Did you grab the ice pier and melt the snow? At 12:00 on March 21, the official flagship store of the online Olympic began to pre-sell ice piers and snow melting, attracting many netizens to place orders. "After the Winter Olympics, it was still 'difficult to find a pier', I couldn't grab it online, and I queued up in the store for more than an hour to buy it." Hu Rui, born in 1995, is a national tide fan of Generation Z (referring to the crowd born between 1995 and 2009), and he naturally does not miss the "new top stream" such as ice piers and snow rongrong.
"The Winter Olympics mascot is selling well because it's very 'Chinese.'" In the view of Wang Xin, deputy dean of the School of Advertising of the Communication University of China, the ice pier and snow rongrong rushed to the top of the national tide, and in recent years, the Forbidden City cultural creation, national style makeup and other national tide products, reflecting the cultural self-confidence and national identity of a new generation of consumers. "The rise of national tide consumption is also a manifestation of the rise of Chinese cultural self-confidence." Wang Xin said.
According to the "2020 China Consumer Brand Development Report" released by Alibaba Research Institute, the online market share of Chinese local brands has reached 72%. At the same time, according to the "Baidu 2021 National Tide Pride Search Big Data" report, the attention of the national tide has increased by 528% in the past 10 years. Domestic goods are just "tide", and national tide consumption has increasingly become an important choice for a new generation of consumers.
What is the national tide
Oriental relief craftsmanship is integrated into makeup products, Dunhuang mural elements appear on sneakers as prints, and great white rabbit milk candy develops trendy perfumes... These elements, which were difficult to catch up with modern fashion in the past, have now appeared in various consumption scenarios and become a new trend.
"Leading this new consumption trend is the national tide force." In the view of Gao Baohua, a researcher at the Institute of Service Trade of the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, the national tide is a trend that takes the state-owned brand as the carrier, takes the excellent quality as the connotation, and is supported by modern information technology, which can not only meet the personality of young consumers and the pursuit of fashion, but also contribute to the return of traditional culture.
In the view of Liu Liming, an associate researcher at the School of Communication and Design of Sun Yat-sen University, the national tide is not only a consumer trend, but also a value, life concept and lifestyle. The rise of the national tide is the opportunity for the wide dissemination of traditional Chinese cultural values and Chinese aesthetics. "The national tide has become a popular wave that has swept young people, of course, not only by selling products, it must have led the fashion of life." Liu Liming said, "Some so-called national tide products may change quickly, and a brand will disappear in a short time." But it doesn't matter, because the national tide products are also commodities, and commodities can be replaced. In her view, as part of the cultural identity of young people, once it is generated, it will not easily disappear because some brands are eliminated.
"Guochao is a comprehensive presentation of Chinese products, Chinese brands, Chinese aesthetics, and Chinese culture." Wang Xin concluded. He believes that the national tide is the unification and reproduction of a variety of symbols, including symbols at the level of traditional Chinese cultural identity, such as national symbols of national totem marks; as well as symbols that integrate traditional Chinese culture and modern fashion; and symbols that represent the image of China, such as China, Chinese characters and other symbols that stimulate the collective identity of the Chinese nation. "The ice pier and the snow melt are the emotional counterparts of China's image, and consumers' enthusiasm for buying is so high, it is precisely because they value their rich emotional connotation and symbolic value." Wang Xin said.
Where is the national tide, where is the "tide"
"One side of the red stamp, printed with four very retro traditional characters 'China Li Ning', is too sporty." Hu Rui said that when he studied in France before, he loved to wear Li Ning's national tide sweatshirt, and he felt that "walking on the streets of Paris wearing a sweatshirt with the words 'Chinese Li Ning' is super cool." Generation Z has many young fans of the national tide like Hu Rui. According to the "2021 New First-tier City Z Youth Consumption Trend Report" released by the 21st Century Economic Research Institute, 43% of the post-95s surveyed are more patriotic.
Why are sweatshirts printed with the words "China Li Ning" so fashionable?
"Because the words 'China Li Ning' represent a national identity, a cultural identity, and can be recognized at a glance." Wang Xin analyzed that the new generation of consumers has a strong sense of intergenerational label and intergenerational belonging, and they are eager to establish intergenerational characteristics that are different from those of their fathers and brothers. An important characteristic of the new generation of young people, especially Gen Z, is that they are brave enough to try and accept new things but are difficult to penetrate. "It has a lot to do with reasons like the way we get information today." For example, a short video is swiped away if it doesn't grab the audience's attention in two seconds. Wang Xin further analyzed, "Therefore, from the perspective of the brand, the external manifestation of the connotation is very important, and those national tide products that can be identified at a glance are more likely to 'fire' out of the circle." In Wang Xin's view, the popular design elements of the current national tide meet the needs of young people's connotation manifestation. They are happy to wear the national tide, so that the outside world can immediately identify their identity differences and see their differences at a glance.
"China's national strength is getting stronger and stronger, and its culture is also rising, so this background gives contemporary young people a strong sense of the times, and young people are willing to establish a sense of cultural belonging to this era and highlight the differences between their own groups and other social groups." This is the reason why Wang Xin believes that the rise of the national tide is deeper. "In the past, many young people liked cultural products in Hong Kong, Taiwan or overseas. But today, the national tide culture has brought a different kind of pursuit of goals to contemporary young people than in the past. Together, these factors have contributed to the rise of national tide culture among young people. Wang Xin added.
At the 17th Cultural Fair, exhibitors displayed the three-dimensional book "Datang Chang'an" at the Shaanxi booth. Xinhua News Agency
Guochao brand and consumers influence each other and achieve each other
"The market of the national tide is a market closely related to the cultural symbol, but fundamentally speaking, it is still a market, to follow the basic logic of the market, products should win by quality rather than packaging." Liu Liming reminded that the popularity of the national tide actually puts forward higher requirements for the quality and design of products in the industry. "As a cultural trend, the national tide has a more far-reaching and long-term influence, which will affect the aesthetic orientation and consumer demand of a generation of young people, and will also potentially affect the production direction of a large number of Chinese enterprises." Consumers, enterprises, and national tide brands influence each other and achieve each other. Liu Liming analyzed.
"The rise of the national tide is undoubtedly a very important industrial upgrading opportunity for Chinese enterprises and brands." Wang Xin said, "The domestic products we used to talk about were mainly made in China. Domestic products meet people's material needs and solve the problem of what the people use. "Wang Xin believes that the emergence of the national tide means cultural reconstruction, which not only meets the material needs of the people, but also satisfies the spiritual needs." The use of national tide means new wave and avant-garde, and such a trend culture will inevitably further lead industrial production. Wang Xin sighed. He went on to analyze the changes in the relationship between consumers and businesses as a result of the rise of the national tide. "With the trend of the national tide, consumers and brands can form a spiritual connection or emotional link, which is a more intimate new type of consumer relationship." Wang Xin believes that this is a favorable promotion of consumers to the industry and the entire brand ecology.
Convey Chinese charm in more forms of expression
Has the rapid development of the Guochao brand had an impact on the sales of foreign luxury brands in China? Speaking of this, Hu Rui said: "We should not compare the differences between the two, because we cannot use the rules and evaluation systems of foreign luxury brands to measure our national tide brands. Gao Baohua also believes: "We must build our own brand with world influence, we must have our own voice and pricing power in the field of fashion, and then better highlight the charm of Chinese culture." ”
Xibaipo Cultural and Creative Museum in Beizhuang Village, Xibaipo Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province, the staff displayed characteristic cultural and creative products. Xinhua News Agency
So, what is the future path of the national tide brand? "Strictly control quality, increase innovation, and increase the degree of digital empowerment." Gao Baohua explained, "Digital empowerment of national tide products is the trend of the times. Digital empowerment should be reflected in all aspects of the supply chain and upstream and downstream industry chains such as product production, supply and marketing, such as the sales form of e-commerce live broadcasting of national tide products. ”
In Wang Xin's view, the development of the national tide in recent years has made a good start in the upgrading of commercial culture and the creation of a social and cultural atmosphere, but there are also some inevitable problems. "For example, the national tide design elements are superficial, pan-entertainment, symbol hollowing, etc." Wang Xin analyzed, "In the context of the national tide, we must maintain a high degree of rationality, not only to see the cultural identity, national feelings reflected in it, as well as the benefits brought to the development of the entire culture, but also to ignore some of the cultural hidden dangers wrapped in it." ”
How to make good use of the cultural symbols of the national tide, and where is the next development direction of the national tide? "It is necessary to carry out clustered, large-scale, and serialized development in a planned manner." Wang Xin believes that at present, the cultural images and symbols in the national tide culture are still relatively scattered, and its development also presents a state of scattered points and multiple occurrences, and there are still relatively few systematic and large-scale developments around a certain cultural element. "The development after the national tide requires a better top-level design, not just a bottom-up, spontaneous trend." Wang Xin explained that the development of cultural industries has a common development trajectory in all countries, that is, from spontaneous gathering to the normative guidance of effective government planning and top-level design. The effective intervention and standardized guidance of the government is an important promoting factor in the development of trend culture. "Now the development of the national tide has reached a historical opportunity to achieve better development through top-level design." This will enable the national tide cultural industry to achieve further upgrading. Wang Xin said that at present, most of the design elements and cultural images floating on the surface in the national tide culture, and the core of Chinese elements can be further excavated.
In addition, the creation of an immersive cultural atmosphere is currently a weak link in the national tide culture. Wang Xin proposed that at present, there is still little immersive space to create the national tide culture, and consumers rarely have the experience of directly placing the national tide culture in their own living space, not to mention taking the national tide culture as the carrier, highly engaged and immersed in it.
"We have a lot of panda image IP like 'Ice Pier', there is "Journey to the West" IP, there are various ancient mythological character IP, and there are Huluwa IP that is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people because of the creation of animation, which are all the creative materials of the national tide culture, and also the Chinese elements that can be developed and created in a systematic way." If we develop these elements on a large scale and create an immersive experience space for consumers to immerse themselves in, then these cultural elements can make consumers have a very good dream-making experience. Compared with Disneyland and Universal Studios, Chinese elements and Chinese consumers are certainly more likely to have an emotional connection. It's also a great way to spread culture. Wang Xin provides an idea of creating an immersive national tide cultural space, in his view, at present, for the national tide culture, consumers are more like a spectator-style browsing attitude, the next step should be through the top-level design, so that consumers are really in the cultural atmosphere, to experience, to chase dreams.
"It is true that our thinking about the national tide and the overall construction of the national tide culture still have a long way to go. But the national tide has been integrated into the lives of the masses as a cultural attitude and way of life. In the future, there will be more national tide products to convey Chinese charm in a richer form of expression, highlighting China's image and quality power. For the future of Guochao, Wang Xin is very confident.
This article is written by Zou Xiaojing
Content source: Guangming Daily
Source: 5 East Avenue