Innovation. That’s a word which in Nanjing is bantered around like baozi. But slapping the label “innovative” on something doesn’t make it so.
To find the genuine article, The Nanjinger first asks the question, what does Africa’s number 1 music APP, Boomplay, have in common with a bunch of students at Nanjing University of Science & Technology (NUST)?
We’ll get to that. First, a little story about a Nanjing success story. We all know Alibaba and Amazon, but outside of the manufacturing and export sectors, few in the international community might be aware of Made-in-China.com.
Dating back to 1998 and with over six million Registered Supplier Members, Made-in-China.com taps business opportunities for Chinese suppliers and overseas buyers, providing one-stop services for promoting international trade between the two sides. And it’s all proudly happening in Nanjing.
But with so many suppliers, how is a buyer supposed to know which ones really do provide the top-quality products that they claim to and which the rest of the world demands?
Say hello to the Made-in-China.com initiative, the Manufacturing Excellence & Innovation Awards (MEI Awards). Initiated in 2011 in celebration of excellence in Chinese product manufacturing, the contest brings together the brightest of Chinese manufacturers in the launch of a series of outstanding products. These are then showcased at global events where Chinese manufacturers display their exemplary creations and share industry insights.
All well and good. But here comes the innovative part, as was recently explained to The Nanjinger by Victor Du, MEI Awards Secretary General.
Africa is now of course an emerging key market for Chinese manufacturers. And Africa has a lot of young people, somewhere now in the vicinity of 260 million in fact. And what do young people like? Music.
Therein, in addition to the sales of albums and videos, merchandise (let’s be cool and call it the “merch”) makes up a sizeable portion of an artist’s income. And in order to bring in as many of those South African Rand or Nigerian Naira as possible, that means the merch must be of high quality.
That’s where the innovation comes in. By agreeing to order their lovely merch from Mei Award-winning manufacturers, Made-in-China was able to leverage their localness to bring in design students at NUST.
It’s a true “win-win”. The artists get what they want and at the same time tap into a new audience, as well as supporting the students’ portfolios. It goes without saying that the students jump at the chance to work with pop stars, while obviously the promotion/manufacturing chain is happy too.
The way it works is the students in Nanjing hold online meetings with African artists, including the likes of 9ice and Kaptain, who provide a little direction as to the kind of merch in which they may be interested. With that look into the artists’ minds, they students get a feel for the direction they are going to take.
That merch is then worn by the artists themselves in their music videos, during their concerts and undoubtedly throughout the duration of their much-Instagramed life. Fans order the merch, by MEI Award-winning factories listed on BoomMall (Boomplay’s online shopping mall) and the circle is complete.
In two words, it’s pure genius.
So what designs are the NUST students coming up with? Dog tags and tshirts are especially-popular items.
Du disclosed to The Nanjinger that factories have reported to him some of these items of merch have quickly been sold out.
What’s not to love? As a concept, the initiative in a nutshell connects the artists with their many fans, as well as manufacturers here in China with African consumers, in the process transcending the numerous barriers to business presented by COVID.
For Du, his baby that is the MEI Awards fits nicely into his broader picture. A Nanjinger through and through, Du’s mission is see his city become synonymous with the word “quality”.
Now if there’s ever been a better example of inspirational innovation, this publication is yet to see it. And it’s all proudly happening in our very own Nanjing.
