Chinese Brands Take Just Three to Five Years to Go Global, Kearney China Principal Says

(Yicai) Jan. 29 -- It used to take Chinese brands a decade or even longer to establish a name overseas, but they have shortened the timeframe to just three to five years, according to the principal of the consulting firm Kearney Holdings' China arm."Cross-border e-commerce, cross-border marketing media, and quick-response supply chain technologies have certainly accelerated Chinese firms' global expansion," Chen Peiyi said in an interview with Yicai yesterday. "But more importantly, there has been an upgrade in strategic thinking and organizational structure."Five years ago, when I spoke with companies, going global was more of an option, a tentative exploration of a second growth curve. Now it's a necessity," Chen noted. This shift in strategic positioning has directly led to organizational changes: from small teams under sales departments to independent overseas divisions with heads reporting directly to chief executives, she pointed out.Business models in China are also evolving, with the traditional linear process of "product validation -- channel distribution -- brand marketing" being replaced by an agile mindset of "iterative testing and A/B experimentation," Chen said, adding that this approach enables faster market feedback and quicker strategic adjustments.The most fundamental change lies in brand positioning, she said. "Five years ago, value-for-money was still an important label for Chinese brands overseas, but look at Pop Mart, Florasis, and Roborock, they are brands that command premium prices and no longer compete on value-for-money but have their own cultural connotations and global narrative logic that resonate with universal values."Regarding the cultural content market, the overseas success of Black Myth: Wukong and Ne Zha has shown that Chinese cultural elements can quickly gain global consumer recognition through new aesthetic expressions and narrative approaches, Chen pointed out. "This is a manifestation of cultural confidence."Three Types of Chinese Consumer Brands Going GlobalKearney China categorizes Chinese consumer brands expanding overseas into three types, Chen said. The first includes home appliances and consumer electronics, serving as "the foundation of going global, having captured significant export share, but with gradually slowing growth rates. The core challenge for them is how to break through 'involutionary competition' in existing markets and improve profit margins while maintaining their size."The second includes fashion apparel and cultural products, Chen noted. "These brands are in a golden period of high growth, but also face dual challenges of cultural adaptation and user loyalty building. For brands to evolve from 'viral' to 'enduring,' they must transcend product-level competition and upgrade to setting deep emotional connections and cultural identity with consumers." For example, Miniso has shaped emotional symbols through its intellectual property strategy, built communication bridges through a global content hub and localized co-creation, and delivered immediate emotional value through offline entertainment scenarios, she pointed out.The third category includes toys, beauty, and personal care products, Chen said, adding that while limited in size, these show high-growth, explosive potential. For instance, Florasis, which integrates Eastern aesthetics and intangible cultural heritage craftsmanship into signature items, has entered about 110 countries and regions.Regarding international brand globalization experiences, Chen specifically mentioned Japan and South Korea, noting that Chinese and Japanese brands share similarities, with both possessing large domestic market foundations and industrial policy support. In cultural exports, the Korean Wave drove the globalization of the Korean beauty and lifestyle sectors, a path that the Chinese content industry follows, she added.However, Japanese brands' lessons are equally worth heeding, Chen stressed. "They tend to be headquarters-centric, with product innovation and brand marketing needing to maintain globally unified quality, while favoring collective decision-making, with many decisions requiring approval in Tokyo, making market feedback loops very slow." "On this point, Chinese companies should be able to do better than Japan," according to Chen.In addition, Japanese brands' early over-reliance on the US market left them passive when facing trade sanctions, Chen noted. "Relying solely on value-for-money is definitely not enough, but Chinese companies are gradually moving away from that positioning."Looking AheadRegarding future trends for Chinese firms going global, Chen believes artificial intelligence can enhance product iteration speed and supply chain efficiency, while the rise of the cultural content industry will bring brands greater premium pricing power, she noted.However, companies should watch for three big challenges, she pointed out. First is management inertia risk, with firms needing to develop localized decision-making mechanisms and not simply move domestic management concepts overseas, she said.Second is talent pipeline challenges, for which she recommends adopting a model combining "domestic executives with overseas deputies" while emphasizing cultivating local talent and building long-term pipelines. Third is compliance costs, requiring companies to find a balance between compliance requirements and expansion speed, she noted."I'm relatively confident about Chinese brands. China's supply chain advantages cannot be ignored, it is a huge advantage on the cost side," Chen said. "We are also quite strong in product design and localized marketing narratives, but going global is definitely high-risk and represents a medium-to-long-term trend. The key is how companies expand overseas using a calculated risk approach."Editor: Martin Kadiev