00:00Now, many Western companies are going all in on Chinese New Year, using the holiday to attract consumers, not just
00:07in Asia, but around the world.
00:09European brands like premium French cognac maker Hennessy and Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey have designed special edition horse-themed bottles.
00:18Swiss luxury watchmaker Longines has a slick video of its horsing grave timepiece.
00:24And Germany's Birkenstock says its Spring Festival collection pays tribute to the untamed energy of the fire horse.
00:34Let's speak now to Chris Pereira, who's the founder and chief executive of the consultancy firm Impact.
00:40Chris, hello. Do you think there's something special about the year of the horse?
00:46Or is the Chinese New Year as a brand really going global these days?
00:52So I think it's a mix of both, actually.
00:55So the imagery of the horse in culture around the world is of energy and expansion and growth and connecting
01:03to people, too.
01:04It used to be the main form of communication and transportation around the world.
01:09But on the other side of it, Chinese companies, as you mentioned, are going global at a faster and faster
01:15pace.
01:15Just our consultancy, as an example, in the last five or six years, we've supported over 400 different brands expanding
01:23overseas, a large number of them related to cultural aspects of China's history, food, etc.
01:29So it's definitely a mix of both.
01:30But I think probably about 90 percent is the time that we're living in as Chinese brands go overseas.
01:36Interesting. And of course, the horse, which represents a bold action and moving forward, I suppose, as you say, is
01:43very much current as we're living in a time of change.
01:47But talk to me about the elements of the festival and how it's appealing to brands.
01:51How do they manage to use it to their advantage?
01:56So there's a big trend that we've seen the last year or so, since last Chinese year, really, that there's
02:02cultural exports coming from China, similar to maybe what we saw in the 70s and 80s, early 90s from Japan.
02:09China's, whether it's food culture, could be movies, it could be games, etc.
02:15And of course, ancient culture is going overseas at a faster and faster pace.
02:19I'm not sure if you saw or not, but recently there's been a lot of TikTok videos about Westerners drinking
02:24hot water.
02:25So it's an interesting thing.
02:27So Chinese culture is being accepted and there's a lot of interest in it overseas.
02:32But Western companies going around the world, too, are also catching on to this trend.
02:37And I think the trends of family get-togethers, spring festival, whether you call it spring festival or the year
02:44of the horse or Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year,
02:47Lunar New Year, you'll see all of these trends are on the uptick compared to former years.
02:53So I think it's a trend that's going to continue into the next few years.
02:56I think we're just getting started with cultural exports from China, so I expect to see more into the next
03:01few years.
03:02So to take a metaphor from the year of the horse, as you get onto the horse, as they say
03:08in China, once you get on the horse, when it arrives, you're going to be successful.
03:12So expand a little more on why a consumer who doesn't have a specific connection to China would be drawn
03:19in by these limited editions.
03:23Yeah, I think they say a sense of the unique of the foreign and also of the history in general.
03:30Just if we think of how French brands brand their companies and their products, we'll think of the heritage and
03:38the workmanship that goes into a French brand.
03:41Similarly, if you think of Chinese culinary brands, Chinese other industries like the new energy, biotech and furniture manufacturing,
03:54all of them are going back to their roots and talking about their worksmanship and the history that comes from
04:01Chinese culture in general.
04:03So I think having that some sort of mystery or foreignness to it is part of it,
04:09but I think there's also a recognition of the 5,000 years of Chinese history and the foundation that that
04:15gives to a brand as they're buying things in their day-to-day life.
04:18So they're not necessarily China experts when they're necessarily completely interested in China in their day-to-day life.
04:25But when they're buying something from China, there has that extra level of value because it has the cultural aspect
04:30now.
04:31Fascinating insights. Thank you so much, Chris Pereira, founder and chief executive of the consultancy firm Impact.
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