Comparison of Chinese-Czech name culture: An influence of culture on brand building

Abstract

In modern business conditions, the brand is essentially important for success in market. Building a strong brand name in an unfamiliar market is an effective way helping the company to win. As a special cultural phenomenon, name reflects the differences in history, religion and culture of different countries. The paper attempts to compare the name culture between Czech and Chinese and give advice on how to build an adaptable brand name in this rapidly changing marketplace. Comparing name culture between Czech and Chinese, It reveals that name has the nature of cultural symbol, which is the key of national history and cultural development. Chinese have a nearly superstitious worship to language. But to Czech, a name is just nothing more than a symbol. Between Czech and Chinese, different attitudes to the names of emperor and saint indicate different ways when facing authority. So in the eyes of many Western companies, including Czech, the market in China is difficult to understand and highly unpredictable, and vice versa. Successful brand is an important strategic instrument of an enterprise. When localizing brand names, firms have the opportunity to add benefits to the names to make them more attuned to the culture. The most effective way for a company to build a strong brand name in an unfamiliar market is to adapt itself to the culture.