As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are approaching, sport and sport brands have been drawn under the eyes of the whole world. Sport brands, whether sponsors of the Games or not, are striving to capitalize on this opportunity to associate their image with the Olympics. This is even truer for local companies which intend to exploit this worldwide event to enhance their image not just at home but also abroad...

As the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are approaching, sport and sport brands have been drawn under the eyes of the whole world. Sport brands, whether sponsors of the Games or not, are striving to capitalize on this opportunity to associate their image with the Olympics. This is even truer for local companies which intend to exploit this worldwide event to enhance their image not just at home but also abroad. Li Ning, for instance, has become the Swedish Olympic Committee’s official partner; Anta, as the first Chinese sport brand with a successful IPO on the Hong Kong stock market, is the sole sponsor for the Olympic Game’s Helmsman equipment.

But what are the naming strategies adopted by these brands? Are there any rules governing these naming strategies? This is what the Labbrand team has set to analyze, choosing the 10 top sport brands on the local market: Li-Ning, Anta, Peak, Qiaodan, Erke, Kangwei, Deerway X-step, Warriors and 361°. Our findings reveal that brands’ names are highly related to brands’ values and culture, and that different naming strategies can be successfully applied to brands in order to convey corporate identity.

Naming by function: Anta(安踏ān tà), KANGWEI(康威kāng wēi) Warriors (回力huí lì) X-step (特步tè bù). According to our analysis, naming by function is widely used among these brands to convey the main attributes of their identities. Anta, for instance, uses the adjective ān 安 to convey the meaning of “stable” and “constant” and the character tà 踏 to indicate substantial step. The message sent here is therefore of constant progress and improvement, appreciable characteristics when considering sporting equipment.

X-step employs the character tè 特 which translates as “unique” or “special”, and bù 步, which translates as “step”. This name easily evokes a clear image of running. Kangwei and Warriors convey the meaning of “strong”, “powerful” and “brave” (康威 kāng wēi, and回力huí lì, respectively), which illustrate the qualities and characteristics of these brands’ products. Furthermore, Kangwei is very similar in pronunciation to the Chinese name for Converse 匡威 (kuāng wēi), a similarity that is intended to strengthen the brand by associating itself to the image of a better known international competitor.

Naming by celebrity: Li Ning (李宁lǐ ning) and Qiaodan(乔丹qiáo dān).

Looking at names chosen on the wake of someone’s celebrity status, one of the most famous examples can be found in Li Ning. We can observe, in fact, that the association of the two characters composing this name does not convey any literal meaning. Lǐ is a common Chinese surname, while ning translates as “peace” or “calm”. However, Li Ning is actually the name of the founder of the brand, an ex-athlete extremely famous at home and abroad for his performance during the Los Angeles Olympics of 1984, in which he won 6 medals, including 3 gold, in floor exercise, pommel horse and rings, respectively, 2 silver and one bronze. He was the Chinese athlete who won the most medals during those games and the memory of his amazing performance is still fresh among Olympic fans today. Therefore, by seeing his name people are driven to associate the brand to Chinese athletes successfully competing in the Olympic Games to represent their homeland. The brand’s message here is clear: people’s potential is unlimited, which will recall the brand’s slogan, “Everything is possible”.

Another good example of this naming strategy can be found in Qiaodan. Qiáo is a family name, which can also convey the meaning of arbor, while dān can be translated as “red”(it is also the name of a Chinese drug). Both characters have no relationship with sport and have no meaning when associated together. However, these characters are used to transliterate the name of NBA superstar Michael Jordan into Mandarin phonetics. This name therefore triggers people’s memory to associate the brand with the well known NBA star who has achieved worldwide fame and recognition in basketball games.

Naming by English pronunciation: Erke (鸿星尔克hóng xīng ěr kè), Peak (匹克pǐ kè), Deerway (德尔惠dé ěr huì).

Some other brands acquire foreign names or names having English-sounding pronunciation in order to assume foreign origins. This is the case for Erke, Peak, and Deerway. Nowadays, in fact, the majority of sporting equipment consumers is represented by young people ranging from the age of 15 to 25 years old. This age group can generally speak or understand English well and seem to have a preference for foreign goods. For this reason, the English-sounding name can play a positive role in marketing.
For instance, the first two characters in Erke’s Chinese name mean “great” or “lucky” and “star”, respectively. When associated together, these mean “magnificent” and can also convey “attracting attention”, which both reflect the message of the brand: to be number one. The latter half of Erke‘s name sounds like an English name, which gives a foreign feel to the brand.

Another example of companies following this naming strategy is Deerway. Phonetically translated in Chinese from the English name, it means “moral”, “virtuous”, and “beneficial”, to convey the Olympics values of “Friendship first, competition second”.

Similarly, Peak plays on the meaning of the English word to convey the meaning of “extreme” and “summit” but also on a phonetic translation of Olympics in Chinese “奥[ào]林[lín]匹[pǐ]克[kè]” which makes this name easy to remember and recognize to Chinese consumers.

Naming by numbers: 361 Degrees (361度sǎn liù yī dù).

361 Degree was previously named “Buick Shoes” and acquired its current name on January 1, 2004 to avoid legal disputes related to trademark issues with the car brand, Buick. 361 Degrees has two meanings: on one hand, it means “beyond perfect”; on the other hand, it indicates starting at the 1st degree after the full circle of 360 degree. As 360 degrees is a perfect circle, starting from the 361 degree of the circle conveys the idea of progress based on perfection. At the same time, a numeric name eliminates all the problems a brand can encounter when translating its name in other languages

Different naming strategies reflect different approaches to brand identity issues. It is the duty of the branding specialist to understand which strategy would better suit the message the brand intends to send to its potential consumers. As the Beijing 2008 Olympics are approaching, sport brands are striving to associate their image with this magnificent event in order to win consumer recognition and eventually improve their brand positioning and market share. We believe that their verbal characteristics can certainly help in achieving this ambitious goal.