China's time-honored brands find their way to rejuvenate

Walking down the street, Wang Xinyang pushed aside a thin layer of sugar paper, and put the rectangular White Rabbit candy into his mouth, enjoying a strong taste of sweet milk. This was 27-year old Wang's daily life when he was in primary school.

Referring to the White Rabbit milk candy, even people who don't like sweets have heard of it. In 1959, White Rabbit milk candy became a gift for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

With the fast development of the market economy, the younger generations have grown up in a continually changing world. New products regularly replaced old ones, but nostalgic treats never really left their heart of hearts. These young adults are now seeking old products and past memories. Time-honored brands utilized "nostalgia" to help bring their products into the 21st century.

In the past, White Rabbit milk candy was just candy, but now, it is the taste of childhood, which symbolizes something that means a lot to the post-70s, post-80s generations, and even the post-90s generation.

(Photo/wenming.cn)

China's time-honored brand, or "Lao Zi Hao" in Chinese, is the typical representative of remarkable national brands and traditional commercial culture, with unique products and excellent skills, passed down from generation to generation. They carry the spirit of Chinese artisans, unique traditional culture, and good memories. China's time-honored brands are just like the nation's "living fossil," carrying distinguished Chinese heritage or cultural traditions.

China's time-honored brands in dilemma

The concept of the time-honored brand was first proposed in the 1990s by China's Ministry of Commerce. According to the China brand development report, compiled by the Ministry of Commerce, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were about 16,000 "time-honored brands." However, in 2006, only 434 of them were afloat, more than 30 times fewer than before.

(Photo/People's Daily Online)

The long history of these brands may be a double-edged sword, bringing both honor and a burden for the future. Many time-honored brands struggled to survive in modern society. Taking Wang Mazi as an example, Wang Mazi Scissors, founded in 1651 with a history of 352 years, was able to sell 700,000 kitchen knives and 400,000 pairs of scissors in a month during its heyday. However, the brand declared bankruptcy at the beginning of 2003, which caused people to think about the future of time-honored brands.

A lot of high quality "time-honored brands" with a good reputation disappeared in the prosperous market economy after surviving for 100 years. The future fortune of these companies became a matter to be considered. How could brands revitalize themselves and woo international customers?

Restoration of glory after bold transformation

Although some time-honored brands still have many old consumers, the younger generations are becoming increasingly important. China's time-honored brands must catch up with the times and find their way back to the frontier of consumer attention by seeking cooperation and innovation. Nielsen's research found that 49 percent of consumers believed domestic products that overstepped their traditional business and developed other sectors were engaging.

Godiva White Rabbit bicolor ice cream (Photo/Zhao Tong)

White Rabbit milk candy gives an impressive example of innovation and cooperation. White Rabbit cooperated with MAXAM and Happy Lemon to launch a creamy flavored lip balm and White Rabbit milk tea separately, which received good responses. Nine hundred and twenty lip balms were sold out only in half a second on Tmall on Sept. 20, 2018, while people queue about four to five hours to get their hands on a White Rabbit milk tea, surpassing many fashionable milk tea shops. What's more, in 2019, White Rabbit cooperated with Godiva to launch two types of ice cream: Godiva White Rabbit ice cream and Godiva White Rabbit bicolor ice cream, which attracted a large number of consumers.

(Screenshot of Tmall website)

"Brand cooperation is win-win, which transfers a competitive relationship into a cooperative relationship. This innovative method can take advantage of the channels of powerful enterprises, which is an excellent approach", said Gong Jiong, vice professor of School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics.

Apart from that, "Warrior" or "Huili" in Chinese, founded in 1927, took advantage of the internet to increase their business. By establishing offline stores, franchised stores and wholesale network, sales of "Warrior" shoes through online shops reached 11 million yuan in 2015. The annual sales volume of "Warrior" shoes reached 58 million pairs.

"Nowadays, China's market structure has undergone great changes. With the unprecedented development of e-commerce, time-honored brands will see a huge impact on their business if they do not take advantage of the online market. Therefore, I am optimistic about the online marketing of time-honored brands," said Ju Jinwen, researcher of the Institute of Economics Chinese Academy of Social Science.

Walking towards the world

Mayinglong, founded in 1582, was a time-honored brand in China. One of its products, Mayinglong Musk Hemorrhoids Ointment Cream, is a common hemorrhoid medicine in China which accidentally went viral. Thousands of comments on Amazon have appraised this time-honored product in the United States.

(Screenshot of Amazon website)

The traditional Chinese medicine can soothe, relieve, and heal painful hemorrhoids and anal fissures. One of the customer reviews said that the person who created this stuff should receive a Nobel Prize.

"The overall quality of Chinese products is improving, so the previous prejudice or traditional understanding of 'Made in China' has changed," said Gong Jiong.

（Li Hao/Global Times）

Another China time-honored brand, Liushen Florida Water, has already been well-received in the overseas market. However, foreigners used Liushen Florida Water differently. Some of them said they thought it was a kind of perfume, as it smelled so good. After they discovered that the water was advertised as a mosquito repellent, they were shocked and loved it even more.

Daring to break through conventions, innovate, and create cross-border cooperation, time-honored brands show us their confidence in adapting to the current consumption market and win the market both home and abroad.

As for the future, Ju believed that time-honored brands cannot rest on their past achievements and must make efforts to improve. China's time-honored brands should be as conscientious and diligent as their predecessors.

"We are optimistic about the overall development of time-honored brands and their influence," added Ju.