In recent years, Chinese brands have stepped abroad with an increasingly confident attitude. In the meantime, Chinese brands targeting local consumers are also going through subtle changes in positioning as well. These changes can be reflected in Chinese brand alphabetic naming. From Haier, HUAWEI to Bilibili, ByteDance, there is clearly an evolution in the alphabetic name style of Chinese brands.

How should a Chinese brand create a good alphabetic name? What is the relationship between the brands’ alphabetic and Chinese names? Let’s check it out.

CHINESE BRAND ALPHABETIC NAMING TECHNIQUE & STYLE

Overall, Chinese brands’ alphabetic names nowadays tend to be more distinctive, dynamic, or impactful than ever before; the naming approach is also more diversified:

Daily Expression Name:
Brand name using daily language (including greetings) makes it easier to resonate with the audience and conveys an easy-going brand attitude. For example:

HEYTEA (new tea beverage), Sober Hi (beverage station), Hellobike (bicycle-sharing), HUGGAH (oral care), etc. HUGGAH uses onomatopoeia which is extremely colloquial; even there are two hidden mouths in its Chinese name 呼嘎 ([hū gā] exhale/quack), clearly pointing out the brand’s major business offering of oral care.

Brand names using daily language

Rhythmic Name:
Clap your hands, stomp your feet, and let’s swing together! In addition to our dance leader ByteDance and beat master Tik Tok, let’s take a look at the other active members in the beat group:

The smart use of repetitive words makes the name unique and cute. BOBORE (personal care) and LELECHA (new tea beverage) use repetitive syllables to bring a lively and vibrant feel. PatPat pictures a mother patting a baby, revealing the brand’s maternal & infant categories. Other similar cases are tap4fun (one of the first Chinese mobile game companies to go overseas), dido (wearable smart device), and Wholly Moly! (new health food), etc.

Brands use the rhythmic name

The showcased names all apply repeated syllables or a combination of short pronunciations to make the names read rhythmic. Such names are extremely readable and can easily stick in your mind.

In fact, Chinese characters are ideographic originally that use shapes to express meaning. While in English and Latin languages, people can understand the meaning of words by only listening. Pronunciation is undoubtedly important for alphabetic names. A rhythmic name carries a great advantage to leave a deep impression in consumers’ minds.

Visualization:
Let’s step from concert to the cinema, and discover how the alphabetic names of Chinese brands use visual expressions to communicate with the audience:

• OFO (used to be a famous bicycle-sharing brand) is formed with 3 letters that look exactly like the shape of a bicycle. A very smart way to build a consistent brand identity across verbal and visual.
• OPPO (telecom) looks very smooth with the roundness, together with the symmetry, this name appears very harmonious.
• VIVO (telecom) combines both a sharp point (V) and a circle shape, indicating innovative technology and the beauty of the design. IQOO, 4 letters containing I and O, well inherited the blood of VIVO; “OO” visually also implies the brand’s positioning towards millennials (also called post 00 in Chinese).