It is an important part of your corporate identity; it is the face of the company and it is the connection between business and client. In many ways a brand name can help make your business, or it can effectively destroy you before you even get started. No wonder formulating an effective brand strategy and finding a proper name for your brand can be a lot like walking a tightrope, especially in a country where literally every syllable seems to have a deeper meaning. So how does Vladimir Djurovic, the founder of Labbrand Consulting, Ltd. – a Shanghai based Brand Strategy, Chinese Brand Naming, Trends & Prospective company – manage to be so successful? “It’s a creative job, it’s about selling a style.”

It was not a gold rush that brought Vladimir Djurovic to China. “I was highly interested in the Chinese culture and the linguistic aspect of it. After mastering several other languages, I found a great challenge in learning Chinese. When I took my first course, my teacher wrote one single sentence on the blackboard. It consisted of five characters and we spent an hour and a half to figure them out. From that moment on, I was passionate about Chinese. From that moment on, I was passionate about Chinese. And by now of course it has become more than a means of communicating in the Chinese environment: it is a necessity to do my job. Mandarin is my key instrument.”

Foolish names
Mandarin is often perceived as one of the world’s hardest languages to master, widely feared for the fact that the slightest mistake in pronunciation can cause great difference in meaning. No doubt this affects naming your business. “Naming in the Chinese language is tricky. The Chinese are always eager to make some pun-intended fun of your mistakes or accidental similarities. Therefore we make a great effort to avoid the obvious bad connotations. But if someone is after making your name into a joke, they’re always going to succeed. If not in Mandarin, then in one of the many dialects. Take Peugeot, for example. They came up with a nice name: 标致 biāo zhì, which means exquisite. Unfortunately, they overlooked the meaning of the name in Cantonese, where it could be understood as ‘hooker’. Combined with the fact that they took some outdated models to the market in Southern China, you can conclude they made for a good laugh.”

Advertise wise
“So what makes for a good name? Obviously many factors are to be taken into account. Not to mention the obvious, how about having a marketing budget? Consider this: if a name is good in theory, but no one has heard of it, its effect is not perceived and it doesn’t contribute to the brand image. So even though it implies additional costs, an average name can become accepted if it’s properly advertised. Garnier for instance has a Chinese name that actually means nothing at all, it’s just close to the original phonetically. Although in time they found a better alternative, they decided to keep the meaningless name, because they had already invested so much in its promotion that it had become a valuable asset.”

An ideal name
Which brands are the best in class? “Sprite initially used ‘事必利 shì bì lì’: ‘things must profit’. The profits weren’t high enough though. They then changed the name to ‘雪碧 xuě bì’ (snow green/jade), which sounds very cool, and sales sky-rocketed. But the most famous and effective name change probably is the one of Coca-Cola. This brand started with ‘ke ke ke la’, which is read as ‘bite the wax tadpole’ or ‘female horse stuffed with wax’ depending on the dialect. The new name – ‘ke kou ke le’ – means ‘good for taste, good for fun’. This is a brilliant name because it’s perfectly aligned with the brand identity of Coca-Cola.”

Final word?
Located in Shanghai Creative Industry Clustering Park, working with dozens of major companies entering China, Vladimir Djurovic clearly has become an insider in the Chinese culture. One who loves raising the bar for himself and encouraging others to do the same. “Entering a steady-going, older market, you will need to adapt to the rules that are set by the existing culture. In Shanghai, however, there virtually are no boundaries. And yet, I see a lot of businesses, particularly family-owned companies, coming here just because they feel obliged to show their face in the country the whole world is talking about. They try to keep their investments as low as possible. My advice: bring passion. Enjoy the freedom. Doing what? You name it!”

Printer friendly version of the interview “Chinese Brand Name philosophy.”

English Chinese