Of course branding and brand management should never become a stagnant process and change must always be under active consideration. But such is the power of Quanjude's nostalgic brand image and the international reach of Chinese food and Peking Duck and related dishes that surely market development has to represent a more suitable strategy ahead for any change in product.

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Leveraging the Quanjude brand could take two routes: market expansion via Quanjude-branded restaurants and/or expansion as an "ingredient brand" where Quanjude branded duck dishes become menu items at suitably high class restaurants.

Put simply, the ingredient branding approach could follow the "Intel Inside" approach.

Domestically across Chinese mainland, especially where second- and third-tier cities are concerned, it will be difficult to find and attract such suitably high class restaurants at which the Quanjude product brand could add value to the menu. Expansion through wholly owned Quanjude branded restaurants across China, therefore, has to be the way forward. China's second- and third-tier cities will gradually develop into very attractive markets for such an exclusive brand so careful selection of key locations could provide a way forward.

However, easily the most exciting development opportunity for the Quanjude brand lies in the lucrative Western Europe and North American markets. To date, international expansion appears only to consist of a Quanjude-branded restaurant in the Australian city of Melbourne in order to serve the large Chinese community based permanently there.

Western devotees of Chinese food, especially those who frequent the high-class restaurants in London, New York, Paris and Milan, among other fashionable cities, are often attracted most by Peking Duck and related dishes and would also value highly any branded offering, especially one that is so firmly embedded in China's rich and fascinating history.

Wholly owned Quanjude-branded restaurants in leading European and US cities, however, would prove a far more difficult proposition. Location would be one factor with prime sites unavailable.

But Quanjude-branded duck dishes appearing on the menus of the most select restaurants in for example London, New York and Paris would certainly prove far more feasible and undoubtedly increase customer value considerably.

At the same time, this would put the Quanjude brand firmly on the international map and maintain its prestige image.

The author is a visiting professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a senior lecturer of marketing at Southampton Solent University's School of Business. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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