Baidu-A Wonderful Name for Searching Engine

Just as what is said in the article called Value Positioning[i], a brand’s name is perhaps the most important factor affecting perceptions of it(Al Ries and Jack Trout). A right name is going to tell individuals what a company is indeed doing or selling in a second. Thinking of those names of companies around me, Baidu is what I think having the most appropriate and romantic name.

Baidu is a searching engine in China, founded by Li Yanhong. In an interview he told the name Baidu is from an 800-year-old poem written by a well-known poet who was called Xin Qiji. Baidu indeed means “hundreds of times” in Chinese. In Xin’s poem, he wrote about a man looking for a woman who attracts him but he didn’t know anything about her. The man searched for the woman hundreds and thousands of times in chaos but failed. However, when he turned around by chance, he saw the woman standing in which the lights were waning. Finally, the man successfully found the woman out.[ii] This is a very romantic poem. In addition, using some characters from the poem is a wise choice.

In Baidu, one is looking for what he wants among hundreds and thousands of information. In the end, one is always able to find out what he wants. Li wisely links the name for a searching engine to a poem. Indeed, Baidu not only shows everyone what it is but shows people all over the world how great Chinese traditional culture is. Baidu, a nice name!

Citations:

[i] http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/ries-trout/positioning/

[ii] Watts, Jonathan. “The Man behind China’s Answer to Google: Accused by Critics of Piracy and Censorship.” Web. 29 Sept. 2014.