Only "old" is left for the time-honored brands?
Sino-Singapore Jingwei Client, October 15 (Fu Yumei) [Co-creation by Sino-Singapore Jingwei X Finance Wuji] "Why don't you want to go to the time-honored brand anymore?" Ms. Zhou Xing answered this question 16 years ago.
In 2004, Zhou Xing, a girl from Shandong who had just graduated from university, came to Beijing to travel for half a month. Wangfujing was almost the landmark where she checked in the most, just to eat a long-famous Goubuli bun shop.
"It really took a lot of effort," Zhou Xing went several times, and the store's signature meat buns were all sold out.
That day she decided to try the vegetable buns first, but was confused after eating, "It's not delicious at all, is it because it was bought incorrectly?"
For the next few days, Zhou Xing went earlier than the previous day, and finally bought Xinxinnian's meat buns.
When the two steamed buns were eaten, Zhou Xing was sure, "It's not that they bought it wrong, but that their buns are not delicious at all." Since then, they have never been.
The information map of Wangfujing Goubuli restaurant has now been replaced. Photo by Fu Yumei, China-Singapore Jingwei
Now, the alarm turmoil of the Wangfujing Goubuli Baozi Store has gradually calmed down with the removed signs.
Zhou Xing thinks of this past again, and is even more emotional: How can the time-honored brand retain the guests who leave like her?
"I think it's ridiculous when I think of the mood of pilgrimage at that time"
"Goubuli steamed buns are very famous. When I was a child, I knew that they were time-honored brands in Chinese cuisine." Zhou Xing recalled how he wanted to eat, thinking that it was more of a complex.
According to records, Goubuli was founded in 1858 during the Qing Xianfeng period and is now a well-known long-established restaurant brand.
Ye Lu was the same, initially attracted by the reputation of Goubuli.
In August 2017, Ye Lu was a senior student in Guangdong and came to Tianjin for her graduation research.
She went to Goubuli’s main store in Tianjin. “At that time, I had searched a lot of comments on the Internet that it was not good, but I couldn’t help checking in with my roommate.”
What impressed her was that when she walked into the store, there was a corridor introducing Goubuli bun culture.
When the four of them sat down and saw the prices on the menu, they wanted to leave.
"Pork buns and assorted vegetarian buns are both 48 yuan per cage and 8 per cage. After calculating, a bun costs 6 yuan. I was a student at the time and had no money." With the mentality of "all coming", a few of them Collected money and ate two cages.
Goubuli steamed buns that Ye Lu ate for the first time.
The result is also very disappointing.
Ye Lu uses three words to describe the feeling after eating, "expensive, not worthy of the price, not delicious".
They wonder why such buns can be sold at a higher price than ordinary buns. "You can't increase the price by relying on the reputation of the time-honored brand?" On dining evaluation platforms such as Dianping, many people expressed emotions like Ye Lu. .
In the "Notice on Printing and Distributing "Several Opinions on the Protection and Promotion of the Development of Time-honored Brands" issued by the Ministry of Commerce and others, the definition of time-honored brands is: "A long history, with products, skills or services passed down from generation to generation, and a distinctive Chinese The national traditional cultural background and profound cultural heritage have been widely recognized by the society, forming a brand with good reputation."
Yang Yueming, deputy dean of the Institute of Cultural Innovation and Communication of Beijing Normal University, pointed out to the Sino-Singapore Jingwei client: “The general impression given to the public by time-honored brands is the'four olds', namely old brands, old products, old customers, and old styles. Among them,' The long-established brand ``old customers'' is associated with the repeat customer effect."
Professor Yang Yueming said that “old brand” means that consumers have a sense of trust in the quality of time-honored brands, and the cultural concepts of many time-honored companies have been recognized by the public.
"Recurring customers" refer to repeat customers.
"Time-honored brands naturally have a fan effect, and a major characteristic of their consumers is their high loyalty and purchasing inertia."
In the catering industry, there is an old saying that "'returning customers' start from'first returning customers'." However, Ye Lu said after eating for the first time, "I will never go again after eating once. The feeling of eating."
There is also an old-fashioned restaurant that makes Zhou Xing's "unsatisfactory", the Quanjude Roast Duck located opposite Goubuli, Wangfujing.
She recalled that when she was a student with no income, eating Quanjude was almost a yearning for her.
When passing by the store, she said that she was "courageous" to visit the store and took a photo on the first floor as a souvenir.
Wangfujing Goubuli Opposite is Quanjude Zhongxin Jingwei Photographed by Fu Yumei
Today, Zhou Xing has become a travel blogger. "Eat, drink and play" is part of her job, and she is not worried about Quanjude.
But whether from a professional perspective or personal preference, she doesn't like Quanjude.
"The duck skin is hard, the noodles are also hard, the other dishes are ordinary, the pea yellow is not smooth enough, the only thing that feels good is the mustard duck feet. And there is no service, the waiter is very arrogant, and (at the time) there was a service charge. Counting it down, Zhou Xing recalled his mood of "worshiping" at that time, feeling a little ridiculous.
Quanjude store data map new Jingwei photo by Fu Yumei
Whether or not to take a friend who came to Beijing for the first time to a time-honored brand has always been a headache for Beijing girl Liu Ke.
"Actually, there are many more delicious and cheaper restaurants in Beijing than the time-honored brands, but everyone is here to come here. Don't bring them. It seems to be a disappointment. You do know that the experience is not good and you don't want to smash the signs of Beijing's time-honored brands."
"If you don't listen to criticism, you are not far from closing the door"
The time-honored catering brands that are also caught in the dilemma of bad reviews, as well as those familiar brands: Wu Yutai, Donglaishun, Gui Faxiang (Eighteenth Street Twist), Liuweizhai... Recently, one family was reported by the media as "following the dog ignored" "Dumping"'s time-honored brand "Li Jiacai" also rushed into the hot search.
The Lijiacai restaurant was founded in 1985 and specializes in court and Beijing cuisine.
On September 24, a group of Weibo "Big V" with millions of fans went to dinner, and found that a table of dishes was ugly and rough, which one blogger called "a very bad experience".
In response to related queries, the person in charge of the restaurant involved said that he would do what he should do.
Under the turmoil, discussions about the time-honored "myth shattered" continue to ferment.
However, the China-Singapore Jingwei reporters inquired about the China Time-honored Brand Information Management Platform of the Ministry of Commerce (hereinafter referred to as the time-honored brand platform) and the Beijing Time-honored Brand Directory, and none of them found "Li Jia Cai".
The time-honored brand platform shows that there are 1,128 companies that have been recognized as "Chinese time-honored brands" across the country.
To meet the requirements for the identification of time-honored brands, one must first have the ownership or right to use the trademark, which must be established before 1956 (inclusive).
Secondly, it must inherit unique products, skills or services, and it must also have a corporate culture that inherits the outstanding traditions of the Chinese nation, and it also has requirements for operating conditions.
The identification of time-honored brands is also for support.
As early as 2006, the Ministry of Commerce initiated the revitalization project of time-honored brands.
In 2017, 16 ministries and commissions including the Development and Reform Commission of the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Reform, Innovation and Development of Time-honored Brands", providing support for time-honored brands in terms of finance, taxation, and finance, and encouraging qualified regions to carry out local time-honored brand recognition , Regulate the identification of local time-honored brands.
The time-honored brand with both fame and bonus has been questioned due to successive loss of control of word-of-mouth, which in turn caused the loss of repeat customers such as Zhou Xing.
The "conceptualized" Lijiacai by the time-honored brand may also reflect the outside world's concern about the quality control crisis of the time-honored brand.
What does it mean to the time-honored brand to lose repeat customers?
"Today we saw Quanjude, Goubuli and other old-fashioned catering companies, which have gained a lot of evaluations of'never come again next time'. It reflects that such companies have been self-contained for a long time, relying on the old and selling the old, and do not pay attention to product updates. It also ignores the needs of the new generation of consumers. Young consumers may enter time-honored shops out of curiosity about time-honored brands, but because of unpleasant first impressions, they choose to stay away from time-honored brands. In the long run, these time-honored consumer groups will It is getting smaller and smaller." The aforementioned Professor Yang Yueming said.
Shi Shusi, a well-known commentator, believes that when people have different opinions on the time-honored brand "unpalatable and expensive", the key is to be aware of the reminder behind it.
"Whether it used to sell culture, history, or face, we now remind us that specialty restaurants must return to product strength. The competition in catering is so fierce, there are stories, history, and characteristics. If not, Listening to these criticisms is not far from closing the door."
It is not "immune" to public opinion, and time-honored brands are also changing with the trend.
For example, after Wangfujing Goubuli Baozi was criticized by the entire network, the store’s signboard was removed and reopened; in July, on the occasion of the 156th anniversary of the opening of the Beijing Quanjude store, it was announced that the price of the dishes in the store was adjusted, and the overall price was reduced by 10% to 15%. 10% to 15% of the service fee that was originally required for meals.
However, compared to the decline in word-of-mouth, the current development performance is more difficult.
Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce show that 50% of time-honored enterprises are in a state of continuous loss, and 40% are struggling on the profit and loss line.
In addition, in the early days of the founding of New China, there were 16,000 time-honored brands, but now there are only more than 1,000, and the survival rate is only 7%.
If you want to survive, the time-honored brand may need to save yourself further.
Many analyses mention the term "innovation".
Professor Yang Yueming believes that the two characteristics of "old products" and "old style" are very important for the innovation and development of time-honored brands.
"Old product" does not mean that the product system is immutable, but on the basis of maintaining product quality and core product selling points, adapting to consumers' needs, and innovating product content and form.
"Old-fashioned" refers to a backward-looking posture, which is indifferent to consumers and lacks a strong sense of service, which is often a pain point in the operation of some time-honored brands.
"The time-honored brand in the new era should be forward-leaning toward consumers. Only by emphasizing honesty, courtesy, demand, and communication, can the'returning customers' be found and new consumers can be expanded. This is also its self-help. The key to this." Professor Yang Yueming said.
(Zhongxin Jingwei APP)
(Zhou Xing is a pseudonym in the text.)
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