/PRCWT/Shanghai, Jan. 5, 2024 - In a recently revealed special, the director Wong Kar-wai interpreted the popular TV series "Flowers" as a reference to 1990s Shanghai that has sparked a heated debate about old Shanghai.
As a century-old enterprise born in Shanghai, Shanghai Soap also carries the history and culture of Shanghai. From the Republic of China to the liberation period, Shanghai has always been a representative of China's light industry. In this city with a road network and many general merchandise, many domestic brands that benefit people's livelihood and future generations have been born. It has become a good memory for generations. In the age when shower gel was not yet mature, Shanghai had the reputation of "Soap Kingdom", and Shanghai Soap is the most important founder of this "Kingdom".
In the past hundred years, a large number of domestic brands have been around for a long time, and they have been deeply loved by the Chinese people with their unique charm and cultural precipitation. As a century-old brand enterprise under Huayi Group, Shanghai Soap has gone through hundreds of years and has a number of well-known time-honored brands, 116-year-old "Guben", 96-year-old "Bee Flower", 99-year-old "Shanghai Medicinal Soap"... It not only satisfies people's diligent pursuit and spiritual enjoyment of a better life, but also witnesses the changes in consumption and the imprint of the times.
Domestic soap fragrant by the Pujiang River
The modern soap industry was born in the West. In the mid-1850s, Britain and the United States successively emerged as soap industrial powers and began to export soap products overseas. In 1923, the British Lever Company established China Soap Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of the Shanghai Soap Factory) in Shanghai, which was completed and put into operation in 1925. It became the largest soap factory in the Far East at that time and a pioneer in the large-scale production of soap-making machines in China.
The first two decades of the 20th century was a period of rapid development of Shanghai's national soap industry. With its port advantage and developed soap industry, Shanghai became an important export town of soap in China. After the liberation of Shanghai, the production of various private soap factories increased year by year. In 1954, there were 15 kinds of soap brands in the city. On June 28, 1952, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government took over the poorly managed British-merchant China Soap Joint Stock Company and changed its name to China Soap Company. Later, it was successively merged into five small soap factories such as Nanyang Soap Factory. On July 1, 1955, it was named the state-owned Shanghai Soap Factory.
With the continuous improvement of people's living standards, Shanghai Soap Factory has continuously developed new varieties of soap to meet the needs of the Chinese people. In 1958, the industry's first high-grade translucent laundry soap Fan brand laundry soap was born. In 1959, Shanghai Medicinal Soap, the predecessor of Lihua Sanitary Soap, came out. In 1977, the first sulfur soap in the industry - the predecessor of Shanghai Sulfur Soap, Seagull Sulfur Soap, was born. In 1982, Shanghai Soap Factory began to trial-produce liquid soap, and China's first liquid soap Bee Flower Liquid Soap was born. In the 1990s, the Shanghai soap industry has formed a number of brand products such as Bee Flower, Meijiajing, Shanghai, Fan Brand and Guben to occupy a dominant position in the domestic market.
While meeting the needs of the Chinese people, domestic soap has also successfully gone abroad and exported overseas. "Honeybee Sandalwood Soap" is the earliest export soap from China. It has been exported to Singapore, Siam, Surabaya, Penang and other places since 1933, and has been well received. After being transferred to the Shanghai Soap Factory in 1960, after being updated and transformed, the export volume has increased year by year, and it has been deeply loved by the Chinese in South East Asia, Hong Kong and Macao, and has become China's main export soap. As of now, "Honeybee Sandalwood Soap" has been exported to more than 50 countries and regions such as Europe, America, and South East Asia, and the time-honored brand is fragrant overseas.
After nearly a hundred years of wind and rain, Shanghai Soap has launched a variety of new fragrances such as agarwood and amber in recent years, continuing to convey the oriental fragrance bath culture; at the same time, it has also launched fashionable liquid cleansing and bath products, in line with the usage habits of today's consumers, to achieve the rejuvenation of the brand and the "breaking circle" of users. Looking back on the century-old history, behind the wind and rain, the fragrance of the domestic soap industry has grown up with several generations, dressing up the lives of countless people.
Create Guochao IP to win "Generation Z"
With the change of generations, "Generation Z" has gradually become the main force of the consumer market. Young people have a new understanding of beauty, and they are more advocating personality, trend, and cross-border integration. For many national old brands in China's soap industry, while adhering to quality and inheriting the classic, they also need to attract new consumer groups through cultural integration, marketing innovation and technological empowerment.
In recent years, Shanghai Soap Co-branded Beijing Forbidden City Merchandise, conducted in-depth cooperation in many brands such as bee flower and Shanghai medicinal soap, and jointly created a series of products with "Guochao" cultural heritage through IP co-branding. For example, once the Forbidden City Co-branded Sandalwood Soap was launched, it quickly became a hit in the market. The 600-year-old profound cultural accumulation of the Forbidden City and the brand temperament of a century-old brand fit well, effectively helping the century-old brand to rejuvenate.
Domestic time-honored brands are appearing more and more frequently in the eyes of young people. In China's first interactive documentary program "Wanli Walking Single Ride 3", which will be broadcast in 2023, Shanghai Medicinal Soap, Wanli Youth Group and flying guests went to various places. Shanghai Medicinal Soap also specially created the third-generation sulfur liquid soap series for the third season of "Wanli Walking Single Ride", so as to realize the deep resonance between Shanghai Soap-making culture and World Heritage culture.
With the rise of the meta-universe, Shanghai Soap has adopted new meta-universe marketing methods, such as the launch of digital virtual spokesperson Ala ALA, the launch of Shanghai Soap NFT digital collection products, and the spokesperson Ala ALA's new interpretation of the honeybee Kunqu brand blockbuster, etc., so as to "capture" a new generation of young consumers on a larger scale.
Since "Love Myth", "Flowers" is another TV work set in Shanghai's local culture, and each plot transition seems to reflect childhood memories.
As an enterprise that has accompanied the growth of several generations of Shanghainese, Shanghai Soap has also carried the childhood memories of countless Shanghainese, showcasing the urban spirit and historical culture of Shanghai. In the future, it will continue to explore more Chinese cultural stories, develop new national trends, and lead new fashion to become the historical imprint of each generation of consumer groups.
