Wenxian: Erzählt chinesische Geschichten wie Laopu Gold und macht Parfums im Preisbereich von tausend Yuan zu einem Geschäft | Exklusives Interview von Houxue

Text | Li Xiaoxia

Interview | Yang Xuan, Li Xiaoxia

Editor | Qiao Qian

A bottle of perfume that can be sold for 1,750 yuan may come from a Chinese brand, besides Chanel and Hermès.

In the years when new consumption was at its peak, it was a common practice to create a premium for products. However, with the change in consumption logic, affordability has become the hallmark of the era.

While brands like Mixue Bingcheng and Luckin Coffee are making great strides, there are also some exceptions. For example, among the prominent "Consumption F4", Laopu Gold sells a piece of gold jewelry for tens of thousands of yuan.

TMEY is also an "exception". This domestic brand, established in 2021, entered the market with concentrated perfumes and managed to break into the well - fortified high - end perfume market dominated by big brands with its original creativity.

Unlike luxury brands with a century - long history, which can command high prices just by their names, TMEY has to prove its worthiness of the "high price" in the eyes of the public with double the concentration of perfume essence, unique visuals, and expressions.

Take product launches as an example. TMEY launches new perfume series in seasons, just like fashion brands. The first season was "To Err Is Human", the second was "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing", and the third was "Passed Out"... Each season includes 3 - 6 products with rather special names, such as "Naive" (for initial ripeness), "Void" (empty of wood), and "Feather" (transformed into an immortal).

These distinctive features have attracted a group of loyal customers. In the offline full - channel repurchase last year, 60% came from old customers.

Besides the willingness of customers to pay, earlier, with its uniqueness and premium pricing, TMEY had good investors participating in each round of financing, and it even became L'Oréal's first venture investment in China.

Such a smooth journey made Meng Zhaoran, the founder of TMEY, a bit overconfident. He made some wrong decisions, such as blindly opening stores in Chengdu and trying to enter the clothing and jewelry business.

"Fortunately, the brand was still small at that time. Even if there were problems, we could survive and gradually make adjustments. If such mistakes were made after the company grew bigger, we might not be able to bear it. So, I'm really grateful for that experience."

Over the fluctuating years, Meng Zhaoran's mindset and short - term goals have changed. He no longer just wants to create a small and beautiful brand favored by the industry. Instead, he hopes that TMEY can be seen and purchased by more people.

But in terms of business, as Meng Zhaoran put it, TMEY's previous expressions were too niche, too personal, and too self - centered. They could only be regarded as good "works" rather than good "commodities".

"This year, we not only launched an overseas expansion plan but also established our own e - commerce platform and entered Sephora. When we come into contact with a more diverse group of users, we need a clearer and more unified narrative. The previous way of attracting old customers through individuality doesn't work in new channels and can't build trust."

How to transform works into commodities has become the core issue for TMEY.

Meng Zhaoran's answer is to embrace Chinese culture. In his view, like luxury goods, perfume ultimately sells emotions and stories. It's not difficult to make a perfume smell good, but it's hard to create a story that people can remember.

What TMEY needs is a unified story that can be understood by everyone: whether they are Chinese or foreigners, users from tier 4 or 5 cities, buyers on e - commerce platforms, or customers in high - end offline malls.

"The only thing that can play this role is Chinese culture."

The success of Laopu Gold has verified the power of Chinese culture. Will TMEY also succeed this time?

Before delving deeper, we had a conversation with Meng Zhaoran, the principal of TMEY.

(Meng Zhaoran, the founder of TMEY)

The following is a conversation (edited) between 36Kr and Meng Zhaoran, the founder of TMEY:

From works to commodities

36Kr: The name TMEY is quite special.

Meng Zhaoran: When we first came up with the English name, we wanted to find a word with high recognition and fairness. Also, since our team members are all designers, we've always thought that the sense of smell is a great medium for storing memories and expressing oneself. "Documents" also means recording and storing, and its Chinese translation is "literature", and "wen" (literature) has the same pronunciation as "wen" (smell). This subtle overlapping meaning just describes what we want to do - record emotions, experiences, and time with scents.

36Kr: High - end products are not limited to perfume.

Meng Zhaoran: This is somewhat related to my experience in flower art. At that time, dealing with flowers all year round, I gradually realized that the seasons are more complex than just spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Colors, scents, and textures all make the connection between humans and nature very delicate. I was thinking then if I could turn this way of "communicating with nature" into a more long - lasting and stable product, such as perfume.

36Kr: The names of TMEY's products in each season are very special, like "Feather" and "Void".

Meng Zhaoran: However, this kind of expression is too niche, too personal, and too self - centered. It can only be regarded as good works. But from the perspective of business scale and product efficiency, marketing each product individually has many obstacles and can't turn them into commodities. So, in the seventh season, we're going to create truly commercialized products that can be liked, understood, and accepted by more people.

36Kr: Didn't you realize before that this would create obstacles?

Meng Zhaoran: It was intentional before. We dressed up in a flamboyant way to arouse people's curiosity.

36Kr: What led to the transformation from works to commodities?

Meng Zhaoran: It's mainly due to the change in my mindset and short - term goals. At the beginning, we just wanted to create a small and beautiful brand favored by the industry. But as people grow, they become less satisfied. It's not enough to be liked and noticed only by peers. We also want more people to like and buy our products. Naturally, this requires creating products that can break through the niche market. But for me personally, this is a very practical test - how to turn creativity into a good business, not just a romantic idea.

36Kr: Was there any push from L'Oréal behind this?

Meng Zhaoran: It's not really a push, but L'Oréal has indeed provided great help. For example, they share industry data, business information, and their domestic business logic - from what aspects to judge a business, as well as tools like budget - making tables and formulas. This is very useful for us and has saved us a lot of time because almost no one in our team originally had a background in big beauty companies, and we really had to figure things out on our own at the beginning.

36Kr: Is this transformation necessary?

Meng Zhaoran: It's not necessary. Of course, many brands can always insist on only creating "works". This transformation is a process I've experienced from 2022 to 2024. After going through many challenges and crises, my mindset has gradually become more practical, and I'm no longer overconfident or unrealistic.

The previous "works" model had a lot of uncertainties. As the business scale grows and the brand matures, these uncertainties will turn into greater risks. An important solution to these risks is to turn works into commodities - works only need to be responsible to oneself, while commodities need to be responsible to the company, users, and shareholders.

This process may wear away some individuality and edges, but it's safer and healthier. For a brand, sustainable development, long - term existence, and continuous influence (whether it's on one person or a million people) first require healthy survival.

36Kr: Was the transformation process painful?

Meng Zhaoran: It's not really painful. It's mainly about filling in the missing information structure from the past. For example, we didn't know how to set budgets or divide channels in the perfume industry before, but now we've gradually learned and gotten used to it.

36Kr: Is there anything you couldn't accept before but can accept now?

Meng Zhaoran: For example, the issue of channel cross - selling. Our self - operated channels never offer discounts, not even in Li Jiaqi's live - streaming room. But sometimes, there are still discounted products online. At first, I was very anxious, thinking it would affect the brand. But now, I don't care as much.

In the past few years, we've gradually realized that the Chinese market is large enough, and each channel has its own ecosystem. Even if there is cross - selling, as long as the overall system is healthy and orderly, it won't cause serious damage. This is a change after building a more comprehensive information and thinking perspective.

"TMEY is not actually that expensive"

36Kr: The most prominent label on TMEY seems to be "expensive".

Meng Zhaoran: Some of TMEY's products are priced high, but in terms of price per milliliter, it's not as expensive as people think. It's just a bit more expensive than ordinary commercial perfumes, and our raw materials do have high costs, and we don't skimp on the ingredients. Most users who have actually bought TMEY products don't think it's expensive.

36Kr: Do you mind TMEY being called "expensive"?

Meng Zhaoran: I used to care a lot, and it would even affect my mood. But now, I don't. The business is stable, customers are repurchasing, and the team is in good condition. I feel very secure. I recently deleted all my social media accounts so as not to be influenced by too many useless voices.

36Kr: What's the secret that makes customers willing to buy TMEY products in the past few years?

Meng Zhaoran: We have our own style, and style is actually an attitude - it will attract people who are on the same wavelength as you. This uniqueness is the key for a brand to stand out in the market, and we've always been adhering to this core.

Embrace Chinese culture like Laopu Gold

36Kr: In the past, customers bought TMEY products because of its individuality. When the brand moves towards the market, will customers still be willing to buy?

Meng Zhaoran: I don't think it will have a big impact. Even as we're moving towards the market, our products still maintain their distinct individuality. It's just that in terms of naming, positioning, and narration, they've become more popular and easier to understand. "Popular" doesn't mean "lacking in individuality"; it's just a different way of presenting the products to allow more people to get closer.

We're quite confident now. On the one hand, we have a solid user base - 60% of the offline full - channel repurchase last year came from old customers, showing strong loyalty. On the other hand, our business is in a healthy and stable state overall.

36Kr: What do commercialized and market - oriented products look like?

Meng Zhaoran: For example, our seventh - season products represent a conscious shift. This season uses very distinct Chinese - style language. Not only does the outer packaging use various shades of "Chinese red", but we also named the products after the perfume ingredients for the first time, calling it "Sandalwood, Agarwood, Musk, and Ambergris". Not only do the perfumes adopt the "Chinese incense note", but this series also comes with coil incense.

We have a clear overseas expansion plan this year and will try to open stores in overseas airports. So, when planning the seventh - season perfumes, we've been thinking about how to answer the question when entering a more mature market and facing more professional and experienced users - why should they buy this Chinese perfume? Why should they buy TMEY? Chinese culture is our answer.

(TMEY's seventh - season "Sandalwood, Agarwood, Musk, and Ambergris" perfume series)

36Kr: Why Chinese culture in particular?

Meng Zhaoran: This year, we not only launched an overseas expansion plan but also established our own e - commerce platform and entered Sephora. When we come into contact with a more diverse group of users, we need a clearer and more unified narrative. The previous way of attracting old customers through individuality doesn't work in new channels and can't build trust.

Like luxury goods, perfume ultimately sells emotions and stories. It's not difficult to make a perfume smell good, but it's hard to create a story that people can remember. What we need is a unified story that can be understood by everyone, whether they are Chinese or foreigners, users from tier 4 or 5 cities, buyers on e - commerce platforms, or customers in high - end offline malls.

Chinese culture is the only thing that can play this role. It can help the brand penetrate different markets and channels and turn the products into a large - scale business.

36Kr: I've talked with some perfume brands before, and they said that foreign - brand perfumes are not very suitable for Chinese people because foreigners have stronger body odors and need higher - concentration perfumes. So, will you make reverse adjustments for the overseas market?

Meng Zhaoran: Just as Guerlain in France doesn't create perfumes specifically for the Chinese market and always represents its national and brand genes, if we cater to the overseas market, we definitely can't compete with French brands. What I want to do is to be different from them.

The best differentiation lies in culture itself. I realized this when I was studying photography in France. At that time, my works were completely different from those of my French classmates, but I often ranked among the top in the class and was the first in the whole school when I graduated. My teacher told me, "Because you're the first Chinese student, what you shoot is different." This "inherent" cultural perspective can't be replaced by any form of imitation.

36Kr: Will L'Oréal help with your overseas expansion?

Meng Zhaoran: The name L'Oréal itself is a powerful endorsement. When we talk about cooperation overseas, once we mention that it's L'Oréal's first VC project, the other party can immediately establish basic trust. This trust is especially important in an unfamiliar market.

36Kr: Can embracing Chinese culture support the premium pricing?

Meng Zhaoran: Chinese culture is definitely a value, but what I care more about is whether it can be truly understood and felt. Our relatively high product prices are indeed related to the positioning of concentrated perfumes, raw material costs, and channel selection. It also needs support at the level of consumer perception.

As a young brand, we can't create brand heritage out of thin air. If we only rely on the surface design form and appearance, it's difficult to support the depth of our design and the height of the premium. Culture is the core that can truly support the premium.

However, the role of culture is not