Country
中国(China)
Official website
https://www.designbridge.com/
Company Introduction
Design Bridge is a global design agency with 5 Studios around the world. Founded in 1986 in London, UK, Design Bridge has organically grown Studios in Amsterdam, Singapore, New York and Shanghai, and there are now over 400 people working collaboratively around the world. Experts at building emotional connections with consumers through exceptionally crafted, powerful design, Design Bridge works with some of the most iconic brands in the world, as well as some of the smallest and newest (and most exciting) start-ups. Design Bridge has won numerous international creative awards including Pentawards, Mobius, New York Festivals, Design Week Awards, D&AD and DBA Design Effectiveness for a broad range of clients that includes Unilever, Diageo, Mastercard, Colgate-Palmolive, Reckitt and Mondelēz. You’ll often find us speaking at industry events and on creative awards judging panels, and we're involved in a series of programmes and initiatives that support the future generation of talent, including running our own annual student awards competition.
Images
Brand Name
Guanghe
Designer Name
Wen-Xi Chen, Alex Lu
Position of Designer
Creative Director, Senior Designer
Target Group
Post-80s consumers in first and second tier cities
Major sales
电商 E-commerce; 小型商超和便利店 Supermarket & CVS; 杂货店 Grocery
Positioning
限量款/联名款 Limited Edition/IP Collaboration
Design Story
THE CHALLENGE: Guanghe is a beloved heritage brand in China that has been in existence since the Qing Dynasty. Its single minded focus for the past 100 years on producing just one product - fermented beancurd - has won it admirers, but also limits the brand. As part of a wider re-positioning campaign to allow brand stretch into the condiments category, the brand asked Design Bridge how such an old heritage brand can emotionally resonate with a younger audience? THE SOLUTION: A TASTE OF CHILDHOOD MEMORY The familiar residential lanes of old Chinese cities are quickly disappearing. In place of what were once bustling community centres lie piles of brick and rubble, demolished in the name of progress. For the post-80s and post 90s generation, it is becoming harder and harder to hold on to the past in modern China. With change comes an aching nostalgia for the simplicity of childhood. Guanghe’s brand proposition is hinged on this nostalgia - promising a taste of childhood… a taste that will bring memories flooding back of a simpler time. Inspired by influential Chinese painter Feng Zikai who often painted scenes of childhood, we created a collection of limited edition packaging that invite people to take a stroll down memory lane. The launch campaign was successfully met with heartfelt enthusiasm on social media and helped to reintroduce an age old brand to a new audience.
Highlights
This is a story of how a brand hurtling to extinction re-invented itself with design and handcrafted care. Guanghe fermented bean curd, an ageing brand in a dying category that targets aging consumers, needed to re-ignite growth by appealing to a post 80’s millennial generation. It achieved this by reframing its stifling heritage, turning it into a window of re-association with childhood memories, with a limited-edition retail pack designed with details that triggered consumers’ childhood memories, as part of a campaign that generated high engagement and a post-campaign spike in sales.
Market Performance
Immediately after launch, Guanghe recorded a 40.4% spike in sales in January 2021 vs the same period the year before. This sales result was achieved despite maintaining our prices while competitors were heavily discounting, a positive signal for the brand’s road to premiumisation. Most significantly, qualitative analysis of the social responses showed a higher positive engagement with the brand: - responses indicating love for the brand increased nearly 3x vs. the launch campaign. - responses reminiscing about childhood memory was more than doubled - responses indicating willingness to try increased more than 10x
Material
纸质 Paper
Craft
The limited edition box is made with sustainable paper materials.
Does the design solve the problems that are common across the product category?
The design was able to solve the problem of low engagement amongst younger consumers for the entire fermented bean curd category. The idea of reliving their childhood through a piece of Guanghe resonated strongly with consumers, with an average 98% registration rate for the offline activation related to the launch of the limited edition box in Shanghai, mostly post-80s.
What functional designs of the work have enhanced the user experience?
The consumers are able to enjoy the opening experience, as well as play with the additional pieces of furnishings and popup characters that come with the limited edition box.
Did the design help increase the sales performance of the product?
Immediately after launch, Guanghe recorded a 40.4% spike in sales in January 2021 vs the same period the year before. This sales result was achieved despite maintaining our prices while competitors were heavily discounting, a positive signal for the brand’s road to premiumisation.
Does the work consider sustainability (environmentally or commercially, or both)?
The packaging is made from sustainable paper card materials.