AnarrayofproductsintheBritishMuseum鈥檚TmallstoreCOURTESYPHOTOOnJuly1,theBritishMuseumopenedasouvenirstoreonTmall,China鈥檚largestbusiness-to-consumeronlineretailplatform,ownedbye-commercegiantAlibabaGroup.
Morethan20differentcategoriesofproductswerelaunched,includinghandbags,accessories,stationeryandtoys.Theproductsincorporateelementsofthemostpopularandfamousartifactsondisplayatthemuseum,fromadhesivetapepatternedwiththescriptsoftheRosettaStonetoclothhandbagsbearingtheiconicimageofthewoodblockprintTheGreatWaveoffKanagawaby19th-centuryJapanesepainterKatsushikaHokusai.
Withinonemonth,mostoftheitemsforsaleontheBritishMuseum鈥檚TmallstoresoldoutandasofAugust1onlyfouritemswerestillavailable,twoofwhichwereavailableonlyforpreorders.
ThisisnotthefirsttimethattheBritishMuseum鈥檚culturalandcreativeproductshavebeensoldontheChinesemarket.ThemuseumpreviouslyallowedaChinesecompanytotradeitsintellectualproperty(IP)rightsonAliFish,Alibaba鈥檚platformforIPauthorization.Inthisinstance,domesticumbrellabrandParadiselaunchedumbrellaswithillustrationslicensedbythemuseum.
TheBritishMuseum鈥檚Tmalldebutcameamidawaveofsimilaractivitiesbydomesticmuseumsinrecentyears,withanumberofChineseinstitutionsalsoopeningonlinestorestosellculturalandcreativeproductsledbythePalaceMuseum,housedintheForbiddenCityinBeijing.ThePalaceMuseumhasonlinestoresonbothTmallandTaobao,anotherofAlibaba鈥檚majore-commerceplatforms.Collectivelymorethan500PalaceMuseumproductsareavailableforpurchaseacrossthetwowebsites.
AnemployeeofthePalaceMuseumtalksaboutthesourceofinspirationforthemuseum鈥檚culturalcreativeproductsatthe14thChina(Shenzhen)InternationalCulturalIndustriesFaironMay13XINHUAInnovativemethods
AccordingtoWangYamin,VicePresidentofthePalaceMuseum,salesofthemuseum鈥檚culturalandcreativeproductsreached1billionyuan($147million)lastyear.Yetdespitetheseimpressivefigures,comparedwithWesterninstitutionssuchastheBritishMuseumwhichboastsacompletevaluechainforculturalandcreativeproducts,thePalaceMuseum鈥檚forayintotheindustryisstillinitsnascentstages,havingbegunonlyafewyearsago.
Inthistime,themuseumhasdevelopednearly10,000differentculturalandcreativeproductseitherindependently,incollaborationwithothercompaniesorthroughIPauthorization,withpartnerssuchasLKK,acreativedesigncompanyheadquarteredinBeijing,havingdesignedover800categoriesofproductsacross17themesforthePalaceMuseum.
AstrikingexampleofthiscollaborationisproductsbearingcartoonimagesoftheForbiddenCity鈥檚cats.AccordingtoLKK鈥檚website,thecatsofthePalaceMuseumnotonlycatchrats,butalsohaveauspiciousconnotations.Thecompanyhasdesignedanumberofproductsincludingbackpacks,shoesandwatchesfeaturingcartoonimagesofapalacecatwearingthebluerobesofaQingDynasty(1644-1911)officialuniformandeventheyellowgarmentoftheemperorhimself.
AmongthePalaceMuseum鈥檚mostpopularculturalandcreativeproductsisadhesivetapeadornedwithintricatepatternsliftedfromancientbowls,platesorclothes.Manycustomershaveusedthetapetocustomizethecasingofcosmeticproductsandpersonalitems,withthepostingoffinishedgoodsbecomingapopulartrendonline.
ThePalaceMuseum鈥檚promotionalmethodshavealsocontributedtothepopularityofitsproducts.ThemuseumhasapublicaccountonWeChat,China鈥檚mostpopularinstantmessagingapp,whichitusestopublishlightheartedcontentsuchasanimatedimagesofemperorsadaptedfromancientpaintings.Thestrategyhasbroughtthemuseumclosertoor-dinarypeople,especiallyyoungergenerations,andpiquedpublicinterestintraditionalculture,therebyhelpingtopromotethemuseum鈥檚wares.
鈥淲hendevelopingculturalandcreativeproducts,westudytheneedsofpeople鈥檚dailylivessothatourproductsfulfillsomesortoffunction.WehopeuserslearnaboutculturebyusingourproductssoastospreadthePalaceMuseum鈥檚ethos,鈥漵aidChenFei,anemployeewiththemuseum鈥檚culturalservicecenter.
Reachingout
ManyothermuseumsinChinahavealsothoughtoutsidetheboxindesigningculturalandcreativeproductstoreachawideraudience.
TheSuzhouMuseum,setinthehistoricheartofSuzhouineastChina鈥檚JiangsuProvince,soldcookiesthatlookedlikealotus-shapedporcelainbowlfromtheFiveDynastiesandTenKingdomsperiod(907-960)thatwasdesignedbythemuseumin2014.Thetreatwasabighitamongvisitors.
Anotherofthemuseum鈥檚successfulproductsistheseedsofawisteriafromoneofSuzhou鈥檚famedgardens,supposedlyplantedbyMingDynasty(1368-1644)painterandcalligrapherWenZhengming500yearsago.TheseedsweremadeallthemoremarketablebydelicatepackagingusingaspecialkindofpaperimportedfromJapan,andservedtosymbolizethevitalityofcultureacrossgenerations.
Inordertoattractyoungconsumersandinspiretheirloveformuseums,theSuzhouMuseumheldafashionshowin2016todisplaycostumesfusingtraditionalculturalelementssuchasthecalligraphyofMingDynastymasterartistTangBohu(1470-1524)withmodernde-signs.TheywereputonsaleonTaobao鈥檚groupbuyingplatformju.taobaotocoincidewiththeshow.
TodatetheSuzhouMuseumoffersover3,000culturalandcreativeproductsofwhichonly70-80weredevelopedbythemuseumindependently,theresthavingbeenproducedthroughcooperationwithothercompaniesorbyothercompaniesalone.
Themuseumalsoutilizesmultiplesaleschannels,withconsumersabletopurchaseproductseitheronthemuseum鈥檚flagshipTaobaostore,themuseumsouvenirshoponsiteoratEsliteBookstoreinSuzhou.Lastyear,thesaleofmuseumsouvenirssurpassed14millionyuan($2.05million).
InNovember2016,theStateAdministrationofCulturalHeritageselected92museumstostarttrialsfordevelopingculturalandcreativeproducts,encouragingthemtostartcompaniesforsuchproductsbyusingmoneymadethroughthetradingoftheirIPrights.
Butdespitefavorablegovernmentpolicies,theculturalandcreativeproductsofdomesticmuseumsarefacingproblemsintheformofproducthomogeneity,withmostdomesticmuseumsofferingsimilarproductssuchasadhesivetape,handbags,mugsandfans.
WangYaminsuggestedthattheanswerliesinstrengtheningtheprotectionofculturalandcreativeproductbrandsandpromotingtheintegrationofthesectorwithotherindustriestogivefullplaytotheroleofculturalproductsinpreservinghistoryandculture.
CopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto