Reporters Liu Weizhen and Wang Jinghuai
The time-honored brand is the carrier of intangible cultural heritage, the imprint of urban transformation, and the portrait of market folk customs.
In the face of rapidly changing consumer demands, it is not easy for time-honored brands to "turn around", and some have already fallen into difficulty, but more time-honored brands "do not bite the old" or "refuse to accept the old", and they are still seeking new and changing after going through ups and downs.
Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporters walked into a number of time-honored enterprises in Tianjin: some are accelerating the development of new sales channels such as live streaming, while others have found new opportunities in "cross-border cooperation".
When old brands, old cultures, and old skills are transformed to healthy and refined, to youthful personalization, and to intelligent customization, there will be new customers, new inheritance, and new development...
"Taste bud innovation" in a twist
During the Dragon Boat Festival, many customers were welcomed in the directly-operated store of Guifaxiang, Hexi District, Tianjin.
In addition to the famous Eighteenth Street stuffed twist and exquisite and trendy holiday gifts, the "mini twist" in the store has also entered the "C position" of sales, setting off a wave of "stocking up".
"Among the 6 flavors of 'Mini Twist', the assorted flavor is in line with the old flavor of 18th Street Twist, which is especially popular with customers. Old customers regard it as a condensed version of '18th Street', and young people regard it as a casual style. small snacks," said a clerk.
The "18th Street Twist", which was born on the west bank of the Haihe River, is 95 years old.
In an era when noodles, oil, and sugar had to be carefully calculated, twist was considered a "luxury" in the eyes of many people in Tianjin.
Crush sweet-scented osmanthus, Fujian ginger, sesame kernels, and walnut kernels into the stuffing. After kneading noodles, stuffing, matching strips, closing strips, rubbing them by hand, and deep-frying them, add rock sugar, green and red silk...the aroma is tangy, The stuffed twist with rich materials is called "twisted art", "not only twisted in a variety of ingredients, but also twisted into the diverse Tianjin culture." Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Twist Food Co., Ltd. brand Director Xu Yanqing said.
In the era of "insufficient taste" at the dinner table, the twist is "beautiful with greatness", and "marijuana" also speaks of Gui Faxiang's superb production skills.
The "King of Twist", which is 2 meters long and weighs 75 kilograms, once set a Guinness World Record.
However, with the enrichment of materials and the change of the times, people's hobbies for casual snacks have changed - healthy and portable, which has become a new demand for many young people.
Zhao Zheng, deputy general manager of Tianjin Guifaxiang 18th Street Mahua Food Co., Ltd., who is in charge of product research and development, said that the company has learned about convenient, fast, fresh and delicate food through feedback from consumers in direct-sale stores and regular market research results from the sales department of the marketing department. "Small food" is favored by many young consumers, and decided to develop a "small and refined" "mini twist".
However, the difficulty followed - due to the limitation of the craftsmanship, it is difficult to "miniature" the stuffed twist within 3 grams, and the "mini twist" can only be made by seasoning.
"The stuffing is the 'soul' of the 18th Street Twist. Will the seasoning of 'Little Twist' lack its core competitiveness?" During the internal discussion, many employees were hesitant.
"If you want to keep up with the times, you must be willing to try and innovate." Zhao Zheng said.
From buying all the twist products on the market, tasting and researching them one by one, adding and removing several ingredients, polishing the taste repeatedly, and then investigating the preferences of young people and enriching the taste of the products... After more than a year, the "Little Twist" was born. Finally "break out of the cocoon".
In 2018, to catch up with the wave of live broadcasts and the expansion of snack food consumer groups, the company's "Little Twist" became an instant hit and became a popular "Internet celebrity hit".
"The cannabis flower has made a name for the time-honored brand, and the small cannabis has helped us open up the market for young people. Many young people have known us because of the small cannabis, and thus fell in love with the old taste of the old brand." Zhao Zheng said.
Yitang and high-fiber hemp flowers suitable for the elderly, fast-food specialties suitable for "working workers", and eight cakes suitable for foreign tourists, incorporating Tianjin regional elements into the shape... In order to go out of Tianjin and "make friends", in recent years , Gui Faxiang is still continuing to "expand the circle and upgrade."
During the epidemic, Gui Faxiang actively catered to market demands and changes, adopted online live broadcasts and new media marketing methods to enrich product sales and marketing channels, and tried to expand customer groups through live streaming of traffic anchors and live streaming events at online flagship stores, so as to make the time-honored brand glow. new vitality.
"In the past, there was a shortage of oil and sugar at home, and customers always thought about the sweetness of twist; now with the improvement of living standards and the abundance and variety of food, we cannot continue to operate according to the old way of single production, but must conform to consumption trends and times. Trends, work hard on the refinement and quality of food, so that the taste of the time-honored brand can be better inherited." Zhao Zheng said.
"Youth Color" in a Drop of Ink
Unscrew the bottle cap, and the fragrance of ink drifts away immediately; full of ink, unfold the paper to quietly write down the good times... In the "Era of Letters", the high-quality and inexpensive ostrich ink has witnessed the youth of several generations.
The Ostrich Old Workshop, which was born in 1935, is the birthplace of the first drop of ink in China.
Ink for calligraphy and painting, computer spray printing ink, special ink for animation... For decades, ostrich ink has continuously renovated its product "patterns" with the pace of industrialization.
However, the sharp drop in consumers' demand for traditional writing has caused Ostrich Ink, which has undergone several rounds of changes, to lose its way.
"When I came to Ostrich Ink in 2011, the company was operating at a loss." Huang Qiang, general manager of Tianjin Ostrich Ink Co., Ltd. recalled that the traditional ink market was fiercely competitive and the external environment was constantly impacted. At that time, Ostrich Ink was struggling.
"In the past, the products that ordinary people could see almost every day disappeared from their homes from a certain moment. It is a huge test for us to be able to innovate and bring ostriches back to people's field of vision." Huang Qiang said.
The light of the turning point came unexpectedly in a "cross-border" attempt.
During the 13th National Games held in Tianjin, Tianjin convened a number of time-honored brands and built a brand image store in the National Games Village.
"We pondered and decided to launch some products suitable for athletes and coaches and bring them to the store to display." Huang Qiang said that the popular "Secret Garden" coloring painting at that time brought inspiration to the company.
"We immediately started research and development in the direction of color ink cultural and creative products, hoping to help athletes relieve stress and relax."
During the National Games, Ostrich Ink put color ink sets and coloring books on the shelves, and also specially developed a "decompression painting bar".
"I thought it was relatively 'minority', but I didn't expect the painting bar to be very popular. Some young athletes can paint in the store all afternoon." Huang Qiang said that this attempt made everyone realize that the "old ostrich" is in the painting material culture and creativity. The field is promising.
Taking advantage of the "Dongfeng" of the National Games, the company has officially taken the step of cultural and creative product development.
"Ink is for writing, what tricks can you play?" said Liu Baozhu, the technical director who has worked in the company for more than 40 years. He first heard that the planning team proposed to develop "Morandi" and "Xiaoqing" colors. , adding flavors to the ink and other "unheard of" new concepts, I feel "one head and two big".
"Adding fragrance to ink is a big problem." Liu Baozhu said that fragrance is insoluble in water, and once the modulation and matching are not good, it will easily affect the fluency and stability of writing.
However, in order to satisfy the "colorful dreams" of young children, Liu Baozhu and the R&D team calmed down and began to bury their heads in "tackling tough".
Adjusting the dosage and ingredients, polishing the color brightness... With the breakthrough of technical difficulties one by one, the company has gradually developed more than 700 colors and gold powder series inks of dyes, pigments, fluorescence, sheen type and other systems.
In addition, the company continues to explore the cultural connotation of domestic products, and conducts "IP co-branding" cooperation with the Palace Museum and Tianjin Museum to attract young users.
"In recent years, the per capita consumption of stationery in my country has increased year by year, and domestic stationery consumption has shown a development trend of branding, personalization and high-end. Driven by the power of consumption upgrading, color ink will definitely become a new growth point to drive the development of ostrich ink. "Huang Qiang said.
A pair of cloth shoes set foot on the "cloud"
Father's Day is approaching, with the improvement of the epidemic situation in Tianjin, the old Meihua store on Jin Street has resumed its former bustle.
With the help of the child, an old man stepped on the 3D foot measuring instrument in the store. After scanning for a few seconds, the screen quickly displayed detailed data such as the length, width, and ankle circumference of the old man's left and right feet.
Yue Wei, manager of Heping Road flagship store of Tianjin Laomeihua Footwear Co., Ltd., said that the "smart device" is equipped with six scanners, which can scan customers' left feet, right feet and soles at the same time. Tailor-made suitable footwear.
Not far from this machine representing "new technology", the store displays an "old product" that Lao Meihua put on the shelves in 1911 - "Three-inch Golden Lotus" Kun-tip shoes.
The distance of just a few meters condenses the history of changes of the time-honored brand that has traveled through a hundred years.
In 1911, Pang Henian, a native of Tianjin, started a shoe store "Old Meihua" with his accumulated capital and his father's investment after he graduated from the shoe factory.
From Kun-tip shoes, Camel saddle shoes, Hangyuan shoes, to Jin-style cheongsam, menswear with sleeves, Xiuhe wedding dress... Over the past hundred years, this old shop has been persistent and innovative.
"We use materials such as silk and pure cotton to ensure the quality and comfort of the products; we also invite traditional technicians to strictly abide by the centuries-old shoe-making process and retain the precious traditional handicraft intangible cultural heritage." Tianjin Laomeihua Footwear Co., Ltd. Dong Jianshe, president of the responsible company, said, "This is the root and soul of the company, and it is also the foundation of the company."
The time-honored brand has a group of "old fans".
Among the "silver-haired people" in Jincheng, Lao Meihua always stood firm and shouted loudly.
In order to meet the needs of regular customers, in addition to shoes, Chinese clothing is also hung on the shelves of Lao Meihua, and the custom business of high-end clothing is also "online".
Through customer feedback, many functional products such as non-slip slippers and thermal underwear have been launched. Some single products sold nearly 100,000 pieces.
Old Meihua is famous for being "old" and standing as "old", but it is not easy to break the "old impression" of customers that the company is "only suitable for silver-haired groups".
Dong Jianshe realized that attracting young people to "practice their internal skills hard" is the only way for an old brand to go a long way.
The outbreak of the epidemic has accelerated the speed of the time-honored brand "Going to the Cloud".
As early as 2016, Old Meihua opened up online sales channels, opened flagship stores on multiple e-commerce platforms, and continuously improved its new retail system.
During the epidemic, Lao Meihua's "live broadcast delivery" also attracted many young netizens.
"Three months after the opening of the Douyin live broadcast room, the sales exceeded one million yuan." Dong Jianshe said with emotion, "The single-day turnover of the offline stores with the highest sales before was difficult to reach 100,000 yuan, but now, only A single-day turnover of a live broadcast room can be as much as 100,000 yuan.”
The novel style and "tailor-made" products are the confidence of Laomeihua to attract "new customers".
Ms. He, the "bride-to-be" who came to the store to choose Xiuhe's wedding dress, said that she made a special trip to order embroidered cheongsam shoes for herself and her parents.
"The style of the shoes and clothes is decent and generous, which not only reflects the traditional culture, but also takes into account the fashion elements. My parents and I are very satisfied."
"In the past, most of the children accompany the elderly to the store for shopping. Now many parents accompany their children to buy cheongsam wedding dresses in the store." Yue Wei said that the age and geographical distribution of consumers are more even and wider, "except for those in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Many customers come here from Guangdong, Fujian and other places, and even many foreign friends come here to experience traditional Chinese culture.”
"In a short time, the company will celebrate its 111th birthday." Dong Jianshe said that although the old Meihua has a long history, he does not want to just "eat the old" and "eat the old family" with the golden signboard.
"The old and the new are not opposed to each other, but can learn from each other. It is necessary to keep the traditional skills and keep up with the trend of consumption changes, so that the time-honored brands can truly 'all over the world'."
The data shows that there are 66 time-honored brands in China and 163 time-honored brands in Tianjin.
"As a century-old commercial port city, Tianjin has many time-honored commercial brands that are well-known at home and abroad and are deeply loved by the people. With the acceleration of Tianjin's pace of cultivating and building an international consumption center city, these time-honored brands have ushered in new life." Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Commerce is responsible for People say.