A new bakery named 'New York Bagel Museum' recently opened in a large shopping mall in the heart of Beijing. The name evokes memories of the 'London Bagel Museum,' which gained immense popularity in South Korea. The store's atmosphere, menu, and display methods are strikingly similar, leading many Koreans to wonder if it is an overseas expansion of the original.
Such scenes are no longer surprising in China. The Netflix hit 'The Chef Show' has been adapted into a similar format in China, while a store called 'Only Young' resembles the logo and color scheme of Olive Young. Additionally, local brands with similar fonts and characters to 'Life in Four Cuts' are rapidly spreading. China's copying has evolved beyond mere product imitation to what is termed 'Brand Cloning,' replicating not just products but also brand philosophy, spatial experience, and consumer sentiment.
Why is this happening? China's copying cannot be solely attributed to a lack of awareness regarding intellectual property rights. For Chinese companies, it is often seen as more efficient to quickly absorb and localize successful models that have already been validated overseas rather than taking risks to create new models from scratch in a vast domestic market. In this environment, the logic that 'the first to replicate gains market share' naturally prevails.
Japan also learned from American technology and products during its post-war growth period, and South Korean companies have benchmarked the West to enter global markets. However, there is a crucial difference in China's imitation. The Chinese market is not only vast but also layered, with consumers in Beijing and Shanghai differing from those in Chengdu and Hangzhou, as well as from consumers in lower-tier cities and rural areas. With generational consumption preferences rapidly diversifying, companies can conduct various market experiments simultaneously within one country. Bloomberg's characterization of China as the 'World's Retail Laboratory' reflects this reality.
As a result, Chinese companies have not only replicated product appearances but have also learned what types of spaces encourage longer stays, which designs spread on social media, and what consumer experiences foster fandom. Imitation has become a process of learning about the market, and the insights gained during this process have formed the foundation of today's Chinese brand competitiveness.
The fact that China continues to imitate is no longer a captivating story. More importantly, companies that once focused on imitation are now beginning to create their own brands. The Chinese tea beverage brand Chagee, which once learned from Starbucks' spatial experience and brand management, has now grown into a brand that creates its own consumer culture. Similarly, Pop Mart has moved beyond merely referencing the overseas character industry to spreading blind box and limited-edition consumption culture worldwide. Where China once exported products, it is now exporting brands, consumer culture, and even the very grammar of sentiment.
While one might feel anger upon seeing Beijing's 'New York Bagel Museum,' what we should truly be wary of is not copycats like New York Bagel Museum, but brands that have graduated from copying. Once known as the 'Kingdom of Copying,' China is now transforming into the 'China of Brands.'
- Choi Yeo-jin, CEO of Max Value Capital, Ph.D. candidate in International Communication at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
* This article has been translated by AI.
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