China is home to some brand names which fell out of favour in the 1990s as consumers coveted international brands. However, some of the local brands are experiencing a revival thanks to the retro-cool movement.
One particular brand making a comeback is Forever Bicycle.
With China being home to the world's largest population of bicycles, Forever bicycle was once the dominant bicycle brand, especially in Shanghai.
Forever bicycle was every man's bike, as it was robust, reliable and cheap.
Chen Shan, CEO of CN Forever Bicycle, said: "The brand "Forever" is special to Chinese people. There's deep emotional ties especially for the older generation because "Forever" occupied an important place in their memory. "Forever" is one of the "old four items" in Chinese daily life. At that time, when people got married, buying a "Forever" bicycle was a must because it represents forever, eternity."
Forever bicycles used to be every Chinese man's means of transportation back in the 1940s but it fell out of favour in the 1990s when other foreign bicycle brands made their entry into the large Chinese market.
Decades later, Forever is now Forever C - for chic - in design and image - to appeal to a new and younger crowd.
"This year is the 70th anniversary of Forever Company. Celebrating the anniversary themed activity, the company promoted a new series of products named "Forever C." The drive is to revive the brand's image back to it's glorious days by redesigning several classic bicycles which will impress the Chinese," said Mr Chen.
And this is not the only so-called obscure Chinese brand that is making a big comeback.
Feiyue canvas sneakers used to be de rigueur here. Modelled after the 1950s military footwear, they were almost forgotten by the chinese public until they found their way to Europe.
"It's a popular brand in Europe. But here it's very old Shanghinese brand, where a long time ago, a lot of local Chinese people [were] wearing it, even [when] going to work or sports. But it's becoming very popular in Europe and West and the price is very fantastic, also the quality. It's so comfortable and actually a very very good trainer," said a fan of the shoes.
As a result of international attention, a small store in downtown Shanghai has seen a sales boom over the past year - with attention to other local brands becoming cool as well.
Jerry Tian, the owner of Culture Matters, said: "They are seizing the opportunity with the latest trend in fashion's cycle by making efforts in innovation - which we appreciate. Those Chinese brands are brainstorming and trying to improve and upgrade. It's very good."
However analysts warn that if there are no new designs or innovation on these old brands, their revival can easily become a passing fad.
"I think it's hard for the manufactory people to invest and re-brand at the first stage because you can see that in Chinese economy, especially for the industry of manufactory. A lot of people are still concentrating on labour intensive, they want to do branding, but they don't really master the process, they don't really know how to do it," said Pierre Xiao Lu, Assistant Professor of Marketing of Fudan University.
"It's a huge investment in terms of finance, in terms of energy, in terms of staff, so comparing to do something they know, they prefer not to too much focus on branding they don't really familiar with," he added.
In the meantime, these obscure Chinese brands can cash in on the retro revival.
No comments:
Post a Comment