-Chinese firms are imitating global firms’ names and brands
-Copycat scandals and bankruptcies onshore could harm brand image
-Managers should take action to defend their names

Update: Z-Ben Advisors has long advocated the importance of company branding and active marketing when entering and engaging with the Chinese market. This Alert further highlights one particular, and increasingly pressing, branding issue of which new and prospective China entrants may be unaware. We have observed that a number of global firms seem to be unwittingly doing business in China. More correctly, a host of Chinese companies are doing business using copycat names. And those same-name businesses could be anything from private funds, through all shades of P2P, to other financial enterprises. A surprising number of these namesake firms are already registered with the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC), compounding an already-worrying branding problem. Some of these identity issues will have a direct impact on the success of a foreign firm’s China strategy, whether it be raising assets on the Mainland or setting up an onshore presence. Managers should be aware of these challenges and craft tactics to protect their name and set their brand apart from Chinese imitators.

Z-Ben Advisors has been compiling a growing list of Chinese financial firms which have chosen names strikingly similar to those of globally-known institutions. Within a list of 25 top-tier global firms, we have identified 114 name copycats (only some of which…

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