My inlaws are visiting from Indonesia, and as is usual, they brought with them a long list of Christmas "chopping goodies" that they are looking for. One of the items they just had to have was something that struck me as at first fanciful and then intriguing.

It's call JLO Glow.

Now you might ask, what the heck is JLO Glow, and I would tell you it is a new cologne by Jennifer Lopez that is one of the hot sellers this holiday season.

So what, you might ask. What does this have to do with our girl Ziyi. Well, shut up a second and listen.

We all know that Ziyi has commercial clients all over the place, representing everything from shampoos to watches to credit card services to water to cell phones. Ziyi is quite well known in Asia, as her persona is literally all over the place. Well, as any good marketing man will tell you, the next best thing to representing, is owning.

Hey, if JLO, Paul Newman and George Foreman can do it, why can't she. At least answer the question - Why not.

IMO Zhang Ziyi should be a commercial brand. She should have her own brand of perfume. Just like JLO. Her own merchandising empire. Nonsense, you say. well, that's what this little poll is about.

Yes or No. What do the fans think.

lol I bet all the guys want to smell like her sweat.:laugh:

ZiYi Sweat - the unforgettable fragrance of the goddess ..... :laugh: HaHa - hey I challenge you to come up with a cool name for a Ziyi Parfume that will have them lined up at the mall.

Originally posted by Virgule
hey I challenge you to come up with a cool name for a Ziyi Parfume that will have them lined up at the mall.

eZZence

I'm not sure if that's a common name cuz I don't wear perfume.:D

You'd buy it for your mom, girl friend and any aunts and gramdmas you may have.

Colognes and parfumes are not the only products. Bagel toasters, designer handbags, aspirin, restaurant chains, your own Ziyi VISA card, you name it. Anything that can be licensed with the Ziyi brand should be discussed - products and services - either for or against.

Originally posted by Virgule


We all know that Ziyi has commercial clients all over the place, representing everything from shampoos to watches to credit card services to water to cell phones. Ziyi is quite well known in Asia, as her persona is literally all over the place. Well, as any good marketing man will tell you, the next best thing to representing, is owning.

IMO Zhang Ziyi should be a commercial brand. She should have her own brand of perfume. .

Although technically her name is already a trademark, the next step of visable brand ownership should be sorted before she gets to the U S of A. Hence i like to call her the cuteone, for it seems i am reffering to her more personally........and of course she is so cute:love:

Alot rests on her shoulders, she has to stand by endorsements and "go with the flow" as is business, demanded or created by agents or managers.

Interestingly, maybelline add's always make me hungry - i blame Bituin for that, i'll get hold of him and find out what he's been eating these days..........back to the point...........even i know what maybelline is......only because of Zhang Ziyi.

Can't wait for the cuteones ( as zhang ziyi ) first car advertisement..........bright red BMW Z8? - her lucky number too.

if zhany ziyi was a perfume brand, i'd buy it for my friends and family for christmas.........

Maybe the flip side to that, the cuteone can give her friends and family "GAZ" Bandana's....:D

I know this is bound to be controversial, so I invite all points of view - both for and against. Sure I realize not all her fans will go for the brand concept, but hey, I bet you the majority of JLO's fans loved the idea of THEIR girl coming out with such a fragrance line.

That's not to say that Ziyi and her management would ever consider the idea of a product empire (at least not now anyway), but I just want to gather stats on the fan point of view.

Heck, we already buy products she endorses. All the more reason to put her imprimatur on it.

If Ziyi is going to put her own name on something... I want it to be something that she enjoys... and from her own ideas and imagination.

What I would like are ...

- To see Ziyi design her own clothing line... from her own personal taste. I am sure they would be very cool, fun, comfortable and beautiful.. :agree:

- I would buy a "zz" designed hats .. :D

- I would like to design and create new imaginative toys with Ziyi .. :D

For informational purposes, I was the one (and so far the only one) who voted NO to this poll. However, I would like to defer stating my opinion at the moment because...well, I haven't recovered from last night's hang-over (and a damned headache)...perhaps I had too much of enough :worry: I will post my opinion as soon as I have fully recovered. :D

Maybe "Z's secret hangover medicine" might work for you... or better yet, next time you'll have some non-hangover Z alcohol. :D

Heheh...but, hey, I voted NO, so that means it must be something I don't wanna use (more on this later).

I guess Ziyi's no-brand (but trademarkable) hug would be the better (best?) medicine. :D

I can think of 3 brand names Z could get behind. Asia, China, and Opiate. Somehow, I don’t think of her as having a scent.

I bet she smells like Chinese Bee soap with overscents of Pantene.

I have a Japanese friend who has no scent at all. Some people are allergic to scents. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t have a characteristic scent. No BO.

There are not many scents I associate with Asia. Stir-fry, maybe, but I doubt she smells like stir-fry. Pachouli is Indian, I think.


I notice when she sells technology...she becomes sort of generic. She doesn’t seem like a girl who’d have a car, food processor, or set of golf clubs. Part of that is coming from a culture not wrapped up with material things.

I think she does a good job with cosmetics, watches, clothing items, and movies. I don’t know if she could sell cars, grills, or kitchen appliances.

I notice when she sells technology...she becomes sort of generic. She doesn’t seem like a girl who’d have a car, food processor, or set of golf clubs. Part of that is coming from a culture not wrapped up with material things.

That drives close to what's on my mind. You cannot just objectify Ziyi. Making her a brand would reduce her to a mere commodity until such time that she would lose her own name. We will know the Ziyi brand, but in the long run we also risk losing sight of who the hell Ziyi is.

A case in point: in the English language, we have eponyms such as boycott, braille, sandwich, diesel, joule and theremin. How many of you know who the persons behind these words were? These names have been reduced to mere common names, so let me move on to brand names: Coco Chanel, Versace, Hershey's, Campbell's. These are some brands whose eponymous creators'/founders' identities have been lost in the commodification.

Ziyi is an actress, and except for movies, she is known for her artistry (which is rarely found from other actors/actresses these days). Which is why, for me, it is a big mistake for an actor/actress/celebrity to create his/her own line of commercial products. Endorse, yes. Brand, NO!

Note: That's my argument number one: not my only argument, and definitely not the best one. But it's one of the reasons I voted NO. Which means I will follow with a better, more forceful discourse. Of course, each one is entitled to his/her own opinion, so I respect the views of those who voted YES or MAYBE.

Originally posted by Brainchild
I can think of 3 brand names Z could get behind. Asia, China, and Opiate. Somehow, I don’t think of her as having a scent.

I bet she smells like Chinese Bee soap with overscents of Pantene.

I have a Japanese friend who has no scent at all. Some people are allergic to scents. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t have a characteristic scent. No BO.

There are not many scents I associate with Asia. Stir-fry, maybe, but I doubt she smells like stir-fry. Pachouli is Indian, I think.


The best smells that come from the middle kingdom are the incredible variety of teas they have. There is a small local restaurant chain in the DC area called Teaism. It's a great yuppy cafe hang out. The place smells like heaven.

That is her best scent - a warm cup of silver rain China white with a scent of Jasmine sprayed on the neck.

Zhang Ziyi Teaism. The Tao of Scent. :bow:

i think the harsh thing with the cuteone entering the USA market.
Is she has to become a brand, as she is with the Chinese market, purely for the legal protection.

It is a small line between trademark and brand, but to be a brand provides the protection needed in a hostile media market, and the legal predators.
As i understand it in the USA ( hope i have this right ), the trade mark gives her ther right to use her name and oithers to do so as she assigns in contract. A brand means that the actions and comments these people make are on behalf of the brand and not the individual person.

I too, wish that she would not become a brand for the same reasoning as Zmaniac,
but it seems to be legal necessity.

no matter what, she will always be the cute one to me.
and to the fans that know her well - thier own perspectives ( as i respect ) too eg:as the characters...... zhoa di, huli etc.......

If there were Zhang Ziyi brand cosmetics or female products, I'll buy them :D I think it will be popular to women in the Philippines.

It depends.

JLo doesn't exactly have a lot of class. Certain stars who have their own brands aren't...classy in my eyes. There's something to be said for purposely not getting involved in everything...everyone appreciates a little mystique.

I don't know if I'm expressing myself well...well, I guess I don't want to see her "commercialized" in a negative way.

I...suppose...I could see her having a scent...something subtle.

*thinks*

You make an excellent point, TB. There is something to be said about the perception of sophistication. However, Ziyi is the very essence of sophistication. A goldplate label like Christian Dior or Estee Lauder or Ralph Lauren represent sophistication in the fashion world. Is there no room for a Ziyi label? If Cheryl Teague can do it, our Ziyi can't?

Could she not be a designer house in her own wright? I would agree that JLO does not project the same classic appeal as our Ziyi, but our girl is already doing cell phones and water!

I am suggesting she move on from that and brand herself. Cell phones are nice, water is nice, but her own cell phone is better and her own water is even nicer! How's ZH2O for a water brand. With her face on the bottle, sure as hell I'd buy it over Evian!

That is what brand licensing is all about.

this market...not the same way P. Diddy or JLO would or can. JLO has a huge following among young inner city buyers.

Asia is a huge market, and Z has familiarity in Asia. I don’t know if Asians respond the same way...I would think so, though. Fashion is important. Pepsi put Vaness Wu on PEPSI cans for a reason. Faye Wong does well over there for the same reasons JLO does here.

I’m not sure about how much being from PRC would impact her market reach. Maybe some wouldn’t like her for that...as much as if she were from Tokyo or Seoul or Hong Kong. Fashion doen’t always cross political borders.

She certainly has the visual appeal. Also, she seems kind of distant and cool to her fans. There is something ”girl next door” about JLO. Madonna, too. That’s part of the appeal.

I’m with TB on the issue of the value of divas like JLO putting their name on everything. I wouldn’t buy a George Foreman grill for his knock-out punch. It would have to be clever and work, too.

I think finding the right product or service matched to the right market is the secret of an optimum mix. Ziyi has already lent her name to a number of products and services as a rep, but I have yet to see a pure name license on anything yet.

That remains to be achieved but I think it is inevitable, for a number of reasons. Through a name license, she avoids actually having to make or produce anything. In fact, she need not even actively appear in any marketing of same if she doesn't want to.

The right opportunity will come along, I'm sure of it. I know some have reservations about the entire branding issue, but hey, she's already actively marketing for a slew of products and services anyway. It's a small jump from doing what she's already doing to doing it with her name as part of the product.

I vote no because i fear the same as Tinababy says "could be commercialised in bad way", because i look up to zee zee and admire her very much. It is sad that such a thing has to be the way, that Gaz said, because of legal rights and protection.

I hope i made sense.

PS: i admit that if there was a nice perfume that was Zee Zee brand then i would buy it and wear it always:D of course

Never fear, ZD, I'm on the same boat with you. :D

Okay... so I just wanna get this straight. :confused:

You don't mind if Ziyi recommends that you buy, eat, wear, consume and use other people's watches, water, cell phones, credit cards, shampoo, colas, computers and make-up .... as long as it isn't her brand or has her name on it. :grin:

i know that the Gaz legal-begal stuff is right and the points Virgule makes, make sense. But I do share with others here, that Creeping fear of blatant commercialisation of the name Zhang Ziyi and herself as the person. I hope her business has already secured her Branding rights and have something class in mind for the token product.

If there is a Ziyi perfume, i will pay anything. :D
for Ziyi is my hero.:bow:

Once you go public in America, the public owns you. Be careful what you wish for.

she can shit-can the commercial stuff. I think she likes to have fun and that would have to be part of the deal. Or she wouldn’t do it.

I‘m worried about the plain girls who kill themselves trying to be Z. I wouldn’t want that and I bet she wouldn’t either. There’s a lot of that kind of thing in the branding of beauty.

At first, i hand in mind a NO response, but in the end i thought that, why not, why not a parfume whose essence would have been chosen by Ziyi?
So what it would be comercial?
What isn't comercial these days?
It would be a good way for her (i belive) of earning money and besides i think it would be absurd to say that Ziyi would become comercial (like JLO is) just because of a parfume.:ohman:

In JLO's case, all her songs that i've heard and all of her mouvies that i've seen are comercial, showing me in fact how bad she is as an actress and a singer, not being able to pull out something original and well made in wich she would show her talent. What i'm saing is that JLO's secret is that she is good at making comercial everything.
Ziyi is not in the same situation, and she already proven that.

Plus, it would be nice to buy a parfume named Zmell :D.

I'm undecided on this one...

Although it would increase her profile immensely by being a brand, there is also a chance of overexposure.

In the end, it really depends on whether she is willing to accept the pressure of being a brand. Methinks in the long run, it might be unhealthy, but what would I know :D

Roge :)

There are all forms of licensing. Zhang Ziyi as a BRAND simply means using her name on a product line or service that is licensed. Typically in such deals, Ziyi would not be actively involved in promoting anything. It is simply her name that is being leveraged. For the same reason you don't see Tommy Hilfiger hawking his fashion plate, you may not ever see Ziyi promoting anything that has licensed her name.

It is the name itself that is licensed, not the celebrity's time, which is probably already spoken for, for the next 5,000 years.

China won’t contribute much, and S. Korea and Japan are totally infatuated with Z.

Over here...Canada is where I’d start.

She’d clean up.

Considering that she is a big-time celebrity, anything she puts her face or name to, will ultimately sell. Beauty is indubitably the most fashionable and marketable thing in the world. Ziyi puts her face on Maybelline (along with Adriana Lima), the Maybelline product will sell. Her face represents the face of the Asian community to the rest of the world, and that face can sell products with a quick snap of the fingers.

Yet, she has to be careful to what she puts her name and face - not something that has nothing to do with her character. Like, if she were to market German beer, that would make no sense. Yet, if she were to appeal to a younger crowd, one could see her market more fashionable clothes and the like. Still, it would be rather big-headed for her to actually put her name on a brand. Let her face be the one thing that people remember when they buy lipstick, and people will think, "I want to have those lips", not necessarily, "I want to have Ziyi's lips". Simile and metaphor have a sincere conflict with this, apparently.