Nayuki Changes Name! Nationwide Replacement of Pinyin and Chinese Logos

Naixue's Brand Logo Transformation

According to reports from Jiemian News, a user in Nanning, Guangxi, posted on Xiaohongshu yesterday that the sign at the local Naixue store had quietly changed. The Chinese wording on the logo was revised, replacing the Japanese-style character with its plain Chinese equivalent.

The English portion, which previously read "NAYUKI", was also changed to the full spelling "NAIXUE", and the typeface was updated to a version with straighter lines.

Asked about the logo change, which has now been spotted by netizens, a person in charge at Naixue told Boss Live Broadcasting: "This is Naixue's brand upgrade for its seventh anniversary. It will be rolled out across the country gradually."

Under the same netizen's post, Naixue's official customer service on Xiaohongshu also replied: "Thank you for your attention. The brand is currently undergoing a gradual VI upgrade and iteration. We will stay true to our original aspirations and continue to bring everyone quality products and services."

Naixue's Brand Background

Naixue was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It is a tea beverage brand under Shenzhen Pindao Catering Management Co., Ltd. Naixue stores have always combined retail and dining in the form of tea plus soft European bread, aimed mainly at young women aged 20 to 35. The brand keeps to the practice of changing tea bases every four hours and never holding soft European bread overnight. On July 2, 2019, Naixue was named one of the Top Ten Chinese Tea Beverage Brands.

On June 30, 2021, Naixue was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As of September 30, 2022, Naixue operated a total of 973 tea beverage stores, of which 819 were in first-tier cities and 154 in second-tier cities. Every store is directly operated, and the company does not offer franchising.

Brand Evolution and Strategic Change

Naixue's founder, Peng Xin, has spoken publicly more than once about where the name came from. It traces back to Peng Xin's online nickname, "Naixue" (Naxue). When Naixue was being founded in 2014, the popularity of Japanese and Korean culture had seeped into every corner of food, clothing, housing, and transportation for young Chinese consumers, and it set the domestic consumption trends of the time.

In branding, registering in Hong Kong or in Japan and Korea, or even designing a name to make people believe it was an overseas brand, was a common marketing tactic for first-generation Chinese consumer brands. As times have changed, however, Japanese-style labels have gradually become a quiet liability for brands.

Naixue never deliberately tried to build a Japanese-style brand label, and most consumers do not think of it as a tea brand tied to Japan. Even so, for the only publicly listed company in the new tea beverage industry today, plenty of precedents show that brand names carrying Japanese elements pose a potential risk. For Naixue, now eight years old, dropping the old name is in a sense the beginning of a move toward maturity.

Strategic Brand Protection

Naixue's intention to change its logo was well prepared. According to the Tianyancha app, as early as June this year, Shenzhen Pindao Catering Management Co., Ltd., Naixue's parent company, had centrally applied for a series of "NAIXUE" trademarks. Their current status shows that all are awaiting substantive examination, with classifications including convenience foods and beer beverages, among others.

The name change has only just begun. After all, Naixue still uses the old logo as its avatar on social platforms such as Weibo, Douyin, and Dianping. Removing brand names with Japanese elements may also be a way to further protect its offline identity on all fronts. With this kind of careful planning, Naixue's path in business looks set to grow wider.

Naixue has always held its own distinctive views. While enriching its product line, it pushes for standardization, automation, and digitalization across the industry. Even as a sluggish consumer environment leads many brands to slow their store expansion, Naixue keeps expanding aggressively. At this rate, Naixue will soon welcome its 1,000th directly operated store.

Image source: Internet

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