Photo by Zhou Chunmei
Securities Times reporter Zhou Chunmei Wu Xian
A freshly rolled handmade spring cake inherits the taste that has not changed for decades, a glass of mellow and rich liquor precipitates the charm of more than 100 years of classic wine, and a set of exquisite porcelain condenses the artistic conception of thousands of years of Chinese aesthetics...... At the first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Time-honored Brand (Culture) Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "Time-honored Brand Expo"), the Securities Times reporter saw that each old store used a unique product to show the magic of "enduring and new".
From December 16th to 18th, the time-honored brand expo was held in Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. In the 15,000-square-meter exhibition area, more than 300 companies from various industries such as food and beverage, jewelry and watches, medicine and health, clothing and apparel were unveiled. They all have a common label - "time-honored brand", which not only has a long history, but also has a profound traditional Chinese cultural heritage.
In recent years, the consumption of the new national tide is in the ascendant. As the "originator" of the national trend, time-honored brands have ushered in broad development opportunities, and while adhering to product quality, they continue to innovate in brand building, marketing model, market development, etc., and strive to embrace new consumer trends and trends, which are accelerating to become a strong engine for promoting consumption growth.
Accelerate digital transformation
Create a time-honored brand of science and technology
In the exhibition area of the letter mark of the Eight Horse Tea Industry, a mini smart tea warehouse composed of hundreds of tea cans attracted the audience's attention. The entrance to the tea warehouse shows "temperature 25°C, humidity 55%". "Pu'er tea is fermented tea, and a good storage condition is the key to the more Pu'er tea ages, the more fragrant it becomes. According to the on-site staff, the company has built a Pu'er ecological environment warehouse of tens of thousands of square meters in Anxi, Fujian Province, using an advanced constant temperature and humidity system, which can adjust the temperature and humidity of the tea warehouse 24 hours a day.
In the past, when it came to time-honored brands, many people had difficulty associating them with technology. However, in this expo, the reporter noticed that strengthening scientific and technological innovation has become a routine operation of time-honored enterprises. On the road to high-tech, digital transformation is an important keyword.
The person in charge of Haitian Flavor told reporters that as a leading enterprise in the condiment industry, after several years of digital construction, it has now realized the data opening of sales, R&D, production, logistics, and after-sales, driving the digital and intelligent transformation of the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
Taking the research and development of brewing equipment as an example, in the 90s of the last century, Haitian introduced Japanese tower disc koji-making equipment, but it could not fully adapt to Haitian's brewing process, and the price was very expensive, and the operation was controlled by others everywhere. Therefore, Haitian made up its mind to develop independently, and after three or four years of exploration, the diameter of the disc was 20 meters, mastering the world's most advanced disc koji-making technology, and also driving the development of the brewing industry. The person in charge said.
Digitalization not only empowers production, but also plays an increasingly important role in sales. In the exhibition area of Xinbaotang Xinhui Chenpi, a live broadcast is underway. "Our tangerine peel is naturally dried and naturally aged, with a mellow and sweet taste, which can not only dispel phlegm and relieve cough, but also have the effect of strengthening the spleen and stomach. The reporter saw that the anchor was holding a jar of tangerine peel and introduced the characteristics and efficacy of the product in detail to the camera.
In fact, live streaming has become an effective way for many time-honored brands to increase sales. According to the "2022 Douyin E-commerce Domestic Product Development Annual Report" released by Douyin e-commerce this year, in 2022, the sales volume of Douyin e-commerce domestic brands increased by 110% year-on-year. Among them, the sales volume of time-honored brands increased by 156% year-on-year, and the sales volume of cutting-edge brands increased by 84% year-on-year. By embracing short videos and live e-commerce, time-honored brands have shown new vitality and vitality in the "cloud".
Efforts in marketing and "going global"
Strive for a larger market
"One bite of soy sauce, two mouthfuls of top", in the Haitian exhibition area, the bottles of sauce jars in the refrigerator and the soy sauce ice cream in the shape of the sauce jar are novel and unique, which are particularly eye-catching. The on-site staff told reporters that this summer, Haitian launched soy sauce ice cream flash mobs in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Changsha and Chengdu to interact with young consumers online and offline.
In addition to the ice cream pop-up event, Haitian also launched brand fan festivals such as "Dry Rice Festival" and "True Fragrance Festival" to "capture" the hearts of young consumers. Organic, 0 additives, salt and sugar reduction, fat reduction, nutritional fortification...... Haitian has launched nearly 100 healthy and nutritious products, and has also launched fast cooking products such as self-heating hot pot, self-heating rice, and compound sauces according to the fast and fashionable life needs of young people.
Embracing young people has become a breakthrough for time-honored brands to maintain their vitality. Moutai and Luckin Coffee jointly launched a sauce-flavored latte, Dong'e Ejiao co-branded Nai Xue created Ejiao milk tea, Baiyunshan Pan Gaoshou conformed to the new national trend of medicine and food, and vigorously developed sesame pills, turtle jelly, loquat candy and other light health products, Tong Ren Tang's health coffee combined the three elements of health, coffee and traditional Chinese medicine, and became a hit in social media...... Behind these efforts is the attempt of time-honored brands to lead the new national trend with the help of co-branding and brand innovation.
In addition to catering to the needs of young people, many time-honored brands have begun to seek to "go global". In this regard, Li Fei, President of the General Association of Patriotic Education of Macao and the initiator of the Hengqin and Macao Food Industry Chain Innovation Incubation Base, shared her experience and said that at present, the Hengqin and Macao Food Industry Chain Innovation Incubation Base is committed to leading a new round of healthy consumption concepts and consumption upgrading through functional food, and creating time-honored products with Macao labels and Macao brands under the supervision of Macao. In terms of promotion channels, through e-commerce, special exhibitions, expos, and clubs with non-governmental diplomatic attributes, brands will "go overseas" and compete for a larger market.
Traditional Chinese medicine is also a cluster of time-honored brands. Yan Zhibiao, chairman of Guangdong Luofu Mountain Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd., said that the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine has a long way to go, and health food, health products, and health care services can be taken as a breakthrough to widely participate in international exchanges and gain recognition from foreign consumers step by step, so as to gradually open up the international market.
Talking about the "going to sea" of traditional Chinese medicine, Huang Haiwen, deputy general manager of Baiyunshan, pointed out that Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group has not only established a museum of traditional Chinese medicine in China, but also established a museum of Wanglaoji herbal tea in New York, Tokyo and other places, and plans to establish 56 museums of traditional Chinese medicine around the world to tell Chinese stories and spread Chinese culture. Huang Haiwen said.
With a time-honored brand
Establish a benchmark for regional consumption
Wine from Sichuan, vinegar from Shanxi, tea from Yunnan, medicine from Guangzhou, pen, ink, paper and inkstone from Anhui...... Whenever a place is mentioned, people often think of a representative regional time-honored brand. Zhao Yihe, vice president of Worthbuy Technology, pointed out that the time-honored brand was gradually bred in the local history and business environment, representing the characteristics of local traditional industries and commercial development, and is also an important part and important symbol of local culture, playing an important role in consumption promotion, industrial upgrading, and cultural leadership.
Yang Delong, managing director and chief economist of Qianhai Open Source Fund, told reporters that time-honored enterprises carry a certain historical mission, and should take traditional culture as the core of brand inheritance, and promote consumption growth through innovation and upgrading. Under the current tide of expanding consumption and stabilizing growth, time-honored brands need to take the lead and shoulder heavy responsibilities. According to the data, in 2022, China's time-honored enterprises will achieve operating income of more than 1.2 trillion yuan, and nearly seventy percent of enterprises will achieve profitability. In the first three quarters of this year, the operating income of China's time-honored enterprises has exceeded the level of the whole year of 2022, and the development momentum is good.
Time-honored brands are not only the carrier of cultural inheritance, but also the engine of expanding consumption. Therefore, in recent years, the central government and all localities have attached great importance to the innovation and development of time-honored brands, and a series of policies and measures have been intensively introduced. At the central level, since last year, three policies, including the "Opinions on Promoting the Innovation and Development of Time-honored Brands", "Notice on Strengthening the Linkage between Time-honored Brands and Historical and Cultural Resources to Promote Brand Consumption", and "Administrative Measures for the Demonstration and Creation of Chinese Time-honored Brands", have been issued one after another, bringing benefits and opportunities for the development of time-honored brands.
At the local level, taking Guangdong as an example, the "Action Plan for Promoting the Innovation and Development of Time-honored Brands in Guangdong Province (2022-2025)" issued last year clearly stated that by 2025, a total of 10 time-honored brand agglomeration areas and characteristic areas should be cultivated, and a total of 20 time-honored brand (digital) museums, exhibition halls and experience halls should be cultivated, 50 special exhibition and sales activities of time-honored brands should be organized, and 100 "Guangdong time-honored brand" enterprises will be identified. The reporter learned from the Guangdong Provincial Time-honored Brand High-quality Development Work Conference, a supporting activity of this year's Time-honored Brand Expo, that at present, there are 28 time-honored brands in Guangdong that are more than 100 years old, and 29 time-honored brands with operating income of more than 100 million yuan in 2022.
At this time-honored brand expo, in addition to the pavilions from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the reporter also saw pavilions from Hunan, Anhui, Tianjin, Harbin, Shijiazhuang and other parts of the country. In the Harbin exhibition area, which is dotted with snowflakes, well-known products such as Harbin red sausage, Wuchang rice, and Yuquan wine are displayed in a concentrated manner, which are very popular with the audience. According to the relevant person in charge of the exhibition area, Harbin has vigorously carried out the promotion and marketing channel construction of time-honored brands in recent years, and has cultivated and developed more than 150 time-honored enterprises including Madeir, Lao Dingfeng, and Qiulin Lidaosi.
"Time-honored brands are the symbols and imprints of a city, and they also represent the direction of a city's consumer brands. Vigorously developing time-honored brands can help set a city's consumption benchmark and stimulate consumption momentum. Liu Quanhui, chairman and president of Sinocera Yongfengyuan Group, said. Under the continuous blowing of the national tide, time-honored brands around the country are expected to accelerate their rise, glow with new brilliance, and become a strong growth engine for the consumption track.