Guernsey Finance launches cutting edge China branding

Friday 06 August 2010

Guernsey Finance, the joint industry and Government initiative to promote Guernsey as an international centre of excellence for financial services, has received approval from the China Trademark Office for its new Chinese trade mark for Guernsey.

Guernsey Finance used KL Communications, the branding, interpretation and translation company, to overcome the trade mark issues in China where the rule of the game is “first come, first recognized” and “the more widely used, the more official it becomes”. KL Communications has successfully registered Guernsey, finance and island in one package which will make it difficult for other similar locations to associate themselves with finance. The nearest equivalent already registered is the City of London which is known in China as “London Finance City”.

“This level of detail may seem quite small but will have a huge significance in China. I am very confident that our branding solution will further enhance Guernsey’s profile in the China market” comments Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance.

Guernsey faced a classic issue in terms of its brand in China as, like many other location names, there was no widely used version. However, as a Western brand with an established profile, Guernsey already “enjoyed” an official transliteration in Chinese – where the name sounds like the name in English - but where the Chinese characters themselves have little meaning.

KL’s solution for the new Chinese brand identity was to keep the full transliteration but to replace one of the characters. The new name now implies a sense of “integrity”. The chosen Chinese font has a similar feel to the English one (in thickness, angle and colour) and has been placed into the English name to create a bi-lingual logo. A new strapline for the Chinese brand “Modern, dynamic, innovative” has also been incorporated.

Kevin Lin, Managing Director of KL Communications, says Guernsey Finance was a textbook case in how companies should approach branding and marketing in China. “They understood why they needed a Chinese brand, they were aware what others in the world of finance had been doing and they really understood the opportunity for Guernsey in China.”

Peter Niven commented ”China was identified by ourselves along with industry as one of the new, developing markets with which we wanted to work and we opened our office in Shanghai at the end of 2007.”

Since then, Guernsey Finance has hosted a number of delegations in China, led by Guernsey’s Chief Minister and accompanied by representatives from the Island’s regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC), the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX), the Guernsey Registry and industry practitioners.

Guernsey Finance’s success in developing strong relationships in China with key decision makers is reflected in the fact that Tu Guangshao, the Vice Mayor of Shanghai, has visited Guernsey to learn more about the infrastructure and expertise that makes the Island a leading international finance centre. In November last year, the then Chinese Ambassador to the UK, Madam Fu Ying, also visited Guernsey as a result of the growing interest from China in the Island’s offering of financial products and services.

“KL Communications showed a real appreciation of the issues we faced and there is no doubt in our minds that their work will further cement our reputation and standing in China” added Mr Niven.

KL Communications was also retained to update the Chinese version of Guernsey Finance’s website. This uses some content from the English website, redrafted to appeal to the Chinese target audience, and includes some specific content e.g. a map and a dual-time clock to facilitate communication. The result is a website that is very much in keeping with the corporate website but which has been specifically developed for the China market.