Chinanews.com, December 2nd (Zuo Yuqing, Zhongxin Finance and Economics) "Nayuki の Cha", which took the high-end milk tea route, quietly changed its name.

　　Recently, some netizens said that the signboard of the local Nayuki new store changed the original "NAYUKI" (Japanese Roman accent) to the pinyin "NAIXUE", and the font became a straighter version. " also became "Nayuki's Tea".

　　From MINISO to Genki Forest, to Nayuki’s tea, Chinese brands that were once keen on “Japanese elements” are quietly changing their strategies.

Nayuki's tea "The Seven Year Itch"

　　"The first time I saw Naixue no Tea, I thought it was a Japanese brand milk tea shop." Said a netizen.

　　In November 2015, Naixue’s first tea store opened in Shenzhen; in December 2017, the brand began to go out of Guangdong.

According to the official website, its name comes from the founder Peng Xin's online name "Naixue".

　　But this introduction does not explain why the brand name uses Japanese "の" and Japanese pronunciation.

In fact, both the name and the logo style reveal the Japanese-style small and fresh brand appeal, but from the founder to the brand, it has nothing to do with Japan.

Nayuki's tea at a store in Beijing.

Photo by Gong Hongyu

　　Now, Nayuki, who has had a Japanese name for 7 years, has given birth to the "seven-year itch".

　　In response to the name change, Nayuki’s tea-related person in charge responded to the media that this is a brand upgrade for Nayuki’s seventh anniversary, and it will be replaced nationwide later.

　　Zhongxin Finance noticed that the current logo of Naixue’s tea official website is still “Naiyukiの茶”, but its Weibo, Xiaohongshu and other social accounts, WeChat applets, takeaway platforms and other online sales platforms have begun to use Chinese Logo "Nayuki's Tea".

"Pasting Japanese labels" was once the success code of many brands

　　Japanese brands were once considered to be a symbol of high quality. Whether it is manufacturing industries such as home appliances and automobiles, or industries such as catering, retail, and fast-moving consumer goods, Japanese brands have a huge influence in the Chinese market.

From the manufacturing giant Mitsubishi Group, to the Japanese toilet seats snapped up by Chinese aunts, there are sales myths of "made in Japan" everywhere.

　　"Imported goods = high-end" used to be the traditional impression of consumers in the past, and "showing foreign style" has become an important reason why many Chinese brands choose to "stick Japanese labels".

While consumers are obsessed with the "exquisiteness" and "ingenuity" of Japanese brands, a series of Internet celebrity brands with "Japanese labels" have also achieved great success.

Among them, MINISO, Genki Forest, and Nayuki's tea have all achieved success in this way.

　　MINISO, formerly known as the "Ouch" ten-yuan store, achieved a brand "turnaround" by incorporating a large number of Japanese elements-it was accused of imitating the design style of the Japanese brand "MUJI", and its brand positioning "hit the face" The Japanese brand "Daiso" has become a well-known "Life Goods Collection Store" in China.

　　Tang Binsen, the founder of Yuanqi Forest, once admitted directly in an interview with the media: "We really set up a Japanese company, and there are more than a dozen people in Japan doing research and development. After a year, we thought something would go wrong, so we told the team not to do it. So we later emphasized the characters 'burning' and '気'. We want to put whiskey on big Chinese characters like Japan's Suntory and sell it all over the world."

　　However, regarding the doubt that "気" is Japanese, Tang Binsen said: "The entire Asian culture is deeply influenced by Chinese culture, and it cannot be strictly defined whether it is Japanese or Chinese characters."

Marketing "overturned", brands have "separated seats" with Japanese elements

　　Winning or losing does not matter.

With the rise of the national trend, brands that have eaten up the bonus of "sticking Japanese labels" have begun to "fancy overturning" in marketing.

　　In June 2021, Nongfu Spring was suspected of false propaganda for using the words "Dawn White Peach Produced in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan" when promoting the new soda sparkling water.

In August of this year, MINISO, which caused public outrage because it referred to cheongsam dolls as geisha costumes, was immediately picked up by netizens: even the advertised Japanese designer "Junya Miyake" was nothing.

　　The former "sales code" has now become an unspeakable "Achilles heel" for "Japanese-style label" brands, and many brands have begun to "cut seats" with Japanese elements.

Yuanqi Forest, which has been renamed on the shelves of supermarkets.

Photo by Zuo Yuqing

　　In 2020, Genki Forest, which "cannot strictly define whether '気' is Japanese or Chinese characters," launched a new logo on its official website, replacing the main logo on the official website and product promotion posters with the Chinese character "気".

MINISO had to issue a series of apology statements after being popularly searched on "Rollover", saying that it had started to promote the "de-daily chemical" work at the end of 2019, and would replace store fronts, store interiors, product labels and promotional materials Japanese elements.

　　What do you think of brand marketing tearing off the "Japanese label"?

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