Li-Ning, the third biggest sport brand on the Chinese market, has recently named its latest trainers with this character - 囧 - which has also been incorporated in the product’s design. The choice is a pretty interesting one as this character is scarcely used and a lot of Chinese people do not know either its meaning or its pronunciation.

So how to read it and what does it mean? And, more importantly, why did Li-Ning use this hardly understandable character to name its latest product?

“囧”, is pronounced "jiǒng" and means “luminous” by the Chinese dictionary definition. However, because of its very peculiar graphic effect, sport apparel fans gave it a new meaning in online communities. For its graphic strokes the character reminds an embarrassed or sad person face. And, in fact, “embarrassed”, “sorrowful”, are the new meanings assigned to this word.

Apparently young sport brands consumers have really been affected by the way Li Ning introduced this uncommon character in their everyday lives. Indeed, it is becoming quite common to read a sentence going “it was a very囧 day ” in online chats.

We bet Li-ning chose this character to draw upon young people curiosity and engage them with their new shoes – in fact sport communities teem with questions about them.

How did Li Ning become the biggest local sport brand in China? This smart approach to product naming already gives us a good answer.