Cracking the code: How global brands woo Chinese consumers with clever name creations. Part 4 – Beauty and skincare

Create a beautiful and elegant female image

For a very long time, the major consumers of beauty and skincare products in Chinese market are female. Whether the Chinese brands or foreign ones, female consumers are often their priority. For example, companies often choose female spokespeople to represent their products or launch special promotions for Women’s Day. When it comes to the name choices, these brands also like to use feminine words, such as “雅” (pron.: yǎ, means elegant), “丽” (pron.: lì, means beautiful), “美” (pron.: měi, means beautiful), “娇” (pron.: jiāo, means lovely). By choosing these words, the brands try to convey such a message: our products can better express your elegance and beauty.

Those familiar with beauty and skincare products are probably no strangers to L’Oréal, which is the largest cosmetics group and one of the Fortune Global 500 companies. This brand was founded by chemist Eugène Schueller in 1999. His first hair coloring was called ‘L’Auréale’ – probably a reference to ‘l’Auréole,’ a fashionable hairstyle at the start of the 20th century. It has also been whispered that the L’Oréal name is derived from the Ancient Greek word ωραίος (oreos), which means ‘beauty.’

From the original brand name, we can inter that Schueller may have wanted to use the name to hint to consumers that this is a product that serves your beauty.  The official Chinese brand name for L’Oréal, “欧莱雅”, is based on the pronunciation of the original brand. The character “欧” refers to Europe, which implies that this brand comes from Europe. While, “雅” means “elegant”, aligning with the traits of its target consumers.

Below, we present examples of four, above mentioned, characters are used in the names of cosmetic brands.

Create your Chinese brand name based on the characteristic of products

Currently, there is a wide range of beauty and skincare products on the market with a variety of features. Incorporating product features in the brand name helps consumers to better understand the products.

If your product focuses on moisturizing, try using words like “泉” (pron.: quán, means spring water)  and “漾” (pron.: yàng, means ripple). These words are often used to imply that the product is natural, gentle, hydrating and non-irritating.

Biotherm is a French skin care company. In the early 20th century, the French doctor Jos Jullien discovered mineral thermal spring waters under Pyrenees mountain. In the magic spring water, there is thermal plankton, which according to Jullien, is a key to healthy skin and a potent rejuvenator. Therefore, therm in Biotherm comes from thermal plankton, an ingredient found in all Biotherm products. Biocomes from the profession of the founder biologist.

The official Chinese brand name of Biotherm is “碧欧泉” (pron.:bì ōu quán). The characters “碧” (bì) and “欧” (ōu) correspond to the pronunciation of “bio” in the original brand name, while “泉” (pron.: quán, means “ spring water”)  reflects the brand’s emphasis on mineral thermal spring waters under Pyrenees mountain, in line with its brand focus.

SkinCeuticals is a professional skincare brand from the United States. The brand name is a combination of “skin” and “pharmaceuticals”. According to its official website, their products formulate to correct signs of aging, protect healthy skin, and prevent future damage. The official Chinese name for SkinCeuticals is “修丽可” (pron.: xiū lì kě).  The character “修” (pron.: xiū, means “repair”), aligning with the core benefits of the brand’s products. Consumers can also know from this character that the product’s jet feature at first glance.

Fun Fact: Beauty Brands’ Love for Floral Names

After analyzing numerous Chinese beauty brand names, we’ve noticed that many of them like to incorporate floral elements. They may try to hint at the connection between the product and nature, highlighting the product’s natural and healthy characteristics.

“莲”（pron.: lián, means: lotus flower). Lotus flowers can be commonly seen in China and symbolize noble qualities like purity and incorruptness.  We can find this character in many Chinese names of well-known cosmetics brands, such as French brand Helena Rubinstein. The official Chinese brand name of Helena Rubinstein is “HR 赫莲娜” (pron.: hè lián nà). “赫莲娜” (hè lián nà) is actually a phonetic translation of “Helena”, the brand’s founder.

In Chinese, the name “Helena” is usually translated as “海伦娜” (pron.: hǎi lún nà), but Helena Rubinstein chose a different translation to distinguish the brand name from the person name. Unlike in western countries, where brands are often named after their founders, in China, people are less concerned about who founded the brand, and more interested in the brand’s qualities. Also they prefer a name with a good meaning.

Let’s look closely at the characters used in Helena Rubinstein’s  Chinese name. “赫” (pron.: hè, means “prominent”), “莲” (pron.: lián, symbolizes the lotus flower), conveying a positive meaning, and “娜” (pron.: nà) is a common character in female names, hinting at the brand’s main consumer group. Combined with the above information, “HR 赫莲娜” can be considered as an excellent brand name.

“兰” (lán) – orchid. Orchids are a symbol of elegance and beauty in Chinese culture, showing the spirit of indifference to fame and fortune. Orchids are also one of the favorite flowers of the Chinese people. The official Chinese translation of the French brand YSL (Yves Saint Laurent) is “圣罗兰” (pron.: shèng luó lán), and Lancôme also chose the word “兰” in their official brand name, which is “兰蔻” (pron.: lán kòu). All of these translations attempt to mimic the pronunciation of the original brand names and incorporate orchid imagery, which is favored by Chinese consumers, into the brand names.  

Nevertheless what name for your brand you will create and adopt, one thing is most important over all – file it for protection in China in advance.

We are constantly posting articles about trademarks and branding. If you are interested in those content, please follow us on this website. See you next month.

#cosmetics #beauty #skincare #ChineseNaming #ChineseBrandName