Es una parte importante de su identidad corporativa; es la cara de la compañía y es la conexión entre el negocio y el cliente. De muchas maneras una marca puede ayudar a hacer su negocio, o puede destruirle con eficacia antes de que usted incluso consiga comenzado. Ninguna maravilla que formula una estrategia eficaz de la marca de fábrica y que encuentra un nombre propio para su marca de fábrica puede ser mucho como caminar una cuerda tirante, especialmente en un país en donde cada sílaba se parece literalmente tener un significado más profundo. Tan cómo hace a Vladimir Djurovic, el fundador de Labbrand que consulta, Ltd. ¿- una Shangai basó a estrategia de la marca de fábrica, a la marca de fábrica china que nombraba, a tendencias y a compañía anticipada - maneje ser tan acertado? “Es un trabajo creativo, él está sobre la venta de un estilo.”

No era las acometidas de un oro que trajeron a Vladimir Djurovic a China. “Estaba altamente interesado en la cultura china y el aspecto lingüístico de él. Después de dominar varias otras idiomas, encontré un gran desafío en chino que aprendía. Cuando tomé mi primer curso, mi profesor escribió una sola oración en la pizarra. Consistió en cinco caracteres y pasamos una hora y una mitad para calcularlas hacia fuera. A partir de ese momento encendido, era apasionado sobre chino. Y ahora por supuesto se ha convertido en más que medios de comunicarse en el ambiente chino: es una necesidad para hacer mi trabajo. El mandarín es mi instrumento dominante.”

Nombres absurdos
El mandarín se percibe a menudo como una de las idiomas más duras del mundo para dominar, temido extensamente para el hecho de que el error más leve de la pronunciación pueda causar gran diferencia en el significado. Ninguna duda esto afecta el nombramiento de su negocio. “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 Combined with the fact that they took some outdated models to the market in Southern China, you can conclude they made for a good laugh.”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!”

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