Good Characters, Inc. Blog

There are many naming experts who advise on the do’s and don’t’s of naming, but then there are always creative entreprerneurs who break the rules.

A store in Hong Kong named “Delay No Mall” is a good example. It has a name that sounds profane and yet caters to teens’ rebellion and anti-establishment imaginations. 

As any resident of Hong Kong would tell you, the English pronunciation of “delay no more” sounds just like the curse phrase “F*** your mother” in Cantonese.

It’s sort of like the Chinese version of FCUK, which is, supposely, the acronym for the clothing company French Connection (FC) followed by the abbreviation for a branch location, the UK. The clothing company exploited the association of the F word and produced extremely popular t-shirts.

Doing a search on Wikipedia, I found that the company French Connection “apparently first discovered the acronym when a fax was sent from their Hong Kong store FCHK to FCUK.”

To cool accusations that Delay No Mall is in bad taste, the store’s staff has been instructed to pronounce the name as “Delay No Mao” instead of “Delay No Mall.”
 
Links:

• Delay No Mall (Ming Pao) 
• French Connection UK (Wiki)
• Delay No Mall partially open!
• Delay No Mall (Chinese)
  港出位商場以髒話命名取諧音”罵人娘親”
• A Survey of Language Usage (Chinese)
  性暴力語言意見調查
• Delay No Mao (Chinese)
  商場名似粗口 不讀 Delay No Mall 強讀 Delay No 貓

Lord Mayor of London David Brewer is well liked in China. He has visited the country 105 times, fostering economic cooperation between China and England. Brewer greets people in Chinese and has taken great care to master the proper pronunciation of many Chinese terms. Unlike most public officials, he is warm and friendly and very happy to talk with people, whether they are business leaders, government representatives, or journalists. On one occasion, while visiting Shanghai, he spoke fondly of Tsingtao beer and shared chocolates with reporters.

The mayor’s popularity in China is enhanced by his choice of an official Chinese name. His Chinese name is Bai Lewei. Brewer wisely did not simply have his name transliterated, but carefully selected characters that would communicate friendliness and strength. Bai means white. Le means joy, which matches the enthusiasm with which Brewer operates. Wei, meaning might, speaks of the power of his position and his abilities. His is a name with good meanings.

In choosing a good Chinese name, the Lord Mayor has created a positive impression of himself, his city, and his country among the people of China. He has demonstrated great respect for the Chinese people. They like him so well they have nicknamed him “Mr. China.”

Links:

• Shanghai to boost cooperation with the city of London 
• Official Profile: Lord Mayor - Alderman David Brewer
• Bai Lewei Shares Chocolates with Shanghai Reporters (Chinese)
  酷爱青啤的白乐威与记者共享巧克力

Starbucks opened its first cafe in China in 1999. Xing Ba Ke is the name used in Chinese. Xing, pronounced shing, means star, and Ba Ke, or bah kuh, sounds like the English word bucks.

In 2001, China introduced new laws to give both Chinese and international companies greater protection for their trademarks.

In December 2003, Starbucks sued Shanghai Xingbake for imitating Starbuck’s name and logo. The Shanghai coffee house argued that it had registered its name in 2000, before Starbucks applied for its own Chinese trademark. However, Starbucks insisted that it had registered its name and logo in 1996.

In September 2005, Starbucks announced a $5 million fund to promote education in China. The fund is part of the company’s efforts to raise its profile in a market it hopes will be its second largest after the United States.

On December 31, 2005, Starbucks won its name dispute in China. A Shanghai court ordered Shanghai Xingbake to pay damages and stop using the Chinese name used by Starbucks, ruling it had engaged in “illegitimate competition.”

Register your trademarks early and register your Chinese name even if you do not plan to use it right away.

In January 2005 Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-Bak asked China, Taiwan, and Singapore to adopt Shou’er as the new official transliterated Chinese name for Seoul instead of Hancheng, the historical name of the city from 1394 to 1910. The Korean King Yi Seonggye had named the city Hancheng, meaning “the fortress city on the Han River.” The initial reactions from the governments and people to the request were mostly cold, indifference, and even irritation. Then in October 2005, Xinhua news agency reported that China officially adopted Shou’er as the Chinese name for Seoul. Today most Chinese communities have adopted this new name.

The main complaints about the name change were, first of all, that Shou’er, roughly implying “the head” or “the capital city,” just doesn’t sound as strong or as brave as Hancheng. Second, people wondered if the real motivation behind the change was the longstanding effort of Koreans to remove their historical ties to the Chinese. The character Han in Hancheng was inspired by the Han River, but it also means man, hero, or the Chinese Han race and dynasty. For some, that would make Hancheng mean “The Chinese City.”

From the Korean point of view, the present name Seoul has been used since the end of WW II, and continuing to call Seoul Hancheng would cause confusion. And Koreans feel that the Chinese should respect their request for using the newly coined Chinese name for Seoul.

For me, the first thought that comes to my mind when I hear Shou’er is of the words hand and ear, also pronounced shou er, instead of Seoul. Hopefully years from now I’ll have the new vocabulary in mind instead.

Take control of your Chinese name and image. Seoul has done it.

Yahoo!’s official Chinese name is Ya Hu. Ya is refined and graceful. Hu is tiger. It not only sounds like its English name, but also translates nicely, meaning “graceful tiger.”

Yahoo! China

Yahoo! Taiwan

Yahoo! Hong Kong

As FedEx and UPS are expanding their services in China, it is worth noting that they could have profited more from the positive sounds of their names transliterated into Chinese. The name FedEx has a strong association in Mandarin Chinese with fei, which is flying–a desirable name hinting at speed. The U of UPS also has a good association: it sounds like yo in Mandarin Chinese, meaning excellent. In Taiwan, UPS has its name transliterated as You Bi Su (literally “excellent-compared-to-fast,” insinuating quality service as well as speed). In our opinion, Fed Ex’s “flying” nuance more effectively expresses excellence with a picture of quick delivering speed.

According to their official Chinese Web sites, however, both FedEx and UPS chose to translate the meaning of their names rather than transliterate the already familiar American names. The result is a mouthful. FedEx is Lian Bang Kuai Di, meaning Federal Express; UPS is Lian He Bao Guo Yun Sung Fu Wu, meaning United Parcel Service. Fortunately for them and no surprise to us, people use the shorter, positive-sounding English name more often.

Consider the positive association your brand name might have transliterated into Chinese and take advantage of it.

Few people can miss McDonald’s global “I’m lovin’ it” campaign. You might have noticed the Chinese on their paper cups reading Wo Jiu Xi Huan, I’m lovin’ it in Mandarin, using simplified Chinese characters.

As China has become a very important market for McDonald’s expansion, and with the approaching of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, we will see more and more Chinese characters in American and worldwide media.

Learn from McDonald’s. Be quick to win Chinese attention.