Living in a collectivist society, Chinese consumers tend to value friends and families’ opinions when making decisions. Therefore, brand recognition is extremely important as consumers are willing to pay a higher price due to a brand’s reputation. Foreign brands entering China often experience challenges when it comes to adapting their branding strategy, one of these challenges is finding a Chinese brand name.
The Chinese brand name is a consumer’s first impression of a brand, which makes the naming of brands a top priority before entering into China market.
You don’t have to be a Confucian scholar to know that the Chinese language is incredibly complex.
Some names may have a nice sound in Mandarin, but may sound odd or even offensive in other regional dialects, which can harm a company’s branding strategy in China.
Carrefour’s Chinese name is pronounced “Jia Le Fu,” and the three Chinese characters combined means “bring happiness and joy home,” reflecting a positive image as a grocery retailer.
Before generating name ideas, we make the effort to understand your brand and your goals in the Chinese market.
Based on our research findings and client’s objective, we write a creative brief.
Our creative experts will gather and sort a list of at least 15 names for the brand
We provide comprehensive information about each choice offered to out clients. Our clients are assured to get all the naming possibilities and even potential trade-offs of each choice.
Our team is dynamic and cost-efficient for brand naming China. Excellent young graduates from top universities in China, France, UK and the US will devote themselves to meet every demand of our clients.
We also have cultural experts who have multi-dimensional depth in the culture, literature, traditions and history of China. They are capable of offering catchy, evocative and meaningful names in China consumers’ ears.
Simply being able to translate is far from what we are good at. The sounds, the color, the typeface, typesetting convey powerful ideas associated with various emotions. Our professional team with years of experience of marketing will make a well-selected name trigger proper emotion with your customers and clients.
Appearance
Is it easy to recognize and remember, and easy to match with other characters? Does it lend well to the graphic presentation, e.g. in brand architecture, in a logo, or in an ad?
Breadth
Does the name have rich implications and varied associations? Does it have sustainability and preserve possibilities?
Distinctiveness
Does the name stand out from competitors? How is a given name differentiated from its competition in terms of form, meaning, sounds, tones, etc.
Semantic Value
Does the name convey the right idea and attitude? What does this name imply? (luxury, premium, niche market, mass market, high-end, affordable, etc.).
Pronunciation
Is it easy to pronounce and talk about? If people aren’t comfortable saying the name, the word won’t get out
Strategic Impact
Does the name align with the business objectives? Does the character appeal to the type of products/services?
Sound
Does the name sound pleasant to Chinese ears? Is the brand name phonetically similar to the original name? E.g. Phonetic similar/match to other languages
Three approaches are phonetic translation, literal translation and descriptive translation. Brands can combine these approaches, which creates a lot of avenues to finding a semantically-sound name.
Want to see more brand naming examples? Check out our case studies of brand naming in China’s pharmaceutical market and take a deeper look at the linguistics of Chinese brand names.
Naming your brand in Chinese is one of the first, crucial steps to succeeding in the Chinese market. It is worth the investment to have a brand name that Chinese are proud to purchase and share with their peers. Contact our project team to find the perfect Chinese brand name for your company, brand or product, email dx@daxueconsulting.com