Happy year of the 🐶! I grew up and lived in China for over 18 years and have spent the last decade in the U.S. (mostly in the SF Bay Area). It’s fascinating to see the parallels and contrasts in product innovation between the two places (more on that topic in future posts). I’m dedicating this post to sharing with you some of the most unique consumer product trends I’ve noticed on the Chinese market in recent years.
The rise of local brands
A couple decades ago before the Chinese economy opened up in a major way, known brands in China often belonged to state-owned enterprises with government backing and a large workforce. Then came Western brands that attracted the eyeballs and wallets of a rising middle class. Seeing the success of Western brands, local entrepreneurs saw an opportunity. The last few years have seen a rise of local brands with formulas similar to their Western counterparts — storytelling, uniqueness, fun, etc.
For example, MBund is a new jewelry brand with both online and physical presence in Shanghai that designs and makes their own jewelries. They incorporate colors and designs unique to Asian culture, such as peacocks and emerald branches, in intricate high quality pieces. What’s most interesting about the brand is their WeChat feed, which features daily stories of celebrity jewelry pieces, origins of precious stones, jewelry shows, etc. They even have a WeChat TV channel on emeralds, which help them attract a unique local following.
Cultured goods
There has been a surge in crafting high-quality products with Chinese tradition and aesthetics. Chinese manufacturers are slowly transitioning from manufacturing goods based on overseas designs to creating their own designs. Increasingly, Chinese manufacturers are starting to own the whole design to distribution process to capture more economics and mind share.
Take Emperor’s Gown, a nationwide high end traditional Chinese clothing retail store. They have brought back a long lost tradition — wearing an intricate, gold trimmed handmade gown for special occasions — in the wake of a rising upper middle income class that wants something new and different. Plus the embroideries of a dragon, phoenix, peony, etc. are quite amazing! The brand has been quite successful at evangelizing their clothing concepts by featuring celebrities in these $500-$3000 per rental outfits. I expect to see cultural products like this enter the high end market in coming years.
Outrageous marketing
At least by Western standards
This is a new cake website that has gained popularity recently -
You might be thinking “WTF?!” Yep that’s right! Both the cakes and the model are real — frosting that is shaped like a real flower bouquet paired with young male model posing surrounded by sugar flowers. I say this company is really bucking the trend by reversing gender stereotypes… but it surely attracts consumer attention. Not to mention the cakes are quite delicious and beautiful.
Jokes aside, I have been amazed to witness a number of creative products with high quality and very affordable prices pop up in the Chinese market everyday, and I can’t wait to share and dissect more of those trends.
