Lifestyle
China's time-honored brands catch up with latest trends
By Zhang Yage  ·  2024-08-28  ·   Source: NO.35 AUGUST 29, 2024
A product release event held by Laomeihua, a time-honored shoe brand in Tianjin Municipality, on August 9 (XINHUA)
The Qixi Festival, often referred to as the Chinese Valentine's Day, falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on China's lunisolar calendar. The festival was celebrated on August 10 this year, with swarms of love birds taking to the streets, shopping for gifts and preparing for perfectly honed dates.

One of the go-to places for couples in Beijing this year, according to thousands of posts on Xiaohongshu, a leading lifestyle social media platform, was the factory store of time-honored Suzhou pastry brand Daoxiangcun.

Promoted as "passing down the traditional sweetness" on social media, the brand's store in a mall in Beijing's Chaoyang District welcomed groups of enthusiastic customers, mostly couples, with or without children. "Sweetness" was interpreted as a pun here by many, referring to both the sweet love between couples and the sweetness of the pastries and cakes on sale.

"I heard that the pastries sold in this store are made on the spot, instead of being pre-processed in factory production lines, and that you can even pay to make pastries by hand," 29-year-old Zhang Junhao, who intended to give his girlfriend his handmade pastries as a Qixi Festival present, told Beijing Review. "On this festival in ancient times, women would pray for dexterity and adeptness in household skills like embroidery in order to land a good marriage. I have definitely increased my level of dexterity today," he added.

Originating in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in east China, Daoxiangcun flourished in the capital during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and has survived the test of both time and great social changes since then. Daoxiangcun is listed as a time-honored brand by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

According to the ministry, the time-honored China brands label can be applied to brands originally established by Chinese people with a history of at least 50 years that have made a contribution to the passing on and promotion of traditional culture. The label is given to enterprises in an effort to promote the rich culture and history contained within traditional Chinese brand items such as food, clothing, medicine, alcohol, jewelry, seasonings and daily necessities.

Timely preservation 

The recent establishment of the Daoxiangcun factory store is in line with the MOC's appeal to preserve time-honored brands as well as their history and culture.

By the end of 2023, 1,128 national-level time-honored brands across the country were registered with the MOC, of which nearly 800 possess some forms of national intangible cultural heritage and more than 700 were established more than a century ago.

"The regular life cycle of an enterprise spans from 20 to 30 years, so the fact that a brand is able to hold its reputation for more than 50 years says a lot about its brand image and product quality," Chen Lijuan, a researcher with the Development Research Center for the State Council, told newspaper Economic Daily.

In addition to their durability, time-honored brands also make use of distinctive techniques and delicate and unique designs. They also carry historical significance and widespread reputation.

"As the embodiment of China's commerce and industry history, time-honored brands encapsulate the feelings and memories of Chinese people over time," Chen said. "Many brands are on the frontline of showcasing traditional Chinese culture nowadays, representing the Chinese interpretation of craftsmanship and entrepreneurship to the international community, while passing down precious techniques."

Since the 1990s, the MOC has intensified its efforts to protect and promote these time-honored brands, including preventing the brands' historical premises from being demolished, clustering the brands' offline stores as destinations for tourists, and carrying out favorable policies to encourage the investment in and introduction of new technologies and management approaches. Through continuous government support and efforts from inside, 85 percent of time-honored brands have been able to make profits in recent years, with 70 percent of them running with profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to statistics from the MOC.

Last January, the ministry announced the latest measures to protect these brands, including featuring them in museums, alongside a package of favorable tax and land management policies. The announcement was met with strong support from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as a further step to protect traditional buildings and triggered a wave among time-honored brands incorporating offline stores into museums nationwide.

"Establishing offline museums is one of the essential steps for old brands to tide over the difficulties of fitting into modern consumption trends," Yang Xuewu, General Manager of Chen Changyin Fried Dough Twists, a time-honored brand based in Chongqing in southwest China since 1907, told newspaper Chongqing Daily. "The museum reinforces the brand image by walking customers through our history, giving them hands-on opportunities to experience the production process, and helping to recapture their memories about our brand."

A chef demonstrates his cutting skills at a Quanjude roast duck restaurant in Beijing in May 2023 (XINHUA)

Fitting in the tide 

In addition to preserving old techniques, architecture and people's childhood memories, many brands are also breaking new ground in winning over younger generations by cooperating with online e-commerce platforms, updating their ingredients and packaging, and improving their methods of operation, promotion and management.

"The traditional operation mode of some reputed brands is to sit around and wait for their reputations to attract repeat customers, which doesn't fit with the flourishing of the digital economy or the changing way people are choosing brands," Zhang Haoyan, manager of a traditional Sichuan-flavored beef jerky brand with a history of over 80 years, told Chongqing Daily.

Through in-depth cooperation with e-commerce platforms and livestreaming broadcasters, the brand reached 150 million ($20.98 million) of online sales in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent, according to Zhang Haoyan.

As a step toward capturing the attention of young customers, Wuyutai, a leading Chinese tea brand established in 1887, teamed up with the National Museum of China to dress up their traditional bottled flower tea products with delicate floral patterned packaging inspired by the paintings in the museum's collection. Made from flowers including jasmine and rose, the original tea products with their stylish packaging have been in great demand since they hit the shelves in 2021.

To grasp first-hand information on younger generations' preferences, many brands are cooperating with third-party marketing agencies and e-commerce platforms. Wufangzhai, a food brand that originated in Zhejiang Province, worked with e-commerce giant JD.com to gain insight into the consumption behavior of Gen Z customers, while prestigious Beijing-based food brands Quanjude and Donglaishun are partnering with Meituan, a leading booking and delivery platform, to elevate their online promotion strategies.

"Faced with the looming challenge posed by the digital economy and the shifting behavior of consumers, many time-honored brands have been making headway, updating their products and upholding their quality of service both online and offline," Li Zhengbo, chief analyst at China International Electronic Commerce Center said. "And it is important that they grasp the opportunity of this high-quality development period to complete their transformation from old brands run by conservative teams into modern enterprises with mature running models. Otherwise, they will be deserted by time."

(Print edition title: Fashionable Traditions)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

Comments to zhangyage@cicgamericas.com 

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