Different body names for North America... why?

[AdamJ]

This is something that has always puzzled me. Why is, for example, a Canon EOS 600D known by that name everywhere in the world* except for North America where it is a Canon EOS Rebel T3i?

Here's another example. My Kawasaki ZZR1400 is known by that name everywhere in the world except North America where it is a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R.

What is it about the North American market that leads manufacturers to brand their products differently?

(* I realise Japan has another different name for the EOS 600D but local branding generally in Japan has always been eccentric so I'm disregarding that).

[nebugeater]

In a lot of industries same product, diff name, diff country has to do with pricing.  This is the case even in same product, diff name, same country at times.

[DJL329]

It's mostly marketing.  Even movies get different titles in different countries!  It's what the manufacturer thinks will sell in a particular market.  In the US, the "Rebel" name might have been used, at least in part, to get a copyright.  For instance, Intel started using the "Pentium" name, as they couldn't copyright a number (which is what they formerly used to name their processors).  It also gives the consumers a "brand" with which they can identify.  After all, we are a rebellious bunch! 

Sometimes, it is for legal (someone else has rights to a particular name in that country) or even "societal" or "superstitious" reasons, as a particular name or number could be considered unlucky (the number 13, in western culture, for example), offensive or downright evil.  For example, we will never see an EOS "4D" or "9D" from Canon, as those numbers are "unlucky" in Japanese:  Four is sometimes pronounced shi, which is also the word for death, while Nine is sometimes pronounced ku, which can mean suffering.

[neuroanatomist]

It's mostly marketing.  Even movies get different titles in different countries!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  But for us ignorant Americans, for whom philosophy is a difficult concept, they changed it to Sorcerer.  Or my personal favorite, the movie, The Madness of King George - about the dementia of the George III, the King of England at the time of the US Revolutionary War.  It was originally titled The Madness of King George III, but test audiences revealed that wouldn't fly, because no one would go to see the third entry in a trilogy without having seen (or even heard of) The Madness of King George I and II.  Is history no longer a secondary school requirement?   

Sometimes, it is ... even "societal" or "superstitious" reasons

Or linguistic.  The classic example is the Chevy Nova, which failed dismally as a model name in Latin America since "No va" means "doesn't go."  In my industry (pharma) it's a pretty complex process to select a drug brand name - something that's distinct, pronouncable in many languages, and inoffensive in every language.

[kubelik]

This is something that has always puzzled me. Why is, for example, a Canon EOS 600D known by that name everywhere in the world* except for North America where it is a Canon EOS Rebel T3i?

Here's another example. My Kawasaki ZZR1400 is known by that name everywhere in the world except North America where it is a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14R.

What is it about the North American market that leads manufacturers to brand their products differently?

(* I realise Japan has another different name for the EOS 600D but local branding generally in Japan has always been eccentric so I'm disregarding that).

nice bike - I'm still riding an old, old ninja 500.  I think there's the feeling that Americans prefer shorter numbers that are easier to differentiate (notice that both Canon and Kawasaki alike steer away from all the 00's at the end of their product names).  Nikon apparently doesn't seem to care, or they have to leave the 00's on to maintain some differentiation from Canon.

I guess I'm just too American, because I do like stuff without all the 00's and 000's ... it gets ridiculous after a while.  I don't want to tell people I own the ZBT948200000-GTX-3050, whatever that is.  short, sweet, easy-to-remember nomenclature wins at the end of the day.

part of it is definitely linguistic.  in asian languages (at least Chinese and Japanese), saying "hundred" or "thousand" or even "ten thousand" is a single monosyllabic word.  and culturally, there's a habit descended form our Asian storytelling traditions of referring to awesome things by calling it "hundred" or "thousand" whatevers.  a common breakfast dish in northern china is known as "thousand-year egg".  they love "14000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a dramatic title.  people used to proclaim "may the emperor live 10000 years".  so it's just a cultural fetish for huge numbers.

[DJL329]

It's mostly marketing.  Even movies get different titles in different countries!

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.  But for us ignorant Americans, for whom philosophy is a difficult concept, they changed it to Sorcerer.  Or my personal favorite, the movie, The Madness of King George - about the dementia of the George III, the King of England at the time of the US Revolutionary War.  It was originally titled The Madness of King George III, but test audiences revealed that wouldn't fly, because no one would go to see the third entry in a trilogy without having seen (or even heard of) The Madness of King George I and II.  Is history no longer a secondary school requirement?   

Apparently not!  Another was the "March of the Penguins," as some Americans may have assumed "March of the Emperors" (the European title) was about an army of "Napoleons" (can't remember where I saw that, Discovery perhaps).

Sometimes, it is ... even "societal" or "superstitious" reasons

Or linguistic.  The classic example is the Chevy Nova, which failed dismally as a model name in Latin America since "No va" means "doesn't go."

LOL!  I vaguely remember that one.  It certainly pays to do your research.  Part of the problem is that we don't border a bunch of other countries, like in Europe.  Over there, being fluent in multiple languages is a necessity for doing business.

part of it is definitely linguistic.  in asian languages (at least Chinese and Japanese), saying "hundred" or "thousand" or even "ten thousand" is a single monosyllabic word.  and culturally, there's a habit descended form our Asian storytelling traditions of referring to awesome things by calling it "hundred" or "thousand" whatevers.  a common breakfast dish in northern china is known as "thousand-year egg".  they love "14000 Leagues Under the Sea" as a dramatic title.  people used to proclaim "may the emperor live 10000 years".  so it's just a cultural fetish for huge numbers.

Thanks, I was not aware of that.

[bycostello]

it is odd inn a world of globalisation, for those in the UK remember Snickers used to be called Marathons and Cif cleaner was Jif...

[Bateman75]

The Honda fit was first named Honda fitta only problem is that fitta means pussy in a lot of european countrys so in the european market it is called Jazz

[funkboy]

Because Americans (& Europeans for that matter) would never buy a camera called the "Kiss Digital" in its home market (for reasons that only the JDM understands).

At least they don't have furry kittens with big eyes on them...