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THE BUILDING OF REGIONAL PUBLIC BRANDS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS BASED ON RURAL REVITALIZATION STRATEGY - A CASE OF "MILLENNIUM-OLD FLAVORS OF HUAI'AN" BRAND BUILDING
Liu Xing (author), School of Foreign Language, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an, China
E-mail: [email protected]
Li Gaoxin (translator), School of Foreign Language, Huaiyin Institute of Technology, Huai'an, China
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. Building the regional public brand of agricultural products is a crucial initiative to respond to the policy of strengthening agriculture through brands and develop branded agriculture in the context of rural revitalization. It is also a "golden signboard" for the development of agricultural industries. Through a questionnaire survey of consumers from various regions and socioeconomic backgrounds, this study examines their awareness, purchase intention, and suggestions for improving the regional agricultural product brand "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an." By analyzing the survey results, the research identifies existing challenges and deficiencies in the brand's construction. To address these issues, strategic recommendations are put forward, such as strengthening brand integration and promotion, optimizing communication channels, enhancing product quality and diversity, and managing effective sales channels.
Key words: policy of rural revitalization, regional public brands of agricultural products, Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an, branding building strategy.
1. Introduction
The issues related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers are fundamental issues concerning national economy and people's livelihood. The report of the 20th National Party Congress emphasizes the need to comprehensively promote rural revitalization, which means that the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy has entered a new stage. Undoubtedly, an important way to revitalize rural areas is the comprehensive and balanced development of agricultural industrial economy, and the revitalization of agricultural industrial economy cannot be separated from the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products. The year 2017 witnessed the proposal of Promoting Structural Reform on the Agricultural Supply Side by the Ministry of Agriculture, with a focus on accelerating the construction of
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agricultural brands and supporting localities in cultivating a number of regional public brands with high market credibility and great influence. In 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs issued the "Proposal on Accelerating the Promotion of Strong Agricultural Brands'', requiring the cultivation of brand inclusiveness and shaping brand characteristics. The No. 1 document of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2019, the "National Strategic Plan for Quality-driven Agricultural Revitalization (2018-2022)'', also mentioned the need to vigorously promote the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products. In 2022, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism proposed "initiating the implementation of the cultural industry empowerment rural revitalization plan", providing policy guidance and theoretical basis for realizing regional cultural empowerment of regional public brands. The No. 1 central document in 2023 emphasized "supporting poverty-alleviated areas in building public brands" once again.
Huai'an is an important agricultural city in Jiangsu Province. Agriculture has always occupied an important position in the local social economy. For a long time, Huai'an has also always attached great importance to the development of agriculture. However, with the deepening of structural reform on the agricultural supply side, competition in the agricultural product market is becoming increasingly fierce, and branding has become the key to the development of modern agriculture. To this end, in combination with the current situation of small and scattered, numerous but not refined agricultural product brand construction in the city, Huai'an has integrated and refined the agricultural product brand resources within the entire region. In 2018, it took the lead in launching the city-wide agricultural product public brand "Millennium -old Flavors of Huai 'an" in the province. As of now, the categories and quality of the authorized sub-brands under "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an' are continuously improving, and a pattern of one super strong leading, multiple strong following, and coordinated development has been formed with "Xuyi Crayfish" taking the lead and brands such as "Huai'an Rice", "Hongze Lake Hairy Crabs", "Huai'an Red Peppers", "Lianshui Asparagus", and "Huai'an Black Pigs" following. However, compared with other famous domestic regional public brands such as "Luochuan Apples" in Shanxi and "West Lake Longjing Tea" in Zhejiang, the brand penetration rate of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' is not high, and the popularity, reputation, and market share of Huai'an famous and high-quality Huai'an agricultural products are relatively low. Against this backdrop, it is of paramount importance to foster stronger collaboration between government and enterprises, enhance the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand's reputation, and employ comprehensive, multi-level communication strategies to effectively convey its narrative. This can bolster the competitiveness and influence of the regional public brand, enable Huai'an agricultural products to achieve global recognition and contribute to the region's high-quality agricultural development and economic advancement.
2. Literature Review
As agricultural branding has become an inevitable choice for the modernization development of China's agricultural industry, the construction of regional public
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brands of agricultural products has attracted extensive attention from the academic community in China. In summary, the research results on regional public brands of agricultural products at this stage mainly involve the following aspects:
(1) The definition of regional public brand of agricultural products. For example, Sun and Zheng (2018: 6), from the practical significance of building regional agricultural product brands, sorted out and summarized the research literature related to theoretical research, existing problems in construction and countermeasures and suggestions. They proposed that a regional public brand of agricultural products is a sign and symbol legally authorized for use by agricultural distribution entities for operation and management. It is based on agricultural products produced through unique natural resources and long-term planting, breeding, logging methods and processing techniques after long-term accumulation in a specific geographical environment [1, p. 6].
(2) The operation mode and influencing factors of the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products. For example, Zhang et al. (2019: 438) explored the issue of brand construction elements in the upward movement of agricultural products in the county-level e-commerce environment, constructed an evaluation index system from the perspective of consumers, and used the analytic hierarchy process to determine the weights of indicators at each level. [2, p. 438] Furthermore, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model was established for verification and analysis. Shang et al. (2018: 133) started from three aspects of product quality, network promotion infrastructure and comprehensive production area conditions. Through online and offline questionnaires, they used structural equation modeling to analyze the influencing factors of the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products. The results found that comprehensive production area conditions have a significant positive effect on the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products, while product quality and network promotion infrastructure have no significant influence. Therefore, suggestions such as giving full play to regional advantageous conditions were put forward to better create regional public brands of agricultural products with local characteristics [3, p. 133].
(3) The utilization of the advantages formed by regional characteristics and the internet environment. For example, Hu Xiaoling (2023: 808), based on the theoretical foundation of brands, examined the brand construction of "Jiatian Sijie". On the one hand, understanding the general situation of the construction of the regional brand "Jiatian Siji" of Jiaxing agricultural products from the perspective of brand subjects; on the other hand, analyzing the current situation of the construction of the "Jiatian Siji" regional brand from the perspectives of agricultural producers and consumers through investigations. The investigation found that there are problems in the brand construction of "Jiatian Siji" such as insufficient brand awareness, low degree of close cooperation between public and private brands, and narrow sales channels. Accordingly, optimization suggestions such as building a professional operation team, establishing online and offline full-link marketing, deepening close cooperation between public and private brands, and laying out omni-channel retail were put forward [4, p. 808].
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(4) Issues related to brand construction and their solutions and suggestions. For example, Liu (2018: 84) chose Biluochun as the research object. They described and analyzed the current situation of brand construction of Biluochun tea leaves, and proposed some strategies to promote brand development, such as improving the awareness of operating regional public brands of agricultural products, improving the awareness of operating regional public brands of agricultural products, improving the degree of agricultural organization, and earnestly strengthening the government's functions in branding operation of agricultural products [5, p. 84].
By searching the CNKI database, we found that there are a total of 9 articles with the search term "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' in the title. Among them, there are only 2 articles on the issues of brand strategic development paths and countermeasures of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' (Shuai and Chen, 2020; Wang, 2019). They respectively discuss from aspects such as improving product quality, building e-commerce platforms, strengthening the construction of supply chain systems, and improving the agricultural product quality standard system and promoting the development of modern agricultural industries. Undoubtedly, the above results have important reference value and provide the necessary theoretical basis and multi-dimensional analysis perspective for the research of this topic.
3. Research Design
In order to understand the popularity and market recognition of the regional agricultural products brand "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' under the background of the rural revitalization strategy, an online questionnaire survey was administered from July 24 to July 30, 2024. The online questionnaire was created using 51 Survey Network (https://www.51diaocha.com/), and distributed by forwarding the questionnaire link and QR code to WeChat groups and QQ groups. The questionnaire contains a total of 14 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-ended question, mainly covering the following five aspects: (1) Basic information of the respondents; (2) Recognition of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand; (3) Communication channels of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand; (4) Purchase intention for agricultural products of the ""Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand; (5) Development suggestions for the ""Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand. Among them, single-choice and multiple-choice questions are used for multiple-choice questions. Single-choice questions are used for issues related to basic information, brand recognition and product purchase intention, and multiple-choice questions are used for issues related to brand communication channels and development suggestions.
A total of 114 valid questionnaires were collected in this survey, and the respondents covered consumers from different regions and different social backgrounds.
4. Investigation Data Analysis and Research Findings
4.1 Basic information of survey respondents
Among the respondents in this survey, there are a total of 72 females (63.16%); and 42 males (36.84%). Among them, respondents from Huai'an account for 36.84%, those living in other cities in Jiangsu Province account for 42.98%, and those living in
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cities in other provinces outside Jiangsu account for 20.18%. When investigating the age structure, referring to the new age classification standard of the World Health Organization of the United Nations in 2024, four options are set: "0-17 years old", "17-44 years old", "45-59 years old", and "over 60 years old". Among them, respondents aged 18-44 account for 85.96% and are the main body of the sample. In terms of occupational distribution, there are the largest number of students, with a total of 71 people (62.28%); followed by staff members of government agencies and institutions (21.05%).
Fig. 1 Gender
Fig. 2 City
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Fig. 3 Age
Fig. 4 Profession
4.2 Recognition of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
To comprehensively understand consumers' recognition of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' brand, the survey is conducted from the following three aspects:
The first deals with the degree of understanding of agricultural products under the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand. As shown in Figure 5, Xuyi Crayfish and Hongze Lake hairy crabs have the highest popularity, with 81.58% and 75.44% respectively. Other produces, such as Huai'an Rice and Huai'an Pucai, are also known by a certain proportion of respondents, accounting for 44% and 38% respectively. However, fewer people know about such produces as Huai'an red peppers, accounting for only 6.14%.
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Fig. 5 The brands people are familiar with
The second focuses on the cognition of the attribution of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand. As shown in Figure 6, among the 114 respondents, only 11 people (9.65%) knew that the selected products all belonged to the brand of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an ", and 48 people (42.11%) had no idea about this at all. From this, it is not difficult to see that the integration and promotion efforts of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand still need to be strengthened, and consumers' awareness of the products under the brand is relatively low.
Fig. 6 Varieties of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an''
The last one examines the overall understanding of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand. As shown in Figure 7, among the respondents, only 4 people
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(3.51%) are very familiar with the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand; 47 people (41.23%) know a little about it; 37 people (32.46%) are not very clear about it and 26 people (22.81%) have never heard of it. This further shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement in the promotion of this brand.
Fig. 7 Familiarization to "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an"
When examining the relationship between understanding of the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" brand and the respondents' residential areas, it was found that the number of consumers who were very familiar with the brand was the same across three different regions, with only one person in each. Among those who had some understanding of the brand, the highest number were residents of Huai'an itself, accounting for 23 people or 54.76%. Those who were not very clear or had never heard of the brand had the highest proportion among residents of cities outside Jiangsu province, at 39.13% and 43.38% respectively. From this, it is not difficult to see that the promotional efforts for the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" brand need to be significantly increased, especially outside the province, to improve its brand awareness.
City Very familiar familiar Not familiar Never heard Respondents
Huai'an 1 (2.38%) 23 (54.76%) 15 (35.71%) 3 (7.14%) 42
Other cities inside Jiangsu 1 (2.04%) 21 (42.86%) 13 (26.53%) 14 (28.57%) 49
Other cities outside Jiangsu 1 (8.7%) 3 (13.04%) 9 (39.13%) 10 (43.48%) 23
Total 3 47 37 27 114
Fig. 8 The degree of understanding of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand among respondents from different regions
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4.3 Communication channels of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' Brand
Data analysis reveals that among various communication channels, new social media platforms such as Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin are the most popular sources for respondents to learn about the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand, as shown in Figure 9, with a proportion of 54.55%. Traditional media (38.64%), including television, radio, newspapers, and magazines, outdoor advertising such as banners (34.09%), and recommendations from friends (37.50%) also account for a certain proportion, while agricultural product exhibitions (22.73%) are relatively low. This reflects the increasing role of new social media in the brand's communication, but traditional media and other offline channels cannot be overlooked.
Fig. 9 Communication channels of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
4.4 Purchase Intention for Agricultural Products of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an''
In order to investigate consumer purchasing behavior towards agricultural products under the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" brand, a single-choice question was designed: "Have you ever purchased agricultural products under the 'Millennium Flavors of Huai'an' brand?" As shown in Figure 11, a total of 46 respondents, accounting for 40.35%, reported having purchased agricultural products under this brand, while 68 respondents, or 59.65%, had never made such a purchase. The relatively low proportion of consumers who have made a purchase may be related to the brand's low awareness. Among the 46 consumers with purchasing experience, the largest group, comprising 28 individuals or 60.87%, believed that the brand's agricultural products were good. The second largest group, consisting of 16 individuals or 34.78%, believed the products were very good. No respondents indicated that the products were poor. It is evident from these results that consumers have a high evaluation of agricultural products under the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" brand.
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Fig. 10 Purchase behavior of agricultural products of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
Fig. 11 Evaluation of the quality of agricultural products of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand purchased
In a survey conducted to investigate why consumers have never purchased Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an' agricultural products, it was found that 73.53% were unaware of the brand; 27.94% cited a lack of purchasing channels; and an equal number of people, accounting for 4.41% each, attributed it to high prices and a product range that did not meet their needs. This further underscores the importance of promoting the Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an' brand, while simultaneously necessitating improvements to sales channels and product optimization.
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Fig. 12 Reasons for not purchasing agricultural products of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
4.5 Development suggestions for the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' Brand
In terms of measures to enhance the popularity of the "Millennium-old Flavors of * Huai'an'' brand, as shown in Figure 13, 37.72% of respondents think that advertising efforts should be increased, 14.04% think that the construction of online sales channels should be strengthened, and 17.54% think that more promotional activities should be held. This provides a direction for enhancing the popularity of the brand. Multiple measures should be comprehensively considered to improve the brand's influence.
Fig. 13 Measures to enhance the popularity of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
When investigating consumers' confidence in the development of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand, as shown in Figure 14, 6.84% of respondents are very confident in this, 60.53% have some confidence, and the
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proportion of those who lack confidence and have no confidence is very low. This shows that consumers hold a relatively optimistic attitude towards the future development of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand, and the brand has certain development potential.
Figure 14 Confidence in the future development of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" brand
Furthermore, to encourage a broader range of perspectives and enhance the recognition and influence of the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" agricultural regional public brand, an open-ended question was included in the survey: "What suggestions or opinions do you have regarding the 'Millennium Flavors of Huai'an' agricultural regional public brand?" Analysis of the survey results revealed that the most frequent suggestion was to increase promotional efforts. Respondents advocated for the implementation of online live-streaming sales and offline product tasting events to engage local residents in Huai'an while simultaneously expanding promotional activities to other provinces. Additionally, some suggested that the brand should delve deeper into local food culture and actively integrate into local characteristic brand strategies. It was emphasized that the brand should not only be high-quality but also offer excellent value for money, thereby employing multiple strategies to enhance the domestic and international reputation of the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" brand.
5. Construction Strategy Suggestions for the Regional Public Brand of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an" Agricultural Products
Based on the above questionnaire analysis, it is believed that the popularity and influence of the regional public brand of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " agricultural products can be enhanced from the following four aspects: 5.1 Strengthen brand integration and promotion
First, clarify brand positioning and image. Further sort out the core values and positioning of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand, emphasizing its regional characteristics, product quality and cultural connotations, and create a clear,
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unique and easy-to-remember brand image so that consumers can quickly identify and understand the meaning represented by the brand. Second, strengthen the correlation between products under the brand. Through various publicity means, strengthen consumers' awareness of the correlation between different products under the brand. For example, highlight the brand logo of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " on product packaging, and clearly mark various agricultural products covered under it. At the same time, emphasize the integrity of the brand in promotional materials and advertisements, so that consumers understand that purchasing these products is choosing the quality and characteristics represented by the "Millennium-oldFlavors of Huai'an " brand.
5.2 Optimize communication channels
On the one hand, make full use of emerging social media. In view of the important role of emerging social media such as Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin in the brand communication of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an ", the brand side should increase investment on these platforms. Official accounts can be created to regularly publish attractive content, such as the planting and breeding processes of agricultural products, cooking methods, nutritional value, etc., and combine various forms such as pictures and videos to attract user attention and interaction. At the same time, cooperation can be carried out with some influential social media bloggers to promote products and brand publicity and expand the brand's influence and coverage.
On the other hand, traditional media resources need to be integrated. Although the influence of emerging social media is increasing day by day, traditional media such as television, radio, newspapers, and magazines still have a certain audience. The brand side can cooperate with local media to produce special reports, advertising and publicity, etc., to increase the brand's popularity in the local area and surrounding areas. For example, special agricultural product programs can be launched on television stations to introduce the story and product characteristics of the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand; advertisements and soft articles can be published in newspapers to publicize the brand's advantages and product information. In addition, pay attention to offline promotion activities. Strengthen outdoor advertising placement, such as setting up eye-catching advertising spaces in major traffic arteries, bus stops, commercial squares and other places in the city to display the brand image and product information of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an ".
At the same time, we can actively participate in various agricultural product exhibitions, food festivals and other activities, set up special booths to display various agricultural products under the brand, and provide on-site tasting and sales services to increase consumers' intuitive understanding and experience of the brand and products. In addition, diversified promotional activities can be formulated according to different festivals, seasons and market demands. For example, during traditional festivals such as Spring Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, gift box products are launched and certain price concessions are given; during the harvest season of agricultural products, discount promotions are held to attract consumers to purchase. At the same time, some highly interactive promotional activities such as online lotteries and offline tasting
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sessions can be carried out in combination with online and offline channels to increase consumers' participation and purchase desire.
5.3 Improve product quality and richness
First, strictly control product quality. Further strengthen the supervision and quality control of the production process of agricultural products under the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand to ensure that each product meets high-quality standards. Establish a strict quality inspection system, start from the source of planting and breeding of agricultural products, and strictly detect pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, heavy metal content, etc. to ensure the safety and quality of products. Only when consumers recognize product quality will they have trust and loyalty to the brand.
Second, enrich product varieties. On the basis of maintaining existing advantageous products, according to market demands and consumer feedback, appropriately increase the types of agricultural products under the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand. For example, some characteristic agricultural product processed products can be developed, such as rice crackers made of Huai'an rice, crab paste made of Hongze Lake hairy crabs, etc., to meet the needs of different consumers, and at the same time add more selling points and attractions to the brand.
5.4 Improve sales channels
With the development of the Internet, online sales channels are becoming increasingly important. The brand side of "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an'' should increase investment and construction in online sales platforms, such as establishing official websites and settling in e-commerce platforms to facilitate consumers to purchase products. At the same time, attention should be paid to optimizing the online shopping experience and improving the efficiency of logistics and distribution to ensure that products can be delivered to consumers in a timely and accurate manner. In addition, it is also necessary to expand offline sales networks. While strengthening the construction of local sales channels, actively expand foreign markets, open specialty stores and counters in other cities or establish cooperative relationships with local supermarkets, farmers' markets, etc., increase the sales outlets of agricultural products under the "Millennium-old Flavors of Huai'an " brand and improve the accessibility of products.
6. Conclusion
Under the guidance of the rural revitalization strategy, the construction of the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" agricultural regional public brand has achieved significant results. By integrating numerous high-quality agricultural products from the Huai'an region, it has effectively increased the added value and market competitiveness of these products. However, brand building is a systematic project, and at present, there are issues such as insufficient brand awareness, low product relevance, and weak consumer purchasing desire. Huai'an should focus on exploring regional characteristics and cultural connotations, combining Huai'an's long history, abundant agricultural resources, and deep integration with the media's contemporary background to tell the story of the "Millennium Flavors of Huai'an" agricultural regional public brand, and enhance the brand's competitiveness and influence.
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