Chinese internet identity
Chinese internet identity check list
Your Chinese online identity, while offering no major solution by itself, success the is greatly helped by your good management.
Prior to trademark registration you need to decide and create, a Chinese online identity.
The simplest solution is to use your existing business / brand online identity.
This will work;
- Your trademark(s), brand in this case, is available in China. i.e. A Chinese / international business has not already registered your trademark in China
- Your trademarks, i.e. brand, product names, etc are know in the international / Chinese market.
- Appropriate domain, social media, etc, names are available.
- Your brand / product name, etc does not have an appropriate meaning / translation in spoken or written Chinese. e.g. Google had this problem in China; The English pronouncement of Google in Chinese means “rice framer”
If you having problems in any of these areas above, or you wish to create a new identity for the Chinese market, here are a few points for your consideration;
Brand not known in China
Internet search functions in search engines, social media, e-Malls while complex, the data they are processing is straight forward. A search will only compare the words your given with words in the search. If you are using a brand name that is not know in China then the brand name will not be enter in a search.
The way around this is to connect your brand name to words which are searched e.g.
Baby food by Access to China - English only
婴儿食品 Access to China - keeping your brand in English and the rest in China
Keeping the brand in your local language in recommend, provided it is not missing leading and pronounceable in Chinese, an international company / product is expected to have overseas name.
If you use a Chinese name you may be confusing the local Chinese market leading local people to think you are selling “copy” products. When using a Chinese make sure you reference back to our international credential.
Note: - If you are using a translation of brand name please make you register your Chinese mark as a trademark.
Brand is known in China
This is a great starting point if you own your brand in China.
Make sure your brand is registered as a trademark in Chinese in your company name. Having your trademarks registered directly in China gives you far better protection, otherwise you will have to fall back on international copyright protection which is very hard to enforce in China.
Once you have legal control your trademarks in China you can start taking control of your business identity on the internet in China.
Under Chinese law, you can stop the use of your trademarks; brand names, logos, etc., This must be done proactively.
Need a new Brand for the Chinese market
This is often the case, if you have lost control of your brand in China.
If you are exporting an overseas brand / product to China, an overseas name is always appropriate.
If you need to use a Chinese name there two written languages available; Madeiran and Pingyin. Most of the strong internet identity’s use Pinyin e.g. Baidu, Taobao, Shenma, Dangdang
Another group of Chinese with strong internet identity use know words / saying in England; Tmall, JD Buy, VIP, WeChat.
The other important thing, Chinese words that end on an upward tone at the end. All the above Chinese names have a downward followed by upward tone. Words that follow this format are concerned positive words.
Chinese domains names
When typing in a domain name into a browser, Chinese people will use Pingyin or QR code (scanned on a mobile). Therefore, I simple overseas / Chinese name which can remembered is preferable.
Domain names with many words become harder to spell correctly. Maximin of two words we recommended.
Do not use hyphens and dashes. They just lead to confusion. The Chinese language does use these characters.
Having a Chinese name spelt in Chinese characters in not normally used by Chinese people in browsers. Having a secondary domain name in Chinese characters can help with search engine SEO.
Chinese Social media
Your company identity inside Chinese social media is greatly help my setting meaning account name.
The general rule we have found through testing is that many social media searches are firstly performed on the account name and then contents; e.g. a travel business without have the word travel, in Chinese in the account name, will not come back in results a social media search.
Each social media searching tools works differently, please read up / take advice, test, before creating your business social media accounts. Often, they are not simple to change the name once they have been created.
More information available
Please look at the following cover in more detail the points raised above;
last modified: Version 1.3 - 27 May 2019