages, like Chinese and Japanese, the number 4 is actually a homonym for the word “death.” As a result, most Asian companies avoid using these numbers entirely.
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Learn More »If you live in the West, chances are that you’ve visited a building without a 13th floor or boarded a plane without a row #13. In fact, you probably rarely think twice about the fact that these numbers are so frequently skipped in your home culture, but you might be surprised to see the numbers 4, 9, or 17 omitted when you are traveling abroad. Superstitions exist in many parts of the world, but the numbers associated with bad luck — or good — tend to vary from one place to another. While this kind of information is generally known to natives within a given market, it isn’t intuitive to foreigners. As a result, companies often make unintentional numerical and cultural blunders when launching their presence in a new market. At Smartling, we compiled a research roundup on superstitions regarding numbers around the world, which we vetted with translators in our global network. We found that knowing about numerical superstitions is important for any business that seeks to expand internationally — especially in the realm of international marketing. Here are some common places we found where numbers can get your company into trouble: Pricing. Customers in the West might raise eyebrows at a product priced at $6.66, but people in many parts of the world would not. In Chinese, the pronunciation of 666 sounds like the phrase, “things going smoothly” and is considered to be very lucky. Many businesses even hang the number above their door. However, in Japan specifically, the number 9 is a bad-luck number that sounds like “suffering” when spoken aloud; so a price of $9.99, while common in the West, would be viewed negatively. Phone numbers. You would never ask a customer to dial 1-800-death-death-death, death-death, death-death in order to reach you. However, this is what you’d be requesting if you choose a toll-free number ending in 444-4444. In some Asian languages, like Chinese and Japanese, the number 4 is actually a homonym for the word “death.” As a result, most Asian companies avoid using these numbers entirely. Addresses. When scoping out a new office location in another country, if you spot that the price is inexpensive relative to surrounding properties, you might want to take a closer look at the street number, building number, or unit number. In Mandarin, 7456 (qī sì wǔ liù) sounds like “to make me angry” (qì-sǐ wǒ -le), and 250 can mean “imbecile” and is sometimes used as an insult. Many customers do not want to visit an address that conveys something negative, and some might even consider it bad luck to send correspondence or make deliveries to such a location. Product names. It’s common for companies to release products in a numbered series. However, many companies remove the number 4 or the number 13 due to their bad luck connotations in the East and West, respectively. Japanese camera maker Fuji skips the series 4 and jumps directly from series 3 to series 5 for this reason. Likewise, Canon introduced its Powershot G15, skipping both G13 and G14.
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Learn More »Images. Be mindful of the numbers your images may convey. Often, numbers that are visible in the background of an image might be innocent in one country but provoke fear in another. For example, a photo of a soccer player with a big number 17 on his jersey might look fine to audiences in most parts of the world, but in Italy this number is considered very unlucky. In fact, at the winter Olympics in Turin, the 17th curve on the bobsled track was referred to as “Senza Nome” (without name) instead of referring to it with the unlucky number 17. Also, make sure to check the number of people or items you are displaying in a given picture — the number can be viewed as unlucky in some markets. For some Vietnamese, it’s considered bad luck to have 3 people in photos. The person in the middle will supposedly die. Whether you’re dealing with launching a mobile app, crafting an advertising campaign, or simply naming a product that will be sold in another country, there are two surefire ways to avoid exposing your brand to numerical faux pas. First, train your staff to watch out for the most widely known and high-risk unlucky numbers. Second, make sure that your non-native employees always work with people in the local market when making important decisions about numbers, especially ones that will be front and center for your brand. Doing some preliminary research and involving your company’s in-country human resources — partners, distributors, agencies, and even customers — will help you ensure that when it comes to effectively communicating with your target market, you’ve got their number.
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