Beijing – On January 12, 2025, the “Top 100 Chinese Brand Innovation” Ceremony, namely the 10th Jin’ou Award Presentation Ceremony, was successfully held in the conference hall of the Beijing Agricultural Museum. This grand event brought together brand elites, economic scholars, and industry leaders from both China and around the world to jointly explore the future trend of the brand economy, diagnose and offer suggestions for brand innovation and high-quality development, which was of profound significance.
As an invited guest of this conference, Mr.Hong wen Zhu, the founder of King Bird Strategic Consulting Company, took the stage and gave an important keynote sharing. The theme of his sharing was: In present-day China, great global brands are being incubated.
In his sharing, Mr.Hong wen Zhu emphasized that “globalization” is an inescapable topic for the development of Chinese enterprises. However, what we are discussing today is not trade globalization but brand globalization. Nowadays, the global business is witnessing a historic transformation – the Chinese economy will usher in a historic moment: becoming the dominant force in the global economy.
Meanwhile, Mr.Hong wen Zhu used the “dual-competition pattern” to illustrate that Chinese enterprises are bound to occupy an important position in the global market.
Mr.Hong wen Zhu said: In 2014, Interbrand released the list of the world’s best brands. The top ten brands were Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, General Motors, Samsung, Toyota, McDonald’s, and Mercedes-Benz.
American brands dominated the global market, and the core reason behind this phenomenon was that the United States had overwhelming economic strength. In the business world, there is a competitive law of the “dual pattern”. In the future, the global business will present a “dual-competition” pattern, with “China +” and “America +” competing with each other in the global business competition.
Hong wen Zhu judged that in the future, wherever there are American food and beverage brands, there will definitely be Chinese food and beverage brands; wherever there are American sportswear brands, there will definitely be Chinese sportswear brands; wherever there are American daily chemical products, there will definitely be Chinese daily chemical products… Next, he will elaborate on our views in the following five aspects.
The enhancement of China’s influence is the invisible driving force for Chinese enterprises to build global brands.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Chinese goods were synonymous with low prices. Consumers around the world at that time were crazy about chasing American brands, Japanese brands, German brands, Italian brands, and French brands. An invisible reason was: national influence.
When people looked up to these countries, they were easily attracted to their brands. It can be said that national strength is the driving force behind enterprises building global brands and also an unshakable foundation.
Back to the present. An irrefutable fact is that China has ranked among the top in the world in terms of economy, technology, military, sports, and other aspects. As China becomes stronger, Chinese brands will inevitably become stronger as well.
In fact, where the influence of “China” first reaches, Chinese brands are usually the most recognized. In Southeast Asia and the Middle East, their recognition of China and Chinese brands has reached an unprecedented height.
In a word, the enhancement of China’s comprehensive national strength is the invisible driving force and an indispensable foundation for Chinese enterprises to build global brands.
The strength of Chinese brands has pushed open the “cognitive door” of global consumers.
In the past, the biggest problem for Chinese enterprises in creating global brands was cognitive barriers. There was an inherent prejudice in the cognition of global consumers, that is, Chinese enterprises could not manufacture high-quality goods. Under the shackles of such cognition, it was very difficult for Chinese brands to be accepted by global consumers, and it was extremely difficult to build global brands.
Nowadays, cognition is being reshaped.
Ten years ago, brands like Huawei, Gree, and Haier fought bravely in the global market. They not only built themselves into leading brands in their respective fields but also helped Chinese enterprises push open the “cognitive door” globally and reshape global consumers’ views on Chinese brands. Chinese goods are no longer synonymous with low prices. They have been redefined as high-quality goods with advanced technology.
Once the “cognitive door” is opened, Chinese enterprises’ building of global brands has entered a new stage. On the basis of the reshaped cognition, more and more Chinese brands are being accepted by global consumers. Brands like BYD, DJI, TikTok, Temu, SHEIN, and Anker are already “racing” in the global market.
“High efficiency” is a necessary condition for Chinese enterprises to build global brands.
What has created the powerful Chinese economy?
After the reform and opening up, a large number of overseas enterprises flocked into China. Their arrival not only brought employment but also provided learning opportunities for Chinese enterprises.
Why did these overseas businesses pour into China?
A very important reason is the diligence of the Chinese people. The Chinese people receive one-fifth of the salary but produce three times the results, which is the reason why overseas enterprises moved their factories to China.
In terms of efficiency, Chinese enterprises have an efficiency that overseas enterprises can hardly match.
In July this year, Mr. Hong wen Zhu was invited to conduct in-house training for Ulike Hair Removal Instrument Company. During that period, Mr. Hong wen Zhu discussed the topic of building global brands with the founder of Ulike. Founder Mr. Pan told Mr. Hong wen Zhu: “Ulike became the number one hair removal instrument brand in terms of sales volume in the US market within less than a year after entering it.”
When talking about the competition between Chinese enterprises and overseas enterprises, Mr. Pan said something that Mr. Hong wen Zhu remembered vividly. Mr. Pan told Mr.Hong wen Zhu: When Chinese brands enter the European and American markets, foreigners will have no time to drink coffee.
Italian journalists Raffaele Oriani, Riccardo Staglianò, and others co-wrote a book called “The Chinese Are Not Afraid of Dying”. The book mentioned that the Chinese people kept working and making money, which changed Italy and thus made the locals afraid.
The view in the book is self-evident. In the face of business efficiency, Chinese enterprises are far ahead. Efficiency is competitiveness and also an essential condition for Chinese enterprises to build global brands.
New product categories provide new opportunities for building global brands.
In traditional product categories, Chinese enterprises have been catching up with Western enterprises due to their late start.
In traditional product categories, Western countries started 30 or even 40 years earlier. They have an absolute leading advantage in equipment and technology. China’s first self-produced automobile was born in 1931, 45 years later than Germany. The 45-year technological gap needs hundreds of years to make up.
In the traditional keyboard mobile phone field, Chinese mobile phones hardly had any chance to surpass brands like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, BlackBerry, and Sony Ericsson. There are countless such industries.
In new product categories, Chinese enterprises started almost at the same time as American enterprises and were on a par with them in terms of technology. In the smartphone category, the world’s leading smartphone brand, the iPhone, was born in 2007. One year later, Meizu released China’s first smartphone, the M8, with a difference of one year. Today, among the top ten global smartphone brands, Chinese brands account for eight seats.
In the new energy vehicle category, Tesla’s first passenger vehicle was born in 2008. In the same year, BYD also launched its first new energy vehicle model – the F3DM. It can be predicted that in the future global new energy vehicle brands, Chinese brands will occupy at least eight seats.
In today’s era of major technological iterations, as long as it is a new product category born based on new technologies, Chinese enterprises are all at the forefront of the world and have become the ones being chased. It is natural for Chinese brands to be in the first echelon globally.
Complete facilities provide a channel for building global brands.
Procter & Gamble’s daily chemical products from the United States, Danone’s food and beverages from France, and Unilever’s daily chemical products from the UK had a very convenient condition when entering the Chinese market: channels.
In the 1990s, large supermarkets were still rare in China. At that time, large supermarkets such as Walmart from the United States, Carrefour from France, and Tesco from the UK were introduced into China. Western goods took advantage of the convenience in channels and entered the Chinese market one after another.
In the past, Chinese goods had a huge problem in overseas sales – the lack of channels. The past difficulties have been solved now. In the global market, TikTok and Temu have opened up sales channels and promotion channels.
With channels and promotion platforms, Chinese beverages, Chinese milk powder, Chinese daily chemical products, Chinese grain and oil, Chinese clothing, and Chinese food and beverage will compete with American brands on the world stage.
In the next decade, the global business history will witness a major transformation. The core of this transformation is that the Chinese economy will return to the center of the world. For Chinese enterprises that are committed to building global brands, they should fully take advantage of the window period of Chinese enterprise brand globalization, accelerate their pace, and make arrangements as early as possible.
Mr.Hong wen Zhu firmly believes that in present-day China, great global brands are being incubated. In the next ten years, there will definitely be more Chinese brands ranking among the top in the world.
About King Bird
King Bird: The Best New and Promising Strategic Consulting Company in China
King Bird Strategic Consulting was founded in Shanghai, China. As a new and promising strategic consulting company in China, King Bird has been rated as “The Best New and Promising Strategic Consulting Company in China” by the China Planning Association, relying on its original “category innovation” methodology and remarkable achievements.
Since its establishment, King Bird has provided strategic consulting services for many Chinese enterprises, won high praise from clients, and has become a leader among the new generation of strategic consulting companies in China!
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