Andrew Simpson trains wolves. Famous wolves. Think Game of Thrones, The Revenant and Wolf Totem famous. When he contacted us to localize INSTINCT to China and design his made-for-China website, WeChat mini-site, brochures and business cards, we were quite excited. In the end we touched no wolves, but discovered a fascinating profession.
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Chinese Naming & Tagline
Name
During our research, we came to discover that 本灵 (běnlíng) is a term in Buddhism, which means “The original spirit.” INSTINCT and 本灵 have an unspoken relationship
本(běn): Root, Origin
灵(líng): Spirit, Soul, Clever, Flexible. One of the character’s ancient meanings is “kind” (善).
本灵: Original soul.
Tagline
兽之于影: Animals for film
兽(shòu): Animal, Beast
影(yǐng): Image, Reflection. The word “film”in Chinese is 电影 (Diànyǐng).
The character combination inspiration came from “授之以鱼不如授之以渔” which means “It is better to teach one how to fish rather than simply giving one a fish.” This core is similar to what INSTINCT does: teaches and trains animals out of care.
The name and the tagline complete each other when they stand together. “灵—兽”
Animals are more than animals when you see their soul, and even more so when one is able to motivate the spirit of them.
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Mobile-first web design
As with any project, understanding the target audience, in INSTINCT’s case, Chinese filmmakers, is the top priority when creating a localized website. Given how dominant the mobile phone is in China, with more than 95 percent of Internet users in China using their smartphone to go online, we made the decision to create INSTINCT’s Chinese website with mobile-first design, presenting specific information based on the priorities of a Chinese director or producer when scouting for animal talent.
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WeChat mini-site
We further localized the INSTINCT content by creating a WeChat mini-site, giving potential filmmaker clients a digestible amount of information, for a quick overview upon their first encounter.
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Although we are still waiting to meet Ghost, it has truly been a pleasure getting to know Andrew, and we are excited to see his animals in China’s next box office hit.
You can see INSTINCT’s localized website at instinctforfilm.cn and INSTINCT’s WeChat mini-site by scanning the QR code below.
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