2006: China Culture Brand Report

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Publish Date: 2006-09-25
Features: Glory and Dreams: The 2005 Annual Report on Chinese Cultural Brands The future of marketing is a battle of brands—where brands compete head-to-head. Business leaders and investors recognize that brands are a company’s most valuable asset, and having a market is more important than owning a factory. The only way to own a market is to have a leading brand in the market. —Larry Light, Chairman of the American Brand Value Association The number of well-known brands a country has is a symbol of its economic strength. Well-known brands represent quality, efficiency, competitiveness, and vitality. It is hoped that more well-known brands in China will go global and that more world-class enterprises and world-class brands will be cultivated more rapidly. —Premier Wen Jiabao’s speech during his visit to Qingdao in June 2004
Recognition of Cultural Brands In mainland China, brand (well-known brand) research and practice began in the mid-1990s, with a focus on theoretical exploration and practical application in areas such as brand competition analysis, brand positioning, and brand asset research. 2005 was a landmark year in the history of Chinese brand development. From October 8 to 11, the 5th Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China adopted the "Proposal of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 11th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development," proposing that during the "11th Five-Year Plan" period, "a group of excellent enterprises with independent intellectual property rights and well-known brands, as well as strong international competitiveness, should be formed." This shows that in the face of increasingly fierce market competition and the needs of economic globalization, implementing brand strategies, fully valuing the cultivation and protection of independent brands, and enhancing the core competitiveness of enterprises have become major strategic decisions and arrangements for the country. During the Spring Festival, CCTV’s "Focus Interview" program launched a five-part special series titled "Brand China," marking the beginning of media attention to brands. Academic research on brands has further refined and deepened on its original foundation, with concepts such as "city brand," "national brand," and "cultural brand" becoming annual academic keywords. In particular, "cultural brand" has rapidly become one of the most highly exposed terms, supported by the rapid development of the cultural industry and a series of eye-catching cultural events.
A cultural brand is the result of the branding of the cultural industry. As a type of brand, a cultural brand encompasses brands in related industries such as culture, art, entertainment, leisure, news, publishing, and communication. Cultural brands primarily cover eight main areas, including cultural arts, news and publishing, radio, film, and television, network communication, leisure and entertainment, cultural tourism, exhibition and collection, and sports and fitness, as well as other derivative fields. Based on the universal meaning of brands, cultural brands share the same essence as ordinary commercial brands, possessing all the elements of commercial brands. However, as a cultural brand that supports the cultural industry, it also has its own unique characteristics:
First, its starting point is different from that of ordinary commercial brands. Ordinary commercial brands focus on how to discover and construct the cultural connotations of a brand, while cultural brands must further achieve cultural innovation and integrate innovative culture with original culture to promote the perfect development of cultural products and projects.
Second, cultural brands not only have commercial attributes but also ideological attributes, making their management more challenging. Generally, ideology often lags behind development and carries certain stipulations. When society advances, culture may still operate according to its inherent inertia for a period. How to coordinate the pace of these two aspects during operations, ensuring synchronization with the times and society, and maximizing the satisfaction of consumers’ cultural needs, is a major challenge in the operational management of cultural brands. This is also one of the main reasons why the overall cultural system reform lags behind the economic system reform.
Third, the origin of cultural brands also differs from that of ordinary commercial brands. Ordinary commercial brands often originate from the pursuit of maximum profit, requiring them to provide better services to consumers to build the brand and its culture. Cultural brands, however, can arise through two pathways: one similar to that of ordinary commercial brands, and the other where a cultural concept is first established, then branded, industrialized, and commercialized. The core of this cultural concept may come from cultural activities centered around artistic creation, academic research, and foreign exchanges, where cultural products are created and cultural brands are derived; or from the influence of cultural celebrities, famous schools, renowned institutions, and influential cultural organizations; or from the historical inheritance of national culture, regional culture, and distinctive culture, and so on. Therefore, cultural brands are more rooted in a rich cultural foundation, representing the expression and development of this culture.
Fourth, cultural brands place greater emphasis on creativity, being the product of creation and dreams. They are more focused on personality and individuality, emphasizing emotional investment while sparking more associations and imagination. By leveraging people’s imagination, they create a world that is entirely different from the real one, a dreamlike and fantastical realm. This is why Disney, DreamWorks, and Harry Potter captivate people so deeply, and it is also the guarantee of their ultimate success.
Every brand has an underlying cultural background supporting it, and all brand experiences are inseparable from cultural experiences. Therefore, culture is always placed at the forefront in brand operations. The creation and discovery of a cultural brand are essentially the creative and shaping of cultural connotations, with its core lying in cultural positioning.
In the creation of a cultural brand, there are two pathways:
First, the excavation of existing culture, where cultural brands with profound cultural connotations and foundations are discovered from historical, ethnic, folk, and existing cultural wonders. For example, the Tang Paradise in the Qujiang New District of Xi’an, Shaanxi, is a magnificent "Tang Dynasty cultural spectacle" that excavates Xi’an’s rich historical and cultural heritage of the Tang Dynasty and combines it with modern technologies such as sound, light, and electricity to create a dazzling vision. During the process of excavating existing culture, it is essential not to deviate from the spirit of the cultural background and not to overlook the regional characteristics of the cultural brand. At the same time, it is necessary to carefully distinguish the objects of excavation, grasp their cultural individuality, and creatively develop them based on the connotations of the original culture.
Second, the creation of an entirely new, innovative, and modern cultural brand. Creativity is essential for the success of a cultural brand, as it is a dream rooted in reality. "Blue Cat Cartoons" and "Big Red Ceramics" are typical examples of successful creativity.