Bosideng rebranding could just be the Chinese dream in action

Moving on to the termination of contracts with UK buyers and designers, press coverage paints an even more misleading picture. Cost considerations, still so typical of far too many Chinese companies' cultures, appear to be the most common interpretation of this decision. However, what could and should be taking place is a major branding rethink, a fundamental rebranding process that places Chinese culture and associations right at the heart of the Bosideng luxury clothing brand.

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All too few Chinese companies appreciate the enormous benefits in emotional brand image that could be achieved with a careful combination of associations with Chinese culture, especially ancient China's rich historical heritage. China boasts an incredibly envious reputation for the artistic avant-garde, such as silk-weaving and calligraphy, valued so highly by consumers of luxury brands around the world.

At this point it is important to mention the Chinese Dream, a vision of cultural values and personal qualities set out by China's new, comparatively young, forward-looking, progressive President, Xi Jinping.

Despite some success with international expansion, as in Lenovo Group Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Chinese companies remain reserved and lack the necessary confidence and ambition to carve out a suitable, emotional niche in both domestic and international markets.

Bosideng's strategic brand rethink appears to be the first example, hopefully of many more to come, of a Chinese company heeding President Xi's Chinese Dream. Far from lacking in lucidity, Bosideng's commitment to a more "Chinese" luxury clothing brand represents a new-found belief, ambition as well as creativity that could lead to bold branding initiatives by more and more Chinese companies. Initiatives that place a brand image based on "Chinese culture and history" should be the center of any brand building process.

The Chinese Dream may be just about to begin for the Bosideng brand.

The author is a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a senior lecturer on marketing at Southampton Solent University's School of Business. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.