Kaitlin Zhang, CEO of Oval Branding, gave a talk to members of the China Britain Business Council on 10 Dec 2019 on how to launch their brand in China. The topic covered includes branding, brand naming, business culture in China, IP and trademarks.

1. K a i t l i n Z h a n g
w w w . O v a l B r a n d i n g . c o m
BRANDING
How To Launch
Your Brand in China
China Britain Business Council
10 Dec 2019

2. WeChat ID:
Kaitlinjj
Email:
kaitlin@ovalbranding.com

6. Our Team
4 core in London
20+ remote experts

8. China US Clients:
Venture Capital
Private Equity
Tech Firms
UK Clients:
Tech Firms
Government
C R O S S - B O R D E R
B R A N D I N G
M A R K E T I N G
I N V E S T M E N T

9. Agenda
- Good and Bad
Brand Names
- Brand Stories
- Our Case Studies
- Naming Exercise
- 7 Steps To Build
Your Brand

10. Q
What are Some British
Brands that are well
known in China?

11. The Opportunity
35% of the population,
or around 480 millinon
consumers, will meet the
definitoins of upper-middle
income and high income
by 2030.
– The Economist 2019

12. Good Brand Names
Name: Coca Cola
Chinese Name: 可口可乐
Pinyin: Ke Kou Ke Le
Translation: Tasty and Happy

13. Good Brand Names
Name: Ikea
Chinese Name: 宜家
Pinyin: Yi Jia
Translation: Happy Home

14. Bad Brand Names
Name: Best Buy
Chinese Name: 百思买
Pinyin: Bai Se Mai
Translation: 100 think buy
Meaning: Buy after thinking
About it 100 times.

15. Bad Brand Names
Name: Macdonald’s
Proposed Chinese Name: 金拱门
Pinyin: Jin Gong Men
Translation: Golden Arch
Original Name: 麦当劳
Pinyin: Mai Dang Lao
Translation: Wheat From Labour

16. Bad Brand Names
Name: Google
Chinese Name: 谷歌
Pinyin: Gu Ge
Translation: Grain Song

17. Bad Brand Names
Name: Facebook
Chinese Name: 脸书
Pinyin: Lian Shu
Translation: Face Book

18. Whose brand is it?

19. Cultural Sensitivity

20. Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzoxIb2Fa74

21. Source：
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPMdfhNqfHk

22. Oval Branding Case Study 1
Name: Dovetail Games
Chinese Name: 多乐堂
Pinyin: Duo Le Tang
Translation: Many happiness
(game) studio

23. Oval Branding Case Study 2
Name: Connect Childcare
Chinese Name: 方树
Pinyin: Fang Shu
Translation: Square Tree
Meaning: Teaching children
to be good people

24. Oval Branding Case Study 3
Name: Oval Branding
Chinese Name: 欧问
Pinyin: Ou Wen
Translation: Europe Ask Questions
Meaning: Answering your questions about
expanding into the western market

25. Building brands that are:
Open
Valuable
Adaptable
Loved
Oval Branding

26. Naming Exercise

27. Acronym: UPS, IBM
Conjoined: Vancity, TransAmerica, Microsoft
Descriptive: Holiday Inn, Bed Bath & Beyond
Invented: Kodak, Pepsi
Metaphorical: Virgin, Apple
Origin: Dell, New York Fries
Playful: Yahoo, Guess
Tools for Naming

28. Brand Name Basic Check List
- Is the name easy to remember and easy to
pronounce?
- What feelings and meanings does it convey?
- Does the name sound like another word
or brand?
- Is the trademark available?
- Is the name too long for a hashtag?
- Is the domain name available?
- Does the name mean something else in
another language?

29. 7 Steps to Building
A Global Brand by Oval 1. Position
2. Pitch
3. Profile
4. Platform
5. Produce
6. Partnership
7. Public Relations

30. 1. Position

31. 2. Pitch

32. 3. Profile

33. C A T A LY S T
C O N T R I B U T O R S
Kaitlin Zhang is the CEO of Kaitlin
Zhang Branding, a cross-border
branding and digital marketing agency
specialising in technology and financial
services. She is a Chinese Canadian
originally from Shenzhen and currently
living in London. Zhang is also an
award-winning bilingual speaker, with
experience working with the UK Cabinet
Office, CNBC, O2, NatWest and Google.
For this issue, she explores the brand
challenges both inside and beyond
China’s borders (p48).
Ga
in
in
fou
Co
ma
in
Ad
Au
asp
Sh
Cle
wh
CE
No
the
the
Bo
thi
Sc
ne
ma
Eva Ng is head
of client global
expansion for
Nielsen Global
Markets Group,
where she helps
local giants
in developing
markets to
expand globally.
She provides
market-entry
assessment,
launch strategy
and activation
tactics. She has
focused on the
China market
since 2013 –
and reveals
opportunities
along the Belt
and Road (p46).
Charles Stuart is a
partner at PwC South
Africa and a director in
the technology, media
and telecommunications
division. He has been a
member of the E&M Outlook
editorial team since the
inception of the South Africa
publication eight years ago.
For Catalyst, he outlines the
entertainment and media
landscape across five major
African territories (p34).
Sylvia Jensen
is VP of EMEA
marketing at
Acquia, the
open-source
digital experience
company. Over
the past 20 years,
she has held
marketing roles
for innovative
tech companies.
These include
Oracle Marketing
Cloud, Eloqua,
Coremetrics,
WebEx and Palm.
For Catalyst,
she lays out
the questions
readers need to
ask of martech
providers (p60).
Jerome Hiquet is
chief marketing
officer at Formula
E, the electric
street-racing
series. He began
his career at the
Accor Group,
followed by
Voyages-sncf.
com and Club
Med, making
the transition to
Formula E from
his position as
CMO at Tough
Mudder. Hiquet
reveals some of
the campaigns
that capture his
attention in
‘The Power of
Three’ (p10).
Blaise Grime
officer at the U
social media a
Element. With
experience, h
leading pione
social media i

34. 4. Platform
Your Website
- Multi-lingual
- Mobile-friendly
- Modern design
Google SEO
Onsite and Offsite SEO

35. 5. Promote
Social Media
Content Marketing

36. Examples of Content Marketing
- Blogging / Thought Leadership
- Micro blogging (Twitter)
- Vlogging / Videos
- Podcast
- Forums e.g. Reddit, Quora
- Memes
- Infographics
- Content curation
Less is more.

37. Personal branding is not
about you.
“Always leave people a little better
and you might be surprised how big it makes
you and how far it takes you.”
Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends & Influence People

38. 6. Partnership
Brand Partnership
Event Partnership

39. 7. Public Relations

40. 7 Steps to Building
A Global Brand
1. Position
2. Pitch
3. Profile
4. Platform
5. Produce
6. Partnership
7. Public Relations

41. Agenda
- Good and Bad
Brand Names
- Brand Stories
- Our Case Studies
- Naming Exercise
- 7 Steps To Build
Your Brand

42. Any questions?

43. Contact Me
E m a i l : k a i t l i n @ o v a l b r a n d i n g . c o m
W e C h a t I D : K a i t l i n j j
THANKYOU