On Friday, January 29^th, 360quan.com hosted their 90后潮流先锋榜 (post-90’s generation pioneering trends list) awards ceremony in Beijing. Actor Li Chen emceed the event featuring stars such as Jade Liu Li Yang and Yico Zeng, who came to receive their award and perform for the cheering crowd of Chinese teenage fans from all over China.

These same cheering teenagers and their peers voted on actresses, actors, artists, bands, brands, musicians, and works of art of various types for their influence and pioneering abilities in their respective industries. In collaboration with Mogo, 1626.com and YOHO!, 360quan.com invited their post-90’s generation members to vote within two categories, one for most ‘pioneering spirit’ and the other for ‘must have’ product or brand.

eno won the award for ‘must have independent brand.’ Among the list of ‘must have’ were: HP (notebook), Samsung (mobile phone), ONLY (women’s apparel), Adidas (sports apparel), New Fei Fei 新飞飞 (Netease’s 3-D online game), YOHO! (e-commerce site), Twice (jewelry accessories) and Mito Xiu Xi 美图秀秀 (image processing software).

Here’s who they voted for pioneering spirit: Jade Liu Li Yang 刘力扬 (singer), Xiao Song Jia 小宋佳 (actress), Lucky Monkey 跳猴乐队(fusion punk band), Shi Yan Fei 施艳飞 (up & coming actress), Chang Si Si 常思思 (up & coming folk singer), Zhang Xiao He 张小盒 (online character), Chen Chen 陈晨 (written work). And here’s who they voted for the pioneering spirits of the post-90’s generation (meaning they were actually born in the 1990’s): Yico Zeng 曾轶可 (singer), Li Chen 李晨(TV host), 杨紫 Yang Zi (pop star), BY2 (Singaporean music duo), Caffiene (band), Ai Shui Shui 艾水水 (TV & Film work).

360quan.com is China’s fastest growing social media network for post-90’s generation youth. With close to 25 million registered users, 360quan.com is devoted to providing an online home for people with similar interests, online clans, and super-connectors. The platform provides all the basics of an SNS, including personal space, blogs, music, videos, photo albums, games and other multimedia services and content. Their users have a distinct urban youth culture; they are the hip-hop artists, the make-up stylists, the snowboarders and the parkour clubs that  are leading China’s youth revolution.

Once again thank you 360quan.com and special thanks to our post-90’s generation fans!

]]> http://enovatechina.com/blog/post-90%e2%80%99s-chinese-youth-vote-eno-as-a-%e2%80%98must-have%e2%80%99-brand/feed/ 1 http://enovatechina.com/blog/chinas-oldest-beer-aims-for-national-dominance/ http://enovatechina.com/blog/chinas-oldest-beer-aims-for-national-dominance/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:40:56 +0000 Matt http://enovatechina.com/blog/?p=1303 When you live in China, you drink a lot of Tsingtao. Many times it’s not on purpose. The beer is just available pretty much everywhere you go. But, yesterday, I stumbled upon this:

Ignore for a second the intrinsic aesthetic value of the image, what about that date at the bottom? 1900! 109 Years of History?

Yup. Harbin beer, a smooth lager, is China’s oldest brew. It beat out Tsingtao by three years! A quick surview of enoVate’s Chinese staff suggests that this tidbit is common knowledge in the Middle Kingdom. Regardless, this beer is worth learning about.

Harbin Brewery was founded in 1900 by Russians in the northeastern city of Harbin to supply beer to Russians working on the Trans-Manchurian Railway Project. Later, a group of Chinese and Czech’s took it over. During WW2, the brewery again reverted back to Russian hands when Soviets took it over. Eventually, in 1950, the brewery was taken over by the Chinese State.

Earlier this decade, after a prolonged battle with SAB Miller, Anheuser-Busch (now ABinBEV) finally bought the company and now controls it outright.

Despite its long history, Harbin beer isn’t, in fact, a major player on the China domestic scene. It is not in the top 10 of beers in China and so doesn’t control even 1.5 percent of the beer market. Even in Shanghai, it can be hard to find a bottle of Harbin.

But ABinBev is looking to change that. The company hopes to reach 187 different markets in the Mainland this year (most outside of the North, it’s traditional power market) and 200 by 2010, up from 157 markets in 2008. The beer is now available in the US and many other markets and, as new reports flowing out of the company affirm, they are looking to make a national Chinese brand to compete with Tsingtao.

Good luck Harbin beer!

• More Trouble for Celebrity Endorsements in China – Wall Steet Journal
• Branding and Celebrity Endorsement – Martin Roll
• Star Power (Luxury Brands and Celebrity Endorsement) – Lab Brand
• All About…Celebrity Endorsement – Brand Republic
• Cool Jay (The Jay Chou Story) – Time Magazine
• Jay Chou Breaks Asian Entertainment Endorsement Fee Record – Zimbio

Feel free to comment on the links or notify us of any other interesting celebrity tidbits from around the web.

One day, as I drank coke, I suddenly thought of 非常可乐(Future cola, a local soft drink brand). Then I was thinking about how they lost their market share in tier one and tier two cities. Originally, these markets were saturated with Future Cola advertisements, a strategy that made many of us believe that a local brand might finally able to stand out in this industry. But what happened?

Another local fast food brand “德克士” (Dicos) was about to breakthrough but was soon almost squeezed to death by KFC and McDonald’s. In the end, they were able to win market share only in tier three and tier four cities.

However there are still some Chinese brands like “真功夫”（real kung fu） and “老娘舅” （Lao Niangjiu）that are finding their way to success. These brand wars don’t just occur in the food and soft drink industries. Let’s look at some other brand and their stores in China.

NIKE and ADIDAS, two brands that now combined control at least half of China’s sportswear and trendy shoes markets. Yet they have both expended an immense amount of time and resources to wrest this share.

You can find that colors of their shoes are not the same as what they sell overseas. A lot of Chinese people complain colors and design are different here, but you have to admit that they sell pretty good, the reason is simple , trends at abroad do not comply with Chinese market. Therefore, most of people work for their china design team are locals, I believe this is also happened in other countries.

China, as one of the biggest export bases in the world and its the population and consumption trends provide an always enticing market for all foreign brands. Millions each year are spent on manpower and resources to research the China market and its consumers. In general, China’s mindsets are different than their western counterparts, so much of this research is a good idea. And China is a complex place with huge differences in geographies, wage levels and spending habits. Shanghai is China’s poster child city of wealth and cosmopolitan flair so many brands enter the market first there and then move to other locales.

Generation differences are especially difficult to address in China’s market. It’s a hard work for brands to win the hearts of young consumers! Like the Italian brand Diesel. Diesel is a far from a luxury brand abroad, but it quickly became a top brand in Hong Kong and mainland. Actually I really admire the company or agency that helped them improve their brand image. This company helped Diesel appear on the first ten pages of magazines next to brands like LV and Boss and some of the world’s most expensive brands. This work has directly helped elevate the brand’s image. Such tactics may not work for every brand. There are some foreign brands that have failed in china because they went the wrong direction with the brands.

Therefore, in China, the brands will be like an old Chinese saying: 近朱者赤近墨者黑（one takes the color of one’s companions). Trends in foreign countries is like China’s national policy: sustainable development. But in any case they should sit in the right seat .

Yesterday enoVate’s Street Team hit the mall to interview young Chinese about their attitudes on eco friendly products. Check out some local fashion and hear what people are saying:

Humin Shi, a 20 year old from Shanghai, remarked that he really didn’t know much about eco products. Our Street Team brought along an organic cotton T and a regular T for comparison. When Humin felt both he said “wow! I truly think that the organic material is more smooth and comfortable.” Humin said he would certainly pay more for an organic T

These two were happy to learn that there were organic cotton Ts and other eco products on the market. Both said that they would certainly pay more for an organic T, as long as they knew it was truly an organic product that was better for the earth.

We encountered similar reponses. While a few people weren’t too worried about ecofriendly products, most people, after they learned a little more about the eco friendly organic T, said that they would buy the organic one, even if it cost more! As for how much more they would be willing to pay? Answers varied, but most suggested that they would be willing to pay between 20 to 50 RMB more for the shirt!

As eco week comes to close, enoVate will be compiling even more research. Look for more!

Twenty years ago, the first group of chinese outdoor sports people were sewing sleeping bags, using plastic sheets to make tents, and using military bags as their travel equipment.

With the increase in living standards, more and more chinese people are willing to do outdoor sports. Till now, China has about 1000 outdoor sports clubs. According to the statistics of international outdoor sports organizations, there were only 400 Chinese professional outdoor product retailers and 290 outdoor sportswear brands in 2001, but by the end of 2006, there were 2125 Chinese outdoor product stores and more than 1000 outdoor sportswear brands.

Some chinese outdoor product brands become very popular such as Toread(探路者),Snowwolf（雪狼）, One Polar（登极）etc.

Overall, Chinese outdoor sports are more based  around 驴友论坛（online travel communities). One can go to a travel website, join a 圈子（group）, take a DIY approach in planning their trip and share their travel experience. For chinese youth, outdoor sports is not only about conquest, it is a lifestyle.

In this profile enoVate is tracking three key areas of China’s youth: Character (个性, ge xing), Generational Chinese Identity, and Economic Brand Value. We feel these concepts (among others) reveal interesting insights into Chinese youth consumer habits and trends that international and local companies can take advantage of.

May 8th, 2009, Youth Street Profile:

Name: Shen Yang (and friends)

Age: 24

Occupation: Designer

Hometown: Zhejiang

Location: Xinle Road

Character (个性, ge xing).

Shen Yang’s character is largely defined by his apparel, specifically designer brands and skatewear brands such as Vans. He thinks that local brands give him more character, but they do not offer as much value as designer brands. He would like to see more local brands achieve the same quality and character as designer brands.

Shen Yang notes himself as the main influencer to his own character, but also said his parents have a large role in who he really is. He says he is not influenced by any public officials, musicians, or actors.

Generational Chinese Identity.

Shen Yang classifies himself as being from the 80′s generation and largely identifies with designer brands from his generation. He feels his generation has less life pressures and more of an open mind than previous generations. A connection Yang wants to see between brands and his 80′s Chinese identity is to display the new Chinese quality of life and strengths of the Chinese mind.

Economic Brand Value.

Brand value to Shen Yang means strong branding and a strong brand identity with a unique historical background. Shen Yang likes popular streetwear brand Stussy because Shawn Stussy brings his own personal surf / skate culture story to the Stussy brand. Shen Yang also feels designer brands represent value because they show time, effort, and craftsmanship within the product.

(a Joey Dembs production)

However, many Chinese companies are relying on innovative ideas and unique design thinking to make their brands stand out in China and on the world stage. We at enoVate want to examine these brands and acknowledge the innovative steps being taken to improve their brands.

The first company in our innovation series is Li Ning. Li Ning is at an awkward stage in their brand development and positioning. In the Chinese market, where they do 99% of their business, they trail global sportswear giants, Nike and Adidas. Like many famous international brands in China (McDonald’s, Kraft Foods, Amway) Nike and Adidas have established their international image and brand philosophy within the minds of Chinese consumers. This translates well to Chinese consumers of whom many prefer more “global brands” to local Chinese brands.

It is a commonly held perception that Li Ning views Nike as the cooler, more mature older brother in the sportswear scene. Similar logos and slogans play into this view as well. In a BusinessWeek report on Li Ning, Abel Wu, head of Li Ning’s footwear division brings to the table this thought: “We don’t have as strong as brand as Nike and Adidas [so] our thinking is that as a local brand, we need to have an international image.”

But how is Li Ning trying to accomplish this?

Li Ning has turned its sights to the mecca for creative sportswear art and design: Portland, Oregon. Located in a two-story building in Portland’s Pearl District, Li Ning’s creative Portland headquarters are headed by Alan Hardy, a former senior designer at Nike and design director at Converse, Inc (now under the Nike umbrella). By positioning themselves in Portland, Oregon, Li Ning is giving itself access to innovative companies and designers that it might not have found in China.

Li Ning feels that solidifying a global image will help it’s brand in China.  The 2008 Beijing Olympics propelled Li Ning into the global sportswear vernacular. But Li Ning is taking further steps in this direction by partnering with leading global artists to display innovative product and design campaigns. Famous graphic designer KAWS designed a nifty Olympic Track Jacket and another famed graphic designer James Jarvis held a Li Ning sponsored event in Beijing showcasing his distinct designs. Collaborations of this sort mark Li Ning’s entrance into a more fashion conscious “Hypebeast” type market.

Li Ning x KAWS

Li Ning x Jim Jarvis
Li Ning is also embracing local creative Chinese design teams for innovation and product designs. Local graphic design agency Jellymon has recently been working with Li Ning on various graphic design and photography projects displaying hip, new youth targeted products made by Li Ning. Our streetwear and youth lifestyle brand eno is also brainstorming and developing innovative concepts to help Li Ning connect with a fashion forward youth audience. And recently, to celebrate Earth Day, Li Ning teamed up with renowned Hong Kong illustrator and toy designer Tim Tsui and Hong Kong based Milk Magazine to produce large, life-like statues made entirely from wood.

Li Ning x Tim Tsui x Milk Magazine

Li Ning x Jellymon

All of these collaborations display innovative approaches to attracting youth markets to Li Ning. We applaud innovation at enoVate and hope Li Ning continues with their innovative ways.

[a Joey Dembs x enoVate production]