I first arrived in Shanghai on an autumn evening in 2006. After a bizarre drive from the airport to a remote district of the city, I found myself in a Chinese grocery store, 乐购 (LèGòu), literally meaning “happy shopping”. Many of the patrons had never seen a foreign woman in the flesh before; white skin and blue eyes were of particular interest, which attracted much gazing and commentary.
My husband and I shakily equipped ourselves with a grocery cart and started wandering up and down the aisles. We soon realized the people crowding around us were friendly and of no concern, so we turned to the matter at hand. The essential items on our list were cleaning supplies and food. After locating what appeared to be window wash and Mr. Clean, and being shocked at the sight of snakes, turtles, and heaped-up pig carcasses in the meat section, we settled on white bread, Skippy Peanut Butter, and Coca Cola. Those familiar brands were all we ate that first week, yet some still ask: “What’s in a name?” Without them, I might have gone hungry.
My exposure to the question of brand names in China stemmed from that first night, and continued to grow during my career in brand consulting over the past 8 years. During this time, I have been fortunate to collaborate with hundreds of customers, industry experts, executives, journalists and academics to explore, create, and refine brand identities.
Even as analysts predict future slowdowns in China’s economy, due to its size, dynamism, and advanced digital behaviours, most global brands still need to incorporate Chinese customers into their marketing plan. And if the brand doesn’t have one yet, the plan should start with creating a Chinese brand name.
Why Does a Brand Matter?
Beyond a name like Skippy acting as an identifier in a time of need, what’s the big fuss about brands anyway? Well, it turns out they can be more valuable than the products they represent. In Naomi Klein’s “movement Bible” No Logo, she suggests it was the late 80s when this was indeed confirmed:
Then came the brand equity mania of the eighties, the defining moment of which arrived in 1988 when Philip Morris purchased Kraft for $12.6 billion - six times what the company was worth on paper. The price difference, apparently, was the cost of the word "Kraft." ….with the Kraft purchase, a huge dollar value had been assigned to something that had previously been abstract and unquantifiable - a brand name.
Nearly three decades later, companies now dedicate considerable time and money to the act of brand building, which when done successfully allows them to charge a premium for their product or service. Consider what we pay for a run-of-the-mill coffee versus a Starbucks latte, a bottle of generic medication versus a name brand like Advil. This premium then boosts revenues over time, which in perpetuity represents a financial value. Last but not least, a strong brand presents a barrier to entry for competitors, making it harder for them to break in to a category and steal market share.
Similarly in China with the rise of brands, names such as Kraft take on increased importance. But there, the top valued brands aren’t the Apples and the Googles of the world—they’re China Mobile, the Industrial and Commercial Bank, Baidu, and Tencent. Or as they are more commonly known, 中国移动通信, 中国工商银行, 百度, and 腾讯.
The Need for a Chinese Name
It seems fairly clear that brands matter, and China matters. Yet many global marketers still believe creating a Chinese brand name isn’t entirely necessary, based on their experience in other regions. After all, are there not many international brands across diverse product categories, whose names remain in their original language across many parts of the world?
As you have undoubtedly realized by now, China is different, and the language is no exception. Firstly, the Chinese language is character based. These characters began as pictures representing what they stood for (forest, mountain, etc.), and while some remain iconic, most have morphed over time. Secondly, the verbal language is tonal. The same sound pronounced with a slightly different intonation, such as a high flat tone as opposed to a descending one, is actually a different word. There is great variance among dialects, with different regions in China possessing unique pronunciations of the same character, or even varying connotations to the same word. (It goes without saying that the potential for inter-regional misunderstandings knows no bounds.)
Throughout history, people across China were almost unable to communicate with each other due to these diverse dialects and widespread illiteracy. This led to the development and institution of Standard Mandarin as the official spoken language in the 1950s. As the large number and increasing complexity of Chinese characters had made script virtually inaccessible for anyone other than scholars, a system of Simplified Characters was adopted around the same time. (“Traditional Chinese” characters are still used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and incorporated into Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese.) Furthermore, Mandarin required a method to “Romanize” Chinese characters so it could be learned as a foreign language, appear in international publications, and be entered into computers and digital devices. This system is known as Pinyin. If you haven’t seen it before, you will see Pinyin used in this article to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese brand names following the written characters.
For foreign brands wanting to enter China, the creation of a Chinese brand name may be a choice, a necessity, a chore, an adventure, an accident, or a strategy, depending on their market outlook. Their concerns are many: brand positioning, memorability, positive associations, pleasant sound, phonetic similarity, semantics, and more.
Let’s take a brief look at Porsche’s Chinese name for interest’s sake. 保时捷, bǎoshíjié, is phonetically similar to the German brand name, yet it also has positive connotations. The first two characters are primarily used to preserve phonetic similarity to “Porsche”, but bǎo means to defend, protect, or keep. Shí is used to denote time and implies modernity, while jié means victory or triumph, as well as quick, prompt, and rapid. The name communicates strength as well as dominance and speed, and is therefore well suited for the Porsche brand. All three of the characters are commonly used so are easy to read and remember. Since the original alphabetic name “Porsche” is difficult for a Mandarin speaker to read and pronounce due to its German origin, a strong Chinese name takes on increased importance.
What about a firm that has no intention of entering the Chinese market? Would it be worth their while to create or register a brand name in Mandarin? Actually, yes. The company may want to protect their brand trademark from being owned or used by entities in China, or they might want to use the name in brand communications to attract the huge and growing volume of Chinese speakers outside of China, be they tourists or diaspora. With a Mandarin name, visitors can more easily read and chat about the brand or destination online.
Although the language is not as much of a mystery to them, domestic Chinese companies must also pay careful attention to their local brand names, since the name hints at the brand origin, influences positioning, and bestows auspiciousness. Though a company is domestic, they may want their name to imply they are foreign. Yes, you read that correctly, a local Chinese company could want a foreign-sounding Mandarin brand name! Check out Meters/bonwe as one example. As you may recall, decades ago U.S. luxury ice cream brand Häagen-Dazs took the same approach.
Putting Your Best Name Forward
Brand identity is a powerful tool to distinguish products and build value in both domestic and global markets. While companies can often maintain the same brand name when entering new regions, the ever-growing Chinese consumer base demands a customized approach. Brands that are proactive in developing a targeted and creative Chinese name can be more competitive in their category and more strongly connect with their audience.
We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to Chinese brand naming. Stay tuned for an upcoming article that dives deeper into the world of verbal identity for the Middle Kingdom.