Nowadays, more and more Chinese people buy domestic products and return to traditional culture. The "Z generation" has become the main consumer, which is an inevitable result, and the seeds of the rise of the national tide have long been buried in the genes of every Chinese.
Nowadays, more and more Chinese people buy domestic products and return to traditional culture. / China Li Ning
Behind the unstoppable trend, it is inseparable from countless Chinese who stand up to the identity of platforms, brands, designers, scientists, etc., from fashion consumption to big country heavy equipment, the real national tide pusher is every Chinese.
The rise of the national tide did not happen overnight
Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of Ai Media Consulting, believes that the rise of the national tide has its specific foundation.
After the founding of New China, especially since the reform and opening up, our country has developed rapidly, and the various family foundations accumulated by the entire nation, whether it is economic and technological reserves or national cohesion, have formed a huge and rich basic strength. Judging from the export data, in the past 20 years, "made in China" has spread to almost every corner of the world, which is the recognition of the people of the world for the full-service ability of Chinese products, and also makes Chinese more confident in their own country's products. Today, a new generation of young people is in a stable society, they naturally have a strong sense of pride and identification with the country and the nation, and this group has quietly become the main force of consumption.
Zhang Yi also said that the rise of the national tide is not an instantaneous action, but a long-term, gradual evolution process.
Judging from the export data, in the past 20 years, "made in China" has spread to almost every corner of the world. /Figure unsplash
In the past, we were admiring the foreign country, studying and working abroad, and the loss of cutting-edge talents was serious; even if it was a snack, we had to choose products from Australia, Canada and other countries, "the more foreign the more expensive", to meet the sense of showing off. Nowadays, the previously sought after Apple and Samsung mobile phones on 5G are no longer popular, and more and more people choose huawei brands.
The significance of the rise of the national tide for the whole country is far from only reflected in the "localization" of consumer goods, industrial products and culture, but also in the influx of technology, capital and talents from all over the world into China after the country becomes rich and strong, which is a very positive and obvious signal for accelerating the modernization of the country and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Zhang Yi believes that more importantly, the younger generation has expressed their love for this country and pride in the Chinese nation. Entities such as industry, technology, and talent can also be introduced or purchased; but this love and pride of the young group cannot be exchanged for money. This sense of belonging forms a strong support force for enterprises around product research and development, production, and sales and service.
At present, the national tide brand is still facing the situation of double impact of domestic and foreign brands, and it is still necessary to constantly find the next point of strength.
The national tide brand is still facing the situation of double impact of domestic and foreign brands, and it is still necessary to constantly look for the next point of strength. /Figure unsplash
Zhang Yi said that first of all, the first point of strength is innovation. Products without culture, design, marketing model and service innovation, it is impossible to succeed; secondly, whether in the face of domestic competition or international competition, quality is the foundation, if there is no excellent quality, the trend as a gimmick, is still empty. Of course, it is also important for companies to convey the right values. An enterprise that transmits positive values has a full sense of social value and responsibility, and this will definitely empower the product positively.
New e-commerce, leading the "national tide" new wave
The rise of the national tide is a manifestation of the self-confidence of the "Z generation" culture. As a bridge connecting consumers at one end and connecting brands at the other end, Dewu App is becoming the first choice for a new generation of young people to shop online, and driven by it, more and more national tide brands are taking the train of rapid development.
The person in charge of the Dewu app said that the national tide is a hot economic and cultural phenomenon in the consumer market of young people.
Get things app
The person in charge believes that the direction of the national tide coincides with the direction of the Dewu App. The national tide symbolizes the trend of the new era, reflects people's personalized pursuit, and the organic integration of tradition and modernity; and the Dewu App gathers the young people who understand the trend the most, which is the vane of Chinese trend culture. In the Dewu app community, a large number of users share and discuss the topic of national tide every day, and express the national tide culture in the form of pictures, videos, live broadcasts, etc., and young people understand, identify with and love the national tide in communication and interaction.
The data shows that in the Dewu App, the national tide brand consumers accounted for 87% of the post-90s; the national tide covers shoes, clothing, bags, beauty, accessories, watches, digital, art and other categories, becoming a way of life for young people; in addition, "my favorite national tide single products", "national tide wear" and "light of domestic goods" are the daily concerns of the users of the National Tide app, and it is also a hot topic to share. The consumer demand of the younger generation is changing – there is full trust and love for the national tide, and the yearning for the good is transformed into a love of quality and the pursuit of diversification.
Based on the insight into the consumption of young people, dewu app is also seeking a win-win situation between consumers and brands, and promoting the national tide by boosting brands and culture.
From the perspective of consumers, dewu app first insists on using scientific and technological innovation to create a new online shopping experience. For example, the ar try-on function, the Dewu app currently has the world's largest footwear AR model library, for user experience fun "cloud try-on". Just hold the phone to your foot, click on the style of sneaker you like, and you can "wear" the shoe to your foot. Due to the "pixel-level" restoration of fit and authenticity, this function can help more than 30% of users make consumption decisions every day.
The second is to meet the new demand for quality consumption of young people. Through strict selection of products and innovative services of "first identification, then delivery", the App strives to promote the supply of high quality from the consumer side, and "quality" has become the keyword of young consumers and domestic and foreign brands.
Not only that, but an important way to help good brands is to make new product debuts.
In 2020, users' consumer orders for Guochao goods increased by more than 10 times, of which the number of new products sold by Guochao brands increased by nearly 8 times throughout the year. Based on the diversified needs of young users, Dewu App increases the supply of diversified new products, leverages users' attention and love for the brand with the first new products, and promotes the innovation of the new forces of the national tide and the old brand through the first new products, so that it can attract more users and the attention of the upstream and downstream of the industry in a more influential way in the industry, forming a higher level of dynamic balance between demand traction supply and supply to create demand. In addition, Dewu App has built an incubation platform for Guochao brand parties and excellent designers to choose each other, helping Guochao cultural and creative enterprises to enhance their ability in original content production, design and business model innovation. From the design, production, circulation and consumption of all aspects, the app helps the national tide brand with production and design ability to become bigger and stronger, go international, and add young impetus to China's manufacturing.
On May 14, 2021, the scene of the "National Tide Day". /Courtesy of the interviewee
The person in charge said: "The rise of the national tide, for enterprises and brands, is the best opportunity to achieve brand value-added, in this round of process, high-quality national tide brand will precipitate." For the industry, the rise of the national tide will inspire everyone to develop towards a longer-term goal, pay attention to innovation, pay attention to design, pay attention to scientific research, and polish each product with long-termism, so as to promote the new potential of consumption that can develop more long-term. This is also a manifestation of the shift from Made in China to Created in China. ”
"National tide" toys, the way of exporting foreign cultures
Whether we are young or adults, toys have always been our closest "companions".
The "super-activated" series of products produced by 52toys. /Courtesy of the interviewee
As a toy enterprise, 52toys has grown into a leading enterprise in the field of collecting toys from its inception to the present, and has never given up exploring "how to transform from 'Made in China' to 'Created in China'", while continuously producing creative and interesting collectible toys, they have been thinking about "how to express Chinese culture through collecting toys, inherit and export this culture to the outside world".
As the co-founder of 52toys and the founder of the "Three Kingdoms Killing" board game, Huang Jin said that the reason why we are familiar with Disney, Bandai and other companies can endure is that their products have IP blessings. What lies behind ip is actually the culture and values of their respective countries. Therefore, in order to promote the national tide to the world, based on Chinese culture, it is very important to create its own IP.
Huang Jin believes that guochao is not just a random collage or combination of Chinese culture and products, but according to consumer preferences, the appropriate Chinese elements and Chinese symbols are integrated into the products through clever design, and they need to be continuously upgraded to give them continuous vitality. It's a process that tests creativity.
Launched in 2018, 52toys' "Super Activation" series takes "transcending tradition, revitalizing history, and inheriting culture" as the concept, interpreting Chinese culture from a new perspective, and creatively integrating historical culture with modern culture. One of the products, called "Bronze Squad", is a series of works designed by designer Li Bad in the prototype creation competition with the theme of "cultural relics super-activation" cooperated by 52toys and Shaanxi History Museum during 2018-2019. The work is based on the texture and color of bronzes from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and the image uses elements common in traditional Chinese culture such as "Owl", "Gluttony", "Feeding", "Forashi", "Obsi", "Cold Owl", "Fengbird", etc., which not only subtly embodies Chinese culture, but also realizes the fun and playability pursued by contemporary consumers.
In addition, 52toys this year for the Mid-Autumn Festival specially created a product, selected the Chang'e and mooncake elements representing the Mid-Autumn Festival, combined with the product form of the box deformation mecha they developed: when the box is combined, it forms the image of the mooncake; when the box is opened, it becomes the image of Chang'e. This allows consumers to feel creative and interesting in traditional festivals.
Huang Jin said that expressing Chinese culture through the product forms that young people like not only allows young people to understand Chinese culture and generate cultural confidence through toys, but also exports our culture to foreign consumers in the process of selling these products overseas.
For example, many consumers take the initiative to understand the cultural customs of the Tang Dynasty because they love the image of the Tang Dynasty ladies in the "super-activation" series, that is, the series of products provides an entrance for the public to understand Chinese culture and history. Moreover, 52toys has laid offline channels in Japan, the United States and other countries, among which Japanese consumers are very fond of the "super activation" series and the "box deformation mecha" series. In the process of creation, they deliberately combine Chinese culture with contemporary trend culture, and overseas consumers can learn about Chinese culture through them.
Tourists experience the ancient atmosphere at Hengdian Film and TV City. / Ah Can
Huang Jin added: "Only by pushing the national tide forward can we truly influence the thinking of global consumers, so that they can identify with 'Chinese culture' on the basis of 'Created in China', so as to achieve our cultural output and help the sustainable development of domestic brands." ”
Zhang Yi said that after a series of evolutions, today's national tide is a product of collective honor or a cultural and national self-confidence. It involves a wide range of elements, food, clothing, housing and transportation to industrial products, and even our aerospace science and technology, all carry the connotation of the national tide.
From daily chemical FMCG, construction machinery, China's high-speed rail, intelligent cars to the "Dongfeng Express" - "Shenzhou" series of rockets, "objectively speaking, China has become the only country in the world with all industrial categories".
Zhang Yi also believes that this wave of national tide is not only China's national tide, but also the cultural tide, national tide and spiritual tide of the Chinese nation, which spread out to the whole world like an ocean wave. From the West to China's independence, every Chinese in this national tide has contributed to it.