Testing out this name publicly on professionals, technical, computer geeks orientated and otherwise, in Europe I asked the question: “What does the company or product name OPPO mean to you?”

This was presented in their home language. I was either met with shrugged shoulders of zero recognition or as one suggested it would be a great name for a cat or a Great Dane. (No offence intended it was their knee-jerk response.)

Did you know OPPO has been sponsors for Wimbledon Tennis, FC Barcelona in the past? They were visibly surprised.

Do you know who they are sponsoring now? No idea.

Guess I never asked any video gamers who use GAME SPACE (130 million users across 40 countries) or followers of League of Legends.

https://nexus.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/2019/09/oppo-joins-lol-esports-as-new-global-partner/

Yes, League of Legends has a new sponsor. Who else other than one of the most reputable telephonic company in our universe. The fusion between LoL Esports and OPPO, the market-leading firm of the Chinese conglomerate BBK Electronics, which has become its first global partner within the Smart telephone industry.

For quite a few years now, OPPO has channelled a good portion of its endeavours towards the arena of video games. They´ve already incorporated the system Game Space on the brand’s terminals .

So is it still a good name if no-one locally knows about you? But they do know about League of Legends.

Is it still a strong brand name, but the marketing team has missed the mark or the tagline is not descriptive enough?

What happens when the sponsored event overshadows the brand name of the sponsor or is lost in the stampede or is it? I am sure the parent company of OPPO are not concerned about their name being tarnished by a few Europeans who do not know them. Their corporate investment must be huge and and full risk assessment carried out before hand.

League of Legends https://www.leagueoflegends.com/es-es/ all three major esports events, as it is often referred to will have major world coverage , so let us see their marketing team putting OPPO up in lights.

Perhaps, there are other things coming into play here on the global market that is not obvious to English speaking countries, but is so obvious in the land of origin – China or people who speak Mandarin.

Since 2016 in China, OPPO was declared the biggest smartphone company, selling their phones at over 200,000 retail stores. 2019 became the top smartphone in China, thereby being ranked as No.5, in worldwide market share.

Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd, trading as OPPO, is a Chinese analog or digital equipment  manufacturer with their headquarters Guangdong at Donnguan -the Pearl River Delta. Smartphones, smart devices, audio devices, power banks, and other electronic products adorn their vast product line. The company has expanded rapidly to 50 countries since filing in 2001 their brand name OPPO (registered 2003).

Etymology:

Strange, I know, but I am passionate about etymology and linguistics. It is amazing what your eyes first read, as a voracious and fast reader, and not necessarily the word in play. I saw HIPPO…Yet, Hippo ( abbreviation of hippopotamus) has nothing at all in common with a company name OPPO, other than the parent company is extremely long with multiple names relevant to its location and founders and it has an affix mentioned twice as PO.

I like the affix -PPO as it different and the double P implies stress in pronunciation.

OPPO = also resonates with the much used colloquial expression for opportunities or your options;

=oppo/ˈɒpəʊ/ noun -informal British meaning a colleague or friend, “an old oppo of mine;”

= oppo in politics refers to the opposition party or opposition research

PO = The Po (/poʊ/ POH, Italian: [ˈpɔ]; Latin: Padus or Ēridanus; Ancient Ligurian: Bodincus or Bodencus) is the longest river in Italy and a long way of China;

= British abbreviation for the Post Office

OP= abbreviation widely used into two avenues:

= OP refers to a medical surgical procedure. It may be plural as OPS;

=OP(s) in USA & UK military jargon when on a Tour of Duty.

Guangdong OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp., Ltd – definitely a name to be reckoned with in Smartphones and gaming applications.

Naming Alphabet Soup 101

(c)Rosie Reay and BrighterNaming