What does the China brand mean?
by Phyllis Yip on Nov 24, 2010
To be honest, I’ve never quite understood what it means to be Chinese although I am 100% Chinese. Now, being back in China after living abroad for most of my life, I’m finally starting to understand a bit more about this country.
China is a proud nation, starting from its people. They are proud of their country, its history and culture and are generally, confident people. They love to talk about themselves and their accomplishments yet they look up to western cultures and see western things as superior. Part of this is shown by the many affluent Chinese decked from head to toe in Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
Yet even as the Chinese boast about their country, China is still a mystery to the outside world and carries much negative connotation. As a nation that is slowly opening its doors to the outside world, its people are gradually absorbing global learnings. It is undergoing a process of understanding what others are doing in order to confirm that what can be done internally can match or even exceed what’s available outside. At the same time, the Chinese are still figuring out what the China brand means – what makes it different from other nations and how they can retain their traditions while meeting international standards.
So what does the China brand mean to me personally? It’s being nimble and adaptive – quickly learning from the best around the world to constantly improve (see Li Xiang’s article on mashup). It’s being open – given the country’s history, I’m surprised by its appreciation towards new ideas and its hunger to learn. It’s not easy for a strong nation to be able to accept that they may not always be the best. And finally, it’s being able to laugh and joke about itself. While developed nations are always conscious about sending the politically correct message that makes them look good, the Chinese acknowledge and laugh about their old-fashioned and unsophisticated taste. It’s not easy to say that you have bad taste.
Everyone has different opinions about the China brand and it will still take time for a unified idea to be fully formulated and understood by the world, but it is undoubtedly an exciting time in China for anyone, especially for us as a branding consultancy that is directly contributing to this process of developing the nation brand. So as a future-looking company, what do we think brand China can represent and how can our work help drive this process forward?