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Despite the stereotypical flamboyant Chinese shoving their way through the world’s luxury brands, China is still very much a pragmatic country.  From urban planning to trade policies, the norm amongst leaders is still to take on a modest, almost cautious, approach. This attitude extends to branding, resulting in even the leading domestic brands appearing ordinary and similar to one another and lacking personality.

Top Chinese brands are already well established and accepted. However, they are facing challenges to remain competitive. Domestically, more and more Chinese, especially the youth, are starting to prefer foreign competitors – choosing Lexus over BYD, Google instead of Baidu, Nike instead of Li-Ning, etc. At the same time, these brands are also aggressively trying to grow globally but face difficulty in differentiating themselves beyond price. Chinese companies know they are losing competitiveness but are often unsure what they are lacking in. Their products offer similar styles and functionalities at lower prices, advertising and communications is typically more aggressive, and overall awareness and reach is higher. If the problem is not in operations, capabilities or resources, maybe the issue is in branding.

China values pragmatism – from a person’s behavior to the way companies operate. In branding, the standard attitude is to choose the safer approach, rather to appear ordinary than standing out. This is contrasted against foreign brands that comprehensively execute their point of difference internally and externally. To be a leading Chinese brand, they believe they need to be a source of national pride and appeal to the entire nation. A lot of restraint is taken to ensure that diverse audiences can accept the brand. As a result, many leading brands end up copying each other and looking the same.

For a country as diverse as China, with distinct dialects and cultures across regions, it is difficult to even define what a nationalistic brand should look and feel like. Intense competition is deterring Chinese brands from taking any risk. But instead of staying the same, possibly the way to stay competitive is actually to introduce different ways of thinking and initiate new trends. The Chinese are receptive – if anything, they’re one of the fastest to adopt new things and ideas – as seen by their obsession for new consumer electronics and widespread use of social media. With a history where everything aims to be equal for all, the new generation of Chinese is longing to express themselves and actually be seen as unique individuals. They are looking to foreign brands because they can help them define their own image through the brand’s personality.

As China continues to challenge traditions in developing the nation, perhaps this is an opportunity for local brands to also open up, shifting away from the pragmatic way of thinking to become more daring and different.