Translating brands into Chinese : a delicate process

Some time ago, I was contacted by one of my clients from the luxury industry. He was in the process of entering the Chinese market through a distributor in the South of China, and had questions regarding the translation of his brand into Chinese. Of course, this is an mandatory step, since the Chinese don’t accept (or understand) the roman alphabet used in the Western world. The brand must be transcribed into Chinese characters and phonemes.

There are three schools of thought in this regard :

- the phonetic school uses Chinese phonemes, that is, Chinese characters which have over time lost their meaning, but reproduce the « sound » of the brand. This is the case for « Cartier » in Chinese – it does not mean anything but sounds good in Chinese, and its assembly of characters without meaning gives it a very western and modern feel.

- the semantic school, on the other hand, seeks to translate the values of the brand while moving away from comparable prononciation. The names carry real meaning by have no relationship to western prononciation.

- the intermediate school focuses on prononciation, while trying to use characters with strong semantic meaning.This is a dangerous exercise, because it is often used and may generate bland names with relatively hollow meaning and referring profusely to « pearl, excellence, noble, gemstone, treasures …. »

My client was telling me of his disarray because his distributor, instead of testing the Chinese translations with a given population, had given the list of proposed names to a Feng Shui master, equipped with a compass and a dial, who set about determining which name would provide the greatest health and prosperity to the brand in China. This is an original technique I had never heard of and which delighted me. Of course the said distributor, when he focuses exclusively on distribution, is excellent.  

Chinese challenges facing Galeries Lafayette in Beijing

Building on their Parisian success with Chinese clients, Galeries Lafayette, in partnership with a local company, have decided to open a large department store in one of the main shopping streets of Beijing.

While success should be guaranteed, nothing is less certain. Ten years of experience working for Galeries Lafayette from 1990 to 2000 have taught me that, when it comes to exporting its business model outside of France, Galeries Lafayette have had a difficult time : failure in New York, failure in Moscow, failure in Cheng Du ten years ago, mixed figures  in Berlin or Dubai. Even though today, Galeries Lafayette on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris is the largest point of sale for mainland Chinese either inside or outside China, they will face four virtually insurmountable types of obstacles in China.

-                Is there a Chinese clientele at Galeries Lafayette?

Probably 80% of the Chinese who visit Paris each year come to Galeries Lafayette. However, these numbers are misleading. Galeries Lafayette have developed with all the main players in the Chinese tourism industry (tour operators, tour escorts, local Chinese guides etc) relationships marked by systematic commissioning which cut into their margin by approximately 15% of sales. The Chinese do not come to Galeries Lafayette by their own free will, they are taken there by bus by their tour operators in exchange for commissions. In a context where it will be difficult to offer such commissions to business providers (provincial Chinese groups visiting Beijing have been increasingly scarce over the past 3-4 years), shoppers will need to be naturally attracted by the “Galeries Lafayette” brand, a complex challenge for a foreign company with limited understanding of Chinese shopping mentality.

-       Will the brands come?

Galeries Lafayette’s current reputation with Chinese buyers is built first and foremost on the breadth of available brands. While the Galeries Lafayette teams drive the inflow of customers, these clients come primarily to buy brands. Beijing today probably houses some of the most prestigious shopping malls in Asia, not to mention the Sanlitun shopping district and its flagship stores, and it is not certain that the brands will accept to also be represented at Galeries Lafayette, considering that presentation in a department store is less prestigious and subject to greater constraints than in a large shopping mall or an own-brand store. Until now, Galeries Lafayette have never managed to attract the brands abroad, an issue which is at the source of all their numerous failures.  

Why the Chinese Love Logos

You might have noticed how the Chinese people, but also the Japanese and Koreans, adore logos. The same goes for monograms. Detractors claim this is related to self-promotion and a desire to show off, but they’re only marginally right. The fact is, logos go hand in hand with the Asian thought process because they are based on ideograms.

Indeed, our brains process word-based alphabets and drawing-based ones (like a logo or an ideogram) in very different ways.

When Westerners like us read, our brains perform additive operations. Take the word “Liberty”, for example (liberty and not freedom, please). Our brain is going to process it as such: L + I = Li, B + E + R = Ber, T + Y = Ty, and finally Li + Ber + Ty = Liberty, thereby yielding the final meaning. It’s a long mathematical process relying on the left side of the brain, containing logic. The term “Liberty” comes from Latin for “slave”, and therefore fits in the context of a break in the vertical master-slave relationship.

For our Chinese friend, things are totally different. For them to read, they need to associate meaning with drawings known as ideograms. Going back to our Liberty example, in Chinese it is represented by two ideograms Zi and You. The former represents the self, and the latter origin. The Chinese reader sees two successive images directly affecting the right side of their brain. – the side of intuition and emotion. Their concept of Liberty, incidentally, is different from ours, as it is entirely focused on the individual – having one’s self as an origin.

“What about logos?” you might ask. Well the brain works by routine and is a creature of habit.

At first, the Chinese are uncomfortable with our alphabet because it doesn’t fit in their ideographic system. And it is not ingrained in them by their education. For most of them, except those fluent in English, our words mean nothing more than when you look at a website captcha.  It makes no sense and is really hard to decrypt. But in a logo, the Chinese see a drawing, a concept much closer to their familiar ideograms.  

Perfume Creator Symrise on the Trail of Chinese Fragrances

I have this notion that the key to success in the intricate market of Chinese perfume must involve using local Chinese plants to create fragrances. Why? Because perfume making is a 4,000 year old art often confused with the art of medicinal herbs and plants, but steeped in different roots. Indeed, Chinese plants have very distinct and unique identifying fragrances.Symrise, an international perfume house, tried a little experiment. They invited a dozen or so of their “noses” to a trip in the Yunnan region to discover the olfactory world of China. I took advantage of this event to meet with Evelyne Boulanger in Paris. She’s one of Symrise’s “noses”, and had just returned to Paris still full of smells and imagery from her trip.

Chinese Orchids

What struck her the most during her short trip to Shanghai was the city’s duality. The juxtaposition of an old woman sprucing up a self-made street broom twig by twig next to a young, fashionably-dressed woman riding her moped cross-legged. That experience taught her it’s possible to compose offbeat perfumes by combining contrasting fragrances.

But mostly, Evelyne cannot stop talking about her four days in the Yunnan. She points out that Chinese flowers don’t smell at all like Western ones. For example, Jasmin from Grasse in France, one of the flagships of the French fragrance industry, has, according to her nose, a fleshy, almost animalistic tinge. This aspect is completely missing in the Chinese version. The latter is much more floral and subtle. As such, the smell of French Jasmin can potentially be repulsive to a Chinese woman. And she would not identify it with her favorite Chinese version, which is as popular in China as the French one is in France – but for different reasons.

Chinese lotus buddhist drawing

She finds the same subtlety in Gardenia, Rhododendon, or Magnolia. The term “subtlety” keeps coming back. Much like the vanishing aggressive traits of a given substance in either country. In other words, our perfumes are much more “heavy-handed” next to the subtlety and refinement of the Chinese floral smell spectrum.  

Chinese men and watches: the watch is a talisman

For over a year now, via internet and other channels, Zhenji has been interviewing hundreds of Chinese nationals in the “affluent” social sphere category all over the country about luxury watches. They all echo one thing unanimously: wearing a valuable watch breeds self-confidence, and to gain self-confidence, you need the right watch for the right occasion.

Essentially, a watch is an object of mystery. Maybe not for real amateurs who will easily discern the most subtle of complications on a timepiece from a mere detail on one of the hands. They understand the intricacies of technical complications, and the challenges of customizing movements to implement them. But all the neophytes can see are tiny little cases containing highly complex and hidden mechanisms. Some of which, although invisible to the naked eye, can fetch upwards of a million euros. And our surveyed Chinese tell us it is this hidden and mysterious mechanism that yields self-confidence.

From an outsider’s perspective, this is the kind of effect one would expect from an amulet. An object comprising a case, a wrist band, and driven by a perpetual motion engine always kept – literally – at arm’s length. It’s a magical object. A highly valuable one, with the mystical power to transmit well-being (self-confidence), and wealth (as one usually follows the other). These are indeed the magical effects associated with a talisman. Created by by a shaman, invisible to outsiders, and with powers obvious only to its wearer.

BJWF chinese watch

Of course, part of these objects’ value has to do with the social status they impart. Not to mention the prestige of the associated brand. And then there is the value that comes from being validated by connoisseurs. Luxury watches are like a club. You’re either in it or not. And you are judged by the watch you wear. This is what confidence is all about.