Can domestic products continue to "tide"?
Our reporter Li Hualin, Guo Jingyuan and Sun Changyue
Wearing Laoganma sweater, foot Li Ning sneakers, mouth with Forbidden City red lipstick... the new generation of young people is defining fashion by wearing domestic products, using domestic products, and eating domestic products, chasing new trends, and driving the "national tide". Come.
Is this a "temporarily popular" trend feast, or is it a development opportunity for domestic products to take advantage of the trend?
In-depth interviews by a reporter from the Economic Daily found that, with the help of China's consumption upgrade, domestic products are catching up to the "world boutique", not only becoming a hot-selling product in the eyes of Chinese consumers, but also allowing the world to see the new strength of domestic products.
Wearing Laoganma sweaters, Li Ning sneakers, and Forbidden City red lipstick... the new generation of young people is defining fashion by wearing domestic products, using domestic products, and eating domestic products, chasing new trends, and driving the "national tide". Come.
Taking advantage of this wave of "national tide", the domestic products that have been up and down in the consumer market have become popular.
The time-honored brands are renewed, and the second spring is radiant. The new brands are unconventional and the latecomers are on the top. The domestic brands have risen strongly and ushered in an unprecedented period of outbreak.
However, the trend is always changing, and the fashion is always changing from generation to generation. There are also precedents for many trendy brands to be photographed on the beach.
How to seize the opportunity of the "national tide", take advantage of the trend, and continue to ride the wind and waves and stand on the forefront when the next wave of consumer trends comes?
This is exactly the answer that new and old domestic brands are constantly looking for.
Can't be trapped by an "old" word
The well-known Suzhou gardens are portrayed into cakes and desserts, and stories of Jiangnan culture series such as the Dream of Red Mansions and Qianlong Tandian can be found. Walk into the first experience store in Daoxiang Village, Guanqian Street, Suzhou. Freshly baked naked selling area, hand-made area, tea and drinking leisure area and cultural experience area, people come and go, Gusu pastry and eating houses are dazzling, as if you are in a modern show of Suzhou exquisite life that blends ancient and modern, attracting many consumers. "Check in" and experience tasting.
"Let everyone take a look at this set of'baoyu cake' gift boxes. Each is individually wrapped, delicious and exquisite." On the second floor of the store, the staff is busy live broadcasting the delivery.
Since last year, after cooperating with the head anchor to build a live broadcast team, develop a WeChat mini-program mall, and try social marketing, Suzhou Daoxiang Village has seized the e-commerce live broadcast and launched online marketing with its keen market sense. Combination boxing-in 2020, e-commerce sales will increase by 30%, successfully making up for the lack of offline sales during the epidemic.
At the same time, they have also developed their own IP that reflects the inheritance of pastry making skills-"Six Generations", and have cross-border IP joint names with well-known brands such as King Glory and Kung Fu Panda... As a company, it has a history of 248 years. In 2006, the first batch of enterprises recognized by the Ministry of Commerce as China's time-honored brands, why did Daoxiang Village "fight" so?
According to Zhou Guangjun, president of Daoxiangcun Group, "'time-honored brand' does not refer to old traditions or concepts, but a kind of responsibility, which forces us to step out of our comfort zone and always maintain innovative genes."
"When it comes to foreign brands, people think of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and other century-old brands. However, the market does not regard them as'old' brands. On the contrary, they think of them as representatives of fashion and trends. They are good at using language that is close to the times. Packaging and products communicate with consumers.” Zhou Guangjun said frankly that after entering the 21st century, domestic time-honored enterprises have been impacted by various emerging economies in market competition, leaving consumers with conservative thinking, single products, and unfitting. Trends and fashions and other inherent impressions, "the time-honored brand is the brand of the times, we should stand at the forefront of the times and lead the times, instead of relying on the old to sell the old and remembering the past."
Another time-honored brand that chose to say no to "relying on the old and selling the old" is Quanjude.
From 2017 to 2019, Quanjude's operating income continued to decline.
Zhou Yanlong, secretary of the party committee and general manager of Quanjude Group, also shared two sets of data with reporters: Quanjude’s main consumers are 8 to 10 years older than its main competitors; the operating team is generally about 10 years older than their opponents.
"Quanjude can't be trapped by an'old' character! Chinese time-honored brands have natural advantages of cultural accumulation, products and services and traditional skills. Nowadays, driven by the new forces of the'national tide', time-honored enterprises are also ushering in new development opportunities for brands. It is expected to be sought after by young people again." Zhou Yanlong said.
The launch of the new "Mengbao Duck" IP image, the creation of the first light and shadow theme restaurant in Beijing's time-honored restaurant, and the use of short videos to promote Quanjude's twenty-four solar terms dishes on many platforms...Through multi-path careful layout, Quanjude has become "fashionable".
However, Zhou Yanlong believes that, for time-honored brands, catching up with the "national tide" is not only changing the outer packaging of a product, or simply marketing with traditional cultural elements, but the company's transmission of product history and brand cultural values.
In the future, Quanjude will focus on creating a new pattern of products + services + scenarios, focusing on the upgrading of time-honored boutique stores, embracing new retail and new media, advancing digital transformation, improving operational efficiency, and empowering sustainable brand development with culture.
The "national tide" is blowing in the streets and alleys, and more and more young people are looking at traditional culture with curiosity and enthusiasm.
However, their focus is definitely not on old and ancient patterns or objects, but on "Chinese elements" after the aesthetic improvement and innovation of the times.
This is also the magic weapon for domestic products in the eyes of Shen Huadong, general manager of Xtep e-commerce.
"Foreign brands are not as good as local brands in understanding, devotion and attention to Chinese consumers. Where is our competitiveness? It is to find out what is unique about ourselves and create a'trend' based on Chinese culture." Shen Huadong gave a reporter an example According to the road, the color cards used by Xtep are all "Chinese style color cards" based on Chinese aesthetics and derived from traditional culture; in view of the characteristics of Chinese people's generally wide and flat feet, Xtep insists on designing products based on Asian human shapes, so that consumers can wear more Comfortable.
"Since last year, Xtep’s young consumer group has significantly increased. They do not blindly pursue big names, but really love Chinese culture. In terms of R&D investment, we must continue to strengthen our in-depth understanding and understanding of Chinese culture and traditional aesthetics. Integration." Shen Huadong told reporters that Xtep will continue to focus on youthful trends, strengthen cooperation in competitions, activities, and organizations closely linked to young people, and conduct in-depth exploration of Chinese cultural research and element design, and strive to work with the whole society. Strengthen the Chinese brand culture and tell the story of Xtep's unique "national tide".
From momentary red to "long red"
Standing at the mouth of the "national tide", time-honored brands are innovating, and new brands are also taking off.
Where is the new brand?
New in personalized design, diversified products, insightful marketing.
Compared with the simple and rude printing of the "Guochao" LOGO on products in the early years, Guochao's new brands are now more cleverly looking for the fit of products and Chinese elements, such as auspicious clouds, cranes, sculptures... these were completely in line with fashion in the past. The elements that are not above appear in all kinds of commodities, leading the trend.
This is particularly prominent in domestic beauty brands.
"Fandai Plateau" and "Red Tong Danxia" National Geographic eyeshadows, vivid animal series eyeshadows... In recent years, every product launched by "Perfect Diary" has almost become a hit in the beauty market at that time.
The appearance of the explosions seems inadvertent, but it is not accidental.
The relevant person in charge of Perfect Diary told reporters that keen insight into the aesthetic tastes of current consumers and innovative supply based on demand are the key points for Perfect Diary to become "tide" and "fire".
"Every consumer may be our product designer." The above-mentioned person in charge said that they insist on starting from the user, adopt a data-driven direct-to-consumer model, communicate directly with consumers through various social channels, and strive to The needs, habits, and preferences of users are transformed into products.
Only one feather powder cake was tested by more than 300 consumers before and after it was launched after many meetings and hundreds of days and nights.
This tailor-made production model is favored by many young consumers.
According to a survey conducted by Tmall, Perfect Diary has become the second most popular domestic brand among "post-00s".
In this year's 618 promotion, the sales volume of Perfect Diary ranked first among JD's self-operated domestic cosmetics and Vipshop cosmetics.
The strong rise of domestic cosmetics has promoted the continuous improvement and improvement of the production research and development capabilities, supply chain integration capabilities, and brand building capabilities of the domestic cosmetics industry. Some "national trends" have also moved from "net celebrities" to "brands" and began image exploration and branding. Construct.
“Some people say that Huaxizi is an Internet celebrity brand, but we don’t like such a label.” The co-founder of Huaxizi said frankly that Huaxizi did not simply define itself as a “national trend brand”, but to create an oriental brand. The make-up system is the ultimate ideal. “Domestic make-up brands have been crushed. It is generally believed that they are single and featureless, cheap, not high-end, and unhealthy for the skin.”
In order to solve the pain points of Chinese makeup, Huaxizi decided to start with design and production, deeply dig into Chinese traditional culture and oriental aesthetics, and give tradition to fashion and fashion to classic.
The process of product polishing is difficult.
"The difficulty is to promote process innovation in the supply chain." Fei Slow gave an example to reporters. Huaxizi was the first company to apply ceramic technology to lipstick, and initially there was no ready-made process.
After 2 years of research and development, Huaxizi finally promoted the birth and development of related technologies.
Last year, this ceramic lipstick was successfully launched. The paste adopts micro-relief technology, and the white glaze has a pure and shiny appearance.
"Today our research and development strength, product raw material formula and quality inspection standards adopted are not only leading domestically, but even higher than most international brands." Feisha firmly believes that the "post-90s" and "post-00s" are increasingly inclined At the moment when the brand is based on products, the development of domestic brands is at the right time.
Of course, good products must have good self-recommendations.
Different from the traditional brand "cracking duck" communication, the new brand pays more attention to social marketing and enters the attention of consumers through word-of-mouth communication and experiential consumption.
Some companies choose to start from the source.
As long as you are a member of the dairy brand "Adopt a Cow", you can visit the company on the 26th of each month to discuss your product views and needs with the product manager and R&D personnel, or be invited to the ranch to trace the source and inspect this company up close. How companies raise cattle.
"Adopt a cow" established in 2016, is determined to produce "a good glass of milk" for the Chinese people, and embark on a development path of "build a pasture first, then build a brand".
The company’s CEO Sun Shijun told reporters that they use Douyin and Xiaohongshu as their main marketing positions, regularly organize ranch live broadcasts, and launch "cloud ranch" mini games.
Relying on the deep connection with consumers, "adopt a cow" has quickly grown into a new upstart in dairy companies.
In May of this year, the number of fans in its Tmall flagship store exceeded 10 million, making it the fourth brand in the Tmall food category to have more than 10 million fans.
New designs, new marketing channels, and new consumption patterns have brought booming traffic dividends, allowing many new brands to achieve breathtaking value growth in just a few years.
However, in the Internet age, it is not uncommon for Internet celebrity brands to fly in the sky and die at night.
How can new brands take advantage of this "national trend" and take advantage of the trend, from a momentary red to a "long red"?
Some brands are groping for their own answers.
"If the new domestic brand is to develop in the long-term, quality and reputation are the key, so it needs a long-term vision." Sun Shijun said, "Adopt a cow" will always take the lifeline of good quality, and continue to lay out the industry chain and digital intelligence. Increase investment in upgrading, continuously improve quality management, and strive to build core competitiveness with excellent products, and win long-term with quality and reputation.
Chinese brands are more and more prosperous
Li Ning appeared on New York Fashion Week, the Cultural and Creative Industries of the Palace Museum was born, and Tmall joined many traditional domestic brands to become popular...From "domestic products" to "national trends", "Made In China" is tearing away the inherent inherent qualities of "inferior quality" and "cheap" Labels gradually establish the influence of Chinese brands.
According to the "Baidu 2021 National Trends Pride Search Big Data" report, in the past five years, the proportion of Chinese brand search interest in the total brand interest has increased from 45% to 75%, which is three times that of overseas brands.
The increase in national spending power is an important reason for the rise of the "national tide".
Wang Shanhe, Executive Vice Chairman of the United Nations World Brand Development Committee and Chairman of the Asia Working Committee, said that in recent years, my country’s economic aggregate has continuously surpassed new barriers, exceeding 90 trillion yuan in 2018 and exceeding 100 trillion yuan in 2021. The economy is developing rapidly. The continuous expansion of middle-income groups has ushered in a period of strategic development opportunities for the "national tide".
"The rise of the'National Tide' is a natural expression of cultural confidence in the commercial end in the process of China's modernization." said Wang Yong, Dean of the Business School of Brand Alliance. In a sense, the "National Tide" is a "re-emergence of traditional culture". Popularity” is a natural manifestation of the growing demand for self-identification and self-affirmation of the Chinese nation.
On the other hand, the rise of the "national tide" has also forced industrial transformation and upgrading, providing ideas for high-quality economic development.
A series of new concepts, new technologies, and new models are giving birth to new products, new trends, and new industrial chains. Batches of traditional brands ride on the ride of transformation, and batches of cutting-edge brands are born.
"Now the'National Tide' has entered the 3.0 era, the connotation has expanded again, and the cultural and emotional added value has become more prominent." Wang Shanhe said that on the consumer side, people's consumption habits for such "new domestic products" have gradually formed; on the supply side, China Brands are undergoing collective category innovation, product innovation and brand innovation, changing from a "niche" trend to a collective trend in the market.
But at the same time, there are also some hidden worries behind the popular "national boom": under over-marketing, some brands have high marketing costs, and R&D investment is obviously insufficient; there is a "three-minute heat" in the operation of some brands, and there is a "three-minute heat" in product development and technological innovation. And after-sales service is difficult to adhere to; some brands still use low prices as the main means of occupying the market, but the quality and reputation are not satisfactory. Some brands even use "national tide" as a gimmick, but in fact they use it for speculation...
How to take advantage of the “national tide” to perfectly integrate professional brands, local culture, and cyclical trends, so that while capturing domestic consumers, it can also win overseas praise, so as to continue the “tide”?
This is a question that should be considered in the future for time-honored brands and new brands.
"For companies, to further enhance brand competitiveness, on the one hand, they have to work hard for a long time, and only if their own products and services are strong, will they win market respect; on the other hand, they must tell the Chinese story well, not only the brand’s Hard power such as quality, scientific and technological strength, and R&D strength must be strong, as well as soft power such as the humanistic charm of the brand.” Wang Yong said, don’t think that only Chinese can play "National Tide" and foreigners can also play "National Tide." Facts It proves that the game is pretty good. For example, Hollywood in the United States shot "Kung Fu Panda" which integrates traditional Chinese culture.
"Therefore, the'national tide' should be the revitalization of the truly excellent traditional Chinese culture. We have inherent advantages, but we must work harder to learn and integrate. We must have an international perspective so that we can have a more comprehensive understanding of our culture."
In Zhou Guangjun's view, the essence of Guochao lies in the product itself.
"The'national tide' is not catching up with the trend for a while. It cannot do things that exceed the value of the product itself in the name of cultural creativity. It must truly make aesthetically leading and cost-effective products, and ultimately gain the dual recognition of consumer culture and aesthetics, and gain market Continued favor."
Perhaps, the real "national tide" is just the beginning.
"In the global popular market, there is currently no real'Chinese style'." Shen Huadong believes that "Chinese style" should be an aesthetic system that represents China's five thousand years of history and national character.
This aesthetic must penetrate into all aspects of product color, material selection, and storytelling. "At present, Chinese brands are still in the stage of exploring and experimenting. I believe that one day in the future, the "Chinese style" that has a unified aesthetic consensus and is recognized by the international community will definitely emerge. , Chinese brands will become more and more prosperous.”