为了利用人们对中国共产主义和殖民时代的怀旧幽情，中国两家国有企业重新推出了老品牌——包括毛泽东的著名的“红旗”高级轿车——以挑战外国品牌在本国奢侈品市场上占据的主导地位。
中国一汽(FAW)近日宣布，将斥资17.9亿元人民币（合2.633亿美元），再造红旗品牌。红旗这个品牌与产生它的意识形态一起，大体上已被弃用。中国一汽这个名称令人忆起往日的岁月。
这些资金将用于建造一座年产3万辆汽车的生产设施，一汽希望借这款豪华车型提升利润和知名度。
中国最大的化妆品品牌上海家化(Shanghai Jahwa)也复活了著名的老品牌“双妹”。“双妹”这个商标令人想起了上世纪30年代被誉为“东方巴黎”的上海。该品牌已经被重新命名为“Shanghai VIVE”，并在上海外滩新近重新开业的、具有装饰艺术风格的和平饭店(Peace Hotel)销售。
“双妹”的包装和广告令人想起旧上海所有颓靡的画面。从单价220元人民币的“上海光荣”牌香皂，到标价上千元的护肤霜（最高1500元），“双妹”系列的售价或相当于或高于同类的外国奢侈化妆品。
两个老品牌的复活，宣告零售文化在中国的成熟。中国品牌越来越渴望与外国品牌面对面竞争。发展本土奢侈品，是中国改写“廉价产品工厂”名号计划的一部分。
复旦大学一位教授表示：“中国品牌进入奢侈品市场有三种途径：与外国品牌合作；引入外国设计师，或重新打造昔日名牌。”他表示，高价未必是问题：“（中国）消费者通常认为高价意味着优质。”
但零售业分析师不确定怀旧吸引力在中国的价值：“双妹”“可能让西方人感到兴奋，但对大多数中国女性而言却未必如此”，中国市场研究集团(China Market Research)驻上海的雷小山(Shaun Rein)表示，“对大多数中国人来说，那些岁月并不辉煌，因此他们不会像西方人那样向往和怀旧”。
上海摩立特(Monitor)的唐仕德(Torsten Stocker)表示，推出具有鲜明中国特色的豪华车“可能相当聪明”。他表示，在正式场合下，政府官员和国有企业领导可能需要一辆红旗轿车，而“必须把宝马(BMW)、奔驰(Benz)或宾利(Bentley)留在家里”，“但关键是质量和技术得过硬”。
雷小山表示：“消费者只是不认同中国轿车与欧洲高档车一样好的观点。”
在毛泽东一手推动下，中国在1958年生产出了红旗轿车，因为他认为中国需要有自己的高级轿车。现在，52年过去了，一汽将再次尝试制造国产豪华轿车。
Shirley Chen上海补充报道
译者/何黎
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001034373
In an effort to exploit nostalgia for China’s communist and colonialist past, two Chinese state companies have relaunched old brands – including Chairman Mao’s famous Red Flag limousine – to challenge foreign dominance of the country’s luxury markets.
China’s evocatively named First Auto Works (FAW) announced this week it would spend Rmb1.79bn ($263.3m) to re-raise the Red Flag brand, which has largely fallen into disuse along with the ideology that spawned it.
The money would fund a production facility with an annual capacity 30,000 units, to give FAW the ultra-luxury model it needs to boost profits and prestige.
Shanghai Jahwa, China’s largest cosmetics brand, has also revived one of its famous nostalgia brands, Shuang Mei, or two sisters. With a logo redolent of 1930s Shanghai, when the city was labelled as the Paris of the Orient, the brand has been renamed Shanghai VIVE, and is sold at the recently reopened Art Deco Peace Hotel on the Shanghai Bund.
Its packaging and advertising conjures visions of old Shanghai, in all its decadence. The brand ranges from Pride of Shanghai soap at Rmb220, to skin creams priced at more than Rmb1000, with a top price of Rmb1500 – at or above those for foreign luxury cosmetics.
The relaunch of the two brands heralds China’s coming of age as a retail culture, with Chinese brands increasingly eager to compete head to head with foreign brands. Localising luxury is part of Beijing’s plan to rebrand China as more than just a cheap goods factory.
“There are three ways for Chinese brands to enter the luxury market: partner with foreign brands, bring in foreign designers, or rebrand themselves using an old famous marque,” says Jiang Qingyu of Fudan University. He says high prices are not necessarily a problem: “[Chinese] consumers generally believe high price means high quality.”
But retail analysts are uncertain about the value of nostalgia appeal in the country: Shanghai VIVE “might create a sense of excitement for westerners, but not for most Chinese women”, says Shaun Rein of China Market Research in Shanghai. “Those were not glamorous time for most Chinese so they don’t look at it with the same longing and nostalgia as westerners.”
Launching a distinctly Chinese luxury car “might be quite clever” says Torsten Stocker of Monitor Group in Shanghai. Government officials and state-owned enterprise chiefs might want a Red Flag for official occasions “when the BMW, Benz or Bentley must stay at home”, he says. “But getting the quality and technology right will be key.”
“Consumers just don’t buy into the idea that a Chinese car is as good as a European high-end one,” says Mr Rein.
Chairman Mao launched the Red Flag in 1958 because he thought China needed its own luxury car. Now, after 52 years, FAW will try again to make that a reality.
Additional reporting by Shirley Chen in Shanghai
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