Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of my interview series.⁣

Why does a foreign brand need a Chinese name?

Many brands enter China without a Chinese name

I have worked in the market for over 15 years, initially with big global players who all had their own Chinese names and often nicknames.

More recently working with niche brands entering the market I have got a lot closer to the naming process and wanted to highlight it’s importance with this interview.

Linda and Ching work at Red Ant Digital in Shanghai and have created Chinese names for many Beauty brands in the market.

So why is it so important:

💡Pronunciation – many brand names are difficult for Chinese to pronounce due to the completely different linguistic roots

💡Memory recall – It is harder for non-native speakers to recall your brand’s name. If it is in Chinese characters you have a better chance they will remember it!

💡Comprehension – your brand name may mean something in English or it might be a play on words. But these aspects will be lost without a Chinese name

💡Search – Search volumes on Taobao/tmall are much high for brand’s Chinese name vs international name – back to the memory recall;)

💡Competitive advantage – don’t put yourself at a disadvantage vs competition by not having a Chinese name

Now I have convinced you that you should have a Chinese name – what else do you need to consider:

1. When to create your Chinese name: Ideally on market entry, once you have your China strategy and trademark it quickly

2. What types of approaches are there to naming: Phonetic, semantic and contextual or a mix of all 3

3. Chinese names are usually 2 – 4 characters and you can pack a lot of meaning into those characters so whoever is doing the naming needs to really understand the essence of your brand that you want to convey to Chinese consumers

4. Your name will rarely be used on its own and mostly with your international name so it is not that your international name will be unrecognizable in China

5. Due to the complexity of the Chinese language you will always have a lot of opinions on your Chinese name – there is no perfect name for everyone

6. Some brands do not create a Chinese name – Charlotte Tilbury for example is known in China at CT

Have a listen to these lovely ladies talk about something they have done for many brands – creating Chinese names for brands is a true art form and a fascinating process.

If you want to find out more about Red Ant Asia 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/red-ant-asia/ 

please drop them a note

[email protected]