ABOUT

Reimagining Chinatown:
From Cliché to Culture Leader.

The ask:
Rebrand Chinatown London and reposition it as the number one East Asian food village in the UK.

Our goal:
Turn a collection of streets that were notorious for cheap buffet restaurants, massage parlours and betting shops into a powerbrand that is seen as a Culture Leader in it's own right.

How could we reconcile authenticity with modernity as well as changing the way people perceived Chinatown and to a larger extent, China itself, avoiding clichés and alienating the Chinese community?

"In many Asian cultures, people feel the concept of home very succinctly. Home isn't just where you live, it's who you are. Chinatown should be a place where the Chinese and East Asians living in London can feel who they are. For everyone else, it should be a place where no visitor feels like a tourist, but everyone feels like a traveller."
Qumin- Arnold Ma


"When we developed the branding for Chinatown we wanted to embody a place where Chinese and East Asians feel at home, and Western visitors can try new things, meet new people and look beyond their own culture. It will be a place that reflects the mix of tradition and modernism that makes cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul some of the most exciting places in the world for people to visit. We combined traditional elements of constructing Chinese characters in square boxes with popular Neon sign layouts as the basis of our logo. To represent the dynamism of Chinatown the logo dynamically evolves on the website for each section."
Shane Zhong - Qumin


"Improving the perception of Chinatown is an intriquing branding challenge with the added complexity of being culturally sensitive. And it's not just as simple as buying up advertising space and proclaiming a new era. All those vested in Chinatown needed to be part of the change: Qumin's brand redesign and promoting the Chinatown offering in a contemporary way on Instagram and Facebook, Shaftesbury PLC being brave enough to encourage other East Asian cuisine to join the party, and of course, the locals, proudly inviting westeners into their spiritual home. With China opening up to the world, now is the time for Chinatown to open up too."
Qumin- Leroyson Figueira

Evoke Memories and Inspire Discovery
Chinatown Proposition

Because we're speaking with two different types of audiences, our proposition must adequately address the needs and wants of both if we're to change the current perceptions of Chinatown.



"Before we can effect real change, we must start by challenging people's perception of both China and Chinatown. We must create moments that create content which appeal to earn for a sense of home - make Chinatown their home away from home. Most Westerners still have an outdated view of China. We want Chinatown to be the leading voice in showing London the China of today.
The China of now is innovative, creative and middle-class. But it remains a culture with food at it's heart, as it has been for thousands of years.Our strategy must reflect this - modern expectations, traditional values."
Tom Nixon- Qumin

With campaigns like Eat Like a Local, and Chinatown Misconceptions, we have shifted the conversation from talk of late night cheap buffets to culinary diversity and an accurate cultural representation of modern China.

"Chinatown has become a very exciting place, we have street food, new (food) trends, new cool stuff you can find in Chinatown. It's really a place you can't miss. If you come to London you have to come here."
Iris Ma - Plum Valley, Chinatown restauranteur

"From creating the leading Chinatown web property globally, Chinatown website, to media food tours, designing shop hoardings and a new vibrant Instagram channel for out video and media content Qumin have transformed the impression visitors have of Chinatown London."
Tom Welton - Shaftesbury Plc

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