How to Protect Regional Brands? A Guide to Holding Up the Brand Protection Umbrella

During the National "Two Sessions" in March 2012, the principal official of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, at the delegation's residence, affectionately introduced to media personnel the ins and outs of Xinyang black tea and shared a cup of Xinyang black tea with them - a story that was once widely recounted. In recent years, as people's living standards and quality of life have improved, black tea has made a brilliant debut in our country, a major nation with a long history of tea culture, and is increasingly favored and admired by consumers. Zhejiang's green tea and Fujian's black tea have imperceptibly come to dominate the high-end tea market, even holding pricing power. But "Xinyang Red" from the hometown of the "King of Green Tea," Xinyang Maojian, has somewhat stolen the spotlight - not only rising abruptly in the black tea markets of Zhengzhou, Beijing, Wuhan, and Fuzhou, but even showing signs of "heat" surpassing its own family member, Xinyang Maojian. For thousands of years, Xinyang Maojian, which has built its reputation on green tea, has had very high requirements for picking and processing - generally only spring tea is picked, while summer and autumn tea is basically discarded, with the annual tea utilization rate being less than 60%. Picking summer and autumn tea and processing it into high-quality Xinyang Red not only ended the history of massive tea waste, but also injected new vitality and vigor into the regional public brand of agricultural products.

In recent years, due to the particularity of agricultural production and consumers' special attention to the quality and safety of agricultural products, the numerous enterprise brands, bright as stars, find it hard to leave an imprint in customers' minds, while Northeast wood ear mushrooms, Jilin ginseng, Xinjiang Hami melons, Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs, and others always make people stop in their tracks. Regional public brands with distinctive geographical characteristics have become symbols of quality and credibility for agricultural products. Therefore, the registration of geographical indication products for agricultural products has received attention from major agricultural production areas and recognition from the general public. How to handle the relationship between enterprises' own brands and public brands, while also avoiding "one rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel," has become a very realistic problem and a difficult issue for many local governments. In fact, for agricultural enterprises focused on building brands, this is truly a rare period of development opportunity.

According to my observations, in the current process of exploring the development of regional public brands for agricultural products across various places, three models have roughly emerged: First, the enterprise-led Xinyang Red model. In fact, with the support of local provincial and municipal governments and relevant departments, in the Xinyang tea industry's breakthrough of the development mindset of "revolving around green tea," key tea enterprises have played an indispensable role. It can be said that the government sets the direction and issues policies, while enterprises build brands and create markets. In their interaction with the government and tea farmers, enterprises have opened a new path of brand marketing. Second, the association-led Jiaozhou Chinese Cabbage model. Not all Chinese cabbage produced in Jiaozhou is necessarily called "Jiaozhou Chinese Cabbage." The Jiaozhou Chinese Cabbage Association, supported by the local government and relevant departments including agriculture, industry and commerce, public security, quality inspection, culture, and tourism, is responsible for cultivating and managing this regional brand, implementing a brand management model of "production base certification system and product quality traceability system." Only Chinese cabbage recognized and authorized by the association and produced by authorized farmers and organizations can bear the "Jiaozhou Chinese Cabbage" label; otherwise, it can only be called Jiaozhou " 's " Chinese cabbage, and unauthorized labeling is absolutely not permitted. On the basic orientation, the association's responsible person stated that they still hope large growers, cooperatives, and enterprises can grow as quickly as possible and "take on the leading role" in making the brand resonate. Third, the government-led Luochuan Apple model. In order to develop the apple industry, Luochuan County in Shaanxi Province specially established a deputy-county-level Luochuan Apple Industry Office to coordinate a series of matters including the Luochuan apple industry and brand cultivation - issuing policies, promulgating standards, carrying out coordination, and promoting marketing. In practice, it has also increasingly relied on local and introduced agricultural enterprises. "When enterprises grow up in the market, our work becomes easier" - this is the mindset of the administrators. Therefore, regardless of which approach is taken to develop regional public brands, local governments maintain a positive attitude toward enterprises, hoping that as some agricultural enterprises grow and strengthen, they can hold up a piece of the sky for regional brand development in the tide of marketization.

As the saying goes, it's good to shade under a big tree. Some people also vividly compare the regional public brand image to an umbrella, while enterprises' own brands receive the support and shelter of this umbrella. But we must also clearly realize that, theoretically speaking, if a regional brand is compared to an umbrella, then only one or two people can share this umbrella - it is difficult for many people to hold one umbrella together and stay out of the rain. From a long-term perspective, for a regional brand of agricultural products to achieve lasting success, it must likewise rely on the support of one or a few core enterprises - this is also the path taken by some other countries in the world. Someone described the confusion faced with regional brands this way: it sounds resounding, but up close it's confusing - which one is truly authentic? From this perspective, it can also be said that the current stage is a great opportunity for visionary entrepreneurs to leverage the momentum to build bigger brands.

To share more of the intangible assets of regional public brands, agricultural enterprises with a foundation must start from multiple aspects: First, with the mindset of striving to be the "umbrella" and "standard-bearer" of the regional brand, carefully analyze one's own enterprise positioning and marketing strategy, make necessary adjustments in the allocation of human, material, and financial resources, and formulate a strategic roadmap, implementation plan, and important measures for the enterprise brand based on the regional brand. Second, in accordance with the requirements of being the regional brand's "direct heir" or even "head of the household," improve the quality of agricultural products in a down-to-earth manner, while also working hard on packaging, labeling, and extended services, so that perceived quality, market visibility, and influence match accordingly. Third, strive to endow the brand with one's own product characteristics, transform brand characteristics into standards, and transform standards into the spiritual core of the regional brand, creating an institutional foundation for leading the development of the regional brand. Fourth, consciously organize activities such as regional brand forums, alliances, and associations, to build carriers and platforms for making the brand resonate that gather popularity, consensus, and market.