This article is by contributor Michael Rank
Juneyao Group (钧瑶集团), an aviation and real estate outfit based in Shanghai, wasn’t originally called Juneyao. It was called Junyao, and here’s the reasoning behind the decision to add an “e” (from their website):
“The new English name ‘JuneYao’ only has added a letter ‘e’ to the original Chinese Pinyin. In English, ‘June’ refers to a month in summer and can be associated with ‘hot’, ‘passionate’ and ‘prosperous’. With an extra ‘e’, it is easier for foreign recipients to pronounce and this “e” can have multiple meanings: stands for “efficiency” to highlight the highly efficient enterprise culture; corresponds to ‘E-era’ and reveals JuneYao’s concept for the life of E-era consumers to serve them better.”
“From phonetic perspective, ‘June’ and ‘Yao’ have definite pronunciation in ten major internationally used languages, good for development of international business. In terms of publicity, ‘June’ and ‘Yao’ are easy to spell and remember.
“The only difference between JuneYao and JunYao is a letter ‘e’, and so it can greatly reduce the inconvenience brought by the change of name. More importantly, the new English name has a strong uniqueness and can be protected. It can be searched in nineteen countries and regions and its international domain can be registered.”
The company devotes almost 2,000 words in defence of the extra “e” and of its new logo which “suggests the health and comfort one will experience in all kinds of excellent services provided by JuneYao… The whole style of the logo introduces harmony, freshness and friendliness. The edge of “J” and the star expresses the decisive and vigorous characteristics of JuneYao.”
But why is Jun(e)yao called Jun(e)yao, you may ask. That question is answered too on the company’s website. It’s named after Wang Junyao (王均瑶) who founded the company in 1991 with his brothers Wang Junjin (王均金), the current CEO, and Wang Junhao (王均豪) and who died in 1994, aged 38.
It started out as China’s first private charter airline company and is now one of the country’s 100 biggest companies.