According to the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, the "2024 Work Points for Cultivating and Constructing Beijing as an International Consumption Center City" (referred to as the "Work Points") have recently been issued. The content includes seven parts with 31 measures aimed at meeting the people's needs for a better life as the starting point and focus of consumption work. It emphasizes implementing work with the main themes of "new scenes, new brands, new structures, new advantages, new markets, and new environments," with one of the highlights being "promoting the tradition and innovation of time-honored brands."
Revitalizing time-honored brands
Time-honored brands boast a long history and profound cultural heritage. Data shows that Beijing currently has 244 time-honored brands, with the oldest having a history of over 600 years and an average age of around 139 years. Among them, there are 142 brands over a hundred years old, accounting for 58%, spread across various industries including catering, traditional Chinese medicine, commercial retail, and arts and crafts.
The "Work Points" emphasizes cultivating new local consumer brands, including promoting the tradition and innovation of time-honored brands among four specific tasks. It states that in 2024, it will demonstrate new vitality in national trends, encourage cross-industry collaborations between time-honored brands and various cultural IPs and new consumer brands, develop more products incorporating traditional cultural and national trend elements, encourage time-honored brands to expand new channels through methods such as live-streaming shopping and e-commerce broadcasts, and encourage Beijing time-honored enterprises to establish time-honored museums and brand pavilions integrating display, experience, and sales.
Refreshing "Beijing Flavor" in the year of the dragon
In the catering industry, whether it's Quanjude or Beibingyang, they have not only frequently participated in various online marketing activities but also opened younger stores and experience points in key commercial areas and trendy locations, "with both attraction and substance."
During the just-passed Spring Festival holiday, the streets were filled with encounters with various time-honored brands.
Inside the Temple of Heaven, Sanyuan launched the "Praying for Blessings and Fortune in the Year of the Dragon" themed event, attracting consumers to experience the Chinese New Year festivities. Many parent-child groups and tourists took photos at the scene. Meanwhile, they launched many products combining with the elements of the Year of the Dragon during the holiday, stimulating Spring Festival consumption and enhancing the festive atmosphere through temple fairs and other channels and forms. Additionally, Sanyuan collaborated with the Temple of Heaven to launch the theme event "Authentic Chinese New Year, Praying for Blessings and Fortune," which started both online and offline simultaneously.
Similarly, in the field of arts and crafts, Beijing Gongmei Group, as a representative of time-honored brands, also brought more diversified experiences to consumers during this Spring Festival through continuous innovation and breakthroughs. Not only did Gongmei Group launch popular products such as zodiac gold, dragon brand, and dragon pendants, but also, by combining with materials like cloisonné and white jade, and incorporating more novel elements in design forms, such as hollow window lattice and distant mountains, they made the gold products more dynamic and refined.
It is worth noting that Gongmei Group also established a new intangible cultural heritage consumer brand "Yuxun", mainly targeting the younger generation. Through cooperation with the "Hello, Artists" art co-creation program, they launched the cute and playful "Dragon Baby" IP, attracting the attention and love of many young people. The success of this brand not only allows Gongmei Group to seize the opportunity of traffic and "go viral" in innovation and cooperation but also serves as a microcosm of the collective revitalization of time-honored brands.
On February 8th, Beijing Youli's new store debuted on the east side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, bringing together over ten time-honored brand and Beijing urban cultural and creative products, featuring nearly a hundred new national trend characteristic gifts, offering national tourists the most authentic Beijing style gifts, with the most authentic Beijing flavor, and the most Chinese "gifts" hospitality.
It is learned that as a city-level souvenir platform in Beijing, Beijing Youli continues to play "new tricks" in the process of "upholding tradition and innovation" of time-honored brands, striving to become a Beijing city IP.
Supporting the development of international consumption center cities
During the Spring Festival, time-honored brands launched hundreds of New Year products, themed around the New Year atmosphere, reflecting both folk customs and fashion elements.
On February 1st, the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments announced the third batch of Chinese time-honored brand list, with a total of 382 brands selected. Among them, all 22 enterprises in Beijing on the list became new Chinese time-honored brands. According to data released by the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, before this, Beijing had 112 Chinese time-honored brands and 238 Beijing time-honored brands. After the inclusion of new members, the total number of Chinese time-honored brands with "Beijing flavor" reached 134, ranking second in the country.
"In the current era where national trends are the new trend, the cross-industry collaboration of time-honored brands with historical resources, cultural IPs, and new consumer brands, combined with traditional festivals, undoubtedly further unleashes the consumption potential of festivals and captures new consumer demands," said industry insiders. In the future, with efforts from multiple parties, time-honored brands will present a newer look and richer products to meet the people's needs for a better life, becoming an important support and highlight of the development of international consumption center cities.
Translator: ZHANG Bo
Reviewer: JIANG Wenyi
