Slogan Analysis Car Slogans in China: What Colour is your Future?

Written by Emily Zhang

As environment-friendly cars turn out to be an increasingly important marketplace segment, more and more businesses are heavily investing in R&ampD to come up with tomorrow’s winning technologies. But technological trends are only half of the picture on the communication front, auto organizations are eager to dress themselves in green. In China, numerous foreign automotive brands have begun to develop innovative taglines and slogans in Mandarin.

In this Slogan Analysis we will firstly analyze the meaning of 3 eco-car slogans. We will then talk about Volkswagen and Honda’s differing selection of colours to symbolize the environment, as nicely as Toyota’s selection to not mention the environment in its Chinese communication for Prius, whilst heavily emphasizing its environmental credentials in the US. Lastly, we will look at concepts that other similar vehicle slogans call on to reach their target audiences in China.

Volkswagen: “蓝•创未来” (pronounced lán chuàng wèi lái)

    蓝：blue

    创：create

    未来：future

Chinese name association: The slogan literally indicates “the color blue creates our future”. In this slogan, the key word is Blue (蓝) and its significance is profound. The colour blue conveys an image of purity, balance, preciseness and technologies. The word also refers to elements such as the sky and the ocean. The colour blue, in Chinese as in English, also brings to mind the word “Blueprint” (蓝图), a nicely thought-out strategy to accomplish something ambitious. As a blue print is a technical document that is future oriented, it makes sense for Volkswagen to associate their brand with this concept. The Chinese slogan “蓝•创未来” clearly expresses Volkswagen’s determination to utilize its BlueMotion Technology to develop a brighter future.

Honda Civic: “以绿色科技描绘未来” (yǐlǜ sè kē jì miáo huì wèi lái)

    绿色：green

    科技：technology

    描绘：describe

    未来：future

Chinese name association: The slogan can be translated as “Let green technologies describe the future”.  The colour green symbolizes nature and the environment, whilst “green technology” refers to the eco-friendly hybrid technologies. Like Volkswagen’s slogan, Honda’s slogan expresses the firm’s desire to create a greener future through technologies. The key distinction, even so, is that Honda makes a bolder and more direct statement rather than relying on subtle connotations.

Concerning the Chinese word “描绘”, figuratively it indicates “to describe”, while its direct meaning is “to paint”. Thus, the Chinese slogan can have a second expression: to paint the future with the green (ecological) color. This gives the tagline powerful imagery in addition to its verbal meaning. Furthermore, “Civic”, the English brand name of the vehicle, relates to the citizen. Honda’s original concept for utilizing this name was to position this vehicle for the mass market however, when regarded as in relation to the car’s green technologies, the meaning is transformed into civic or social responsibility for the environment.

Toyota  Prius: 科技先驱，启动未来 （kējìxiānqū, qǐdòngwèilái）

    科技：technology

    先驱：pioneer

    启动：start

    未来：future

Chinese name association: Literally the slogan means “Advanced technology powers the future”. What is surprising in this slogan is the absence of any mention to nature or green technology particularly.

The vehicle brand name Prius refers to the word “prior” in Latin, meaning prior to, previously, formerly, etc.  Similarly, in the Chinese slogan, the word “pioneer” has the very same connotation as the word “Prius” in Latin. According to Toyata, the firm chose this name because they regard Prius vehicle as the predecessor of cars to come. This message is also reinforced in the Chinese slogan.

Numerous interesting points for discussion arise from this analysis:

Green vs. blue: which colour symbolizes the environment?

Both Volkswagen and Honda have produced unique slogans emphasizing their environmental characteristics even so, they differ in their choice of color to support their promises. Typically speaking, the colour green has been utilised most typically to represent the environment, so blue might appear an odd choice for eco-friendly car technologies. However, the color blue, as we outlined earlier, is not only linked with images of the sky and ocean and notions of purity, it is also closely related with technology. It is therefore an excellent option for businesses who want to emphasize the technological aspect of a item whilst still appealing to eco-conscious customers. To be truly effective, eco-items ought to discover customers outside their traditional base (young, educated eco-conscious professionals) and remind other consumer groups that eco-friendliness and technological performance are not mutually exclusive notions.

A hybrid that forgets the environment?

As we saw earlier, the Toyota Prius’ Chinese slogan entirely ignores the environment or nature even so, a hybrid vehicle is inherently environmentally friendly. The Chinese slogan stands in stark contrast to its American counterpart: “Prius, mean but green”. This revision in communicated meaning demonstrates differences that exist in consumer perceptions and mindsets in China as compared to other countries. While in the US, customers respond really nicely to environment-related messages the Chinese customer could not yet location a high value on this.  References to the car’s performance might be much more likely to woo the Chinese consumer. Alternatively, Toyota might have felt that since the Prius is a hybrid auto which is inherently environmentally friendly, this is sufficient emphasis on the environment for the Chinese market.

Technologies, future, and the environment

The slogans we have analyzed mention three important elements: technologies, the future, and the environment. A look at a sample of 93 other car slogans show that performance, lifestyle, future, technologies and style are mentioned far more frequently than the environment. This may possibly appear surprising, but confirms the need for organizations to develop messages that go beyond “Be green and good” and appeal to a wider group of possible customers. It seems a lot of communication by automobile firms in China is still focusing on performance.