Agricultural brand building will enter a new era of standards leading

At present, the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products is booming
throughout the country.
The first agricultural brand industry standard, the Guidelines for Regional Public Brands of Agricultural Products (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines), which is led by the China Agricultural Brand Research Center of China Agricultural University, will be officially implemented
on October 1, 2022.
In order to better understand and apply the standard, the reporter interviewed the chief expert of the drafting team, Professor
Lu Juan, director of the China Agricultural Brand Research Center of China Agricultural University.

Q: What is the significance of the development of the Guidelines?

A: In recent years, China's agricultural brand building has accelerated
.
However, in general, China's agricultural brand construction is still in its infancy, how to guide the brand body to build agricultural brands scientifically and rationally, and continuously enhance brand recognition, reputation, trust and influence, it is urgent to play a leading role in standards and promote the high-quality development of
agricultural brands.

The establishment of agricultural brand standards is a strategic measure
to comprehensively enhance the development level of agricultural branding in China.
At present, agricultural brands, especially regional public brands of agricultural products, as an important starting point for promoting rural revitalization, driving industrial development and promoting farmers' income,
have been highly valued by governments at all levels 。 At present, the construction of regional public brands of agricultural products has reached a critical period of upward breakthrough bottlenecks, taking the lead in establishing regional public brand construction standards for agricultural products, and building a set of scientific and standardized construction guidelines, which is conducive to leading the construction of standardized brands, clarifying the direction and path of brand building, and providing strong support
for the comprehensive implementation of the rural revitalization strategy and accelerating the promotion of agricultural and rural modernization.

Q: How did the Guide come about?

A: Under the guidance of the Department of Market and Information Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the "Guide" was led by the China Agricultural Brand Research Center of China Agricultural University and jointly drafted
with the China Institute of Standardization and Alibaba (China) Co.
, Ltd 。 Starting from October 2020, in the preparation process, with reference to many of the latest domestic and foreign documents, policy documents, national standards, industry standards, research visits, research and discussion of a number of successful examples of regional public brand construction of agricultural products, after the standard project, the third draft of the draft, the draft for comments, the draft for review, the approval draft, the approval, the release, the formal implementation and other links, the work lasted for
two years 。 During this period, the organization did a good job in basic research, held many expert seminars, solicited opinions widely from all over the country, and put forward valuable opinions from various provincial departments, industry associations, brand building entities and other institutions, and the drafting team conducted in-depth discussion, revision and improvement according to the opinions of many parties, and formed a draft
for review.

In preparing the Guide, the branding standard, we followed the following key principles:

Rationally connect policies and pay attention to the coordination of
standards.
The formulation of the "Guide" is carried out in the context of implementing the brand power strategy and accelerating the construction of a new development pattern of "double circulation", closely combined with the major decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, reflecting the construction requirements of "three products and one standard" in agricultural production in terms of content, and maintaining consistency
with national policies, regulations, plans and current industry standards in terms of terms.

Buckle the frontier of theory, pay attention to the standard forward-looking
.
Based on the customer-based brand equity theory, combined with the cutting-edge theory of brand building research at home and abroad and the latest achievements in contemporary consumer behavior research, the "Guide" takes into account the future agricultural and rural development direction and the trend prospect of agricultural brands, determines the content of regional public brand building of agricultural products, ensures the forward-looking and foresight of standards, and scientifically guides the construction
of agricultural brands.

Learn from local practice and pay attention to the practicality of
standards.
On the basis of fully absorbing the practice of agricultural brands in various places, the "Guide" thoroughly ascertains the current situation and actual needs of regional public brand construction of agricultural products through field research, literature collection and telephone interviews, adheres to the problem-oriented, fully considers feasibility and operability, designs standard content, and improves the practicality of
standards.

Follow the existing standards and pay attention to the scientific nature of the
standards.
The "Guide" fully draws on the content of domestic and foreign brand building and evaluation standards, and on the basis of combining the standard requirements of key areas such as agricultural production, processing and circulation in China, fully considers the growth and development law of regional public brands of agricultural products, and designs relevant indicator systems and contents to ensure the scientific nature of
the standards.

Q: How to understand and apply the main content of the Guide?

A: Part 1-3 of the main content is used to illustrate the scope of use of the standard, normative reference documents, terms and definitions
.
The 4-8 parts of the main content belong to the main technical content part of the standard, and are also the five key steps of regional public brand construction of agricultural products, including:

Brand positioning and planning
.
Brand positioning is to allow consumers to clearly identify and remember the characteristics of the brand and the core value of the brand, brand strategic planning generally to solve the brand building where to go, how to build the brand system, how to implement the strategic planning and other issues
.
Enhance the core competence of the
brand.
Brand core ability refers to the main competitiveness of the brand, including improving the quality level, developing core technology, enriching the brand culture, and optimizing the service level
.
Brand marketing communications
.
It mainly includes marketing communication objects, marketing communication content and marketing communication methods
.
Brand protection
.
The standard proposes to carry out four types of protection measures
, such as legal protection, policy protection, self-protection and business protection.
Brand management
.
From the establishment of brand management agencies, determine the functions of brand management agencies, brand building monitoring, evaluation and improvement
.

Q: What other suggestions are there for the implementation of the Guide?

Answer: The five major steps of regional public brand building of agricultural products fully reflect the scientific mechanism and path of brand building, and each step is interlocking and progressive
.
After the promulgation of the Guidelines, we hope that under the guidance of this standard, all parties can build regional public brands of agricultural products in a more scientific and rational manner; Local governments and industry associations at all levels have studied and formulated regional public brand building standards for local and industrial agricultural products in accordance with the actual situation of brand building, with reference to the "Guidelines", and we welcome brand building and management entities to put forward valuable opinions and suggestions
on this standard in a timely manner.
We believe that the release and implementation of the Guidelines will provide a guarantee for consolidating the technical foundation of agricultural brand building, promoting the healthy and orderly development of regional public brands of agricultural products, and providing strong support
for comprehensively promoting rural revitalization and accelerating agricultural and rural modernization.