Subsidiary naming for eBay

It’s not unusual for a name we create to have to be easy to pronounce and on-message in several languages. But 16 languages across 3 continents, with availability as a domain? eBay CEO Meg Whitman initially didn’t think it could be done. Good thing international naming is our superpower. We created nearly 4,000 names in 12 languages, subjected hundreds to linguistic and cultural assessment, and screened for trademark and domain availability. Kijiji’s repetitive, consonant-vowel structure is easy to pronounce around the globe, it’s fun to say, and it’s visually intriguing. The word means “village” in Swahili. How cool is that for a site that creates community? Kijiji continues to be the most popular classified service in Canada, beating out Craigslist.