Li Tongzheng, head of Guangxi Desheng Honglan Liquor Co. Ltd. (DS SAKE), faced a strategic dilemma in March 2025. A UK-based consortium was pressuring him to rebrand DS SAKE—a premium Chinese heritage product rooted in Zhou-era traditions—by adding “inspired by Japanese craftsmanship” to its packaging, reducing quality standards, and slashing prices by nearly 50 per cent for the UK market. These demands threatened the brand’s cultural authenticity, Intangible Cultural Heritage status, and premium positioning. Li needed to balance preserving family values (“True to the way, pure in display”) with urgent business pressures, including cash-flow shortages, while developing an internationalization strategy that maintained brand integrity.
DS清酒：传承文化，走向世界 (DS SAKE: Preserving Heritage While Going Global Simplified Chinese version)
Luanyi Xiao, Yiqun Li, Jianping Xu, Tongzheng Li
Product #:W49885
Supplier:Ivey
Discipline:International Business
Setting:United Kingdom, 2025
Your Price:$9.71
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Learning Objectives
本案例旨在引导学生探索企业在国际扩张过程中如何平衡文化真实性与商业适应性之间的矛盾。通过家族企业面临国际化压力的复杂情境，案例鼓励学生对跨文化品牌建设、内部利益相关者协调、传统行业新兴技术的战略运用，以及财务约束条件在长期决策中的整合进行批判性思考。学生需评估利益相关者协调、品牌定位、法律风险及战略选项——包括Web 3.0知识产权（IP）变现与受保护地理标志（PGI）认证。本案例深入探讨跨文化营销、家族企业治理，以及国际品牌建设中传统与创新的张力。
完成案例分析与作业问题后，学生将能够：
- 分析利益相关方动态与战略权衡：
- 在全球市场准入情境中批判性评估内外利益相关方的冲突压力。
- 评估短期财务可行性与长期品牌资产间的战略权衡，尤其当文化遗产为核心资产时。
- 制定跨文化品牌战略与市场准入策略：
- 设计品牌战略，将独特文化遗产转化为针对认知偏见型海外市场的吸引力价值主张。
- 运用定性与定量数据制定并比较差异化市场进入路径。
- 评估并整合数字创新以实现文化知识产权变现：
- 评估Web 3.0技术在变现无形文化资产及构建全球品牌社群方面的战略潜力与挑战。
- 提出综合行动方案，在缓解即时财务压力的同时，持续构建品牌价值并降低风险。
This case is designed to allow students to explore how companies navigate the tensions between cultural authenticity and commercial adaptation when expanding globally. It encourages critical thinking on cross-cultural branding, internal stakeholder alignment, the strategic use of emerging technologies in legacy industries, and the integration of financial constraints into long-term decision-making—all within the complex context of a family-led business facing urgent internationalization pressures. Students are asked to evaluate stakeholder alignment, brand positioning, legal risks, and strategic options—including Web 3.0 intellectual property (IP) monetization and protected geographical indication (PGI) certification. The case explores themes of cross-cultural marketing, governance in family enterprises, and the tension between tradition and innovation in international brand building.
After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:
- Analyze stakeholder dynamics and strategic trade-offs:
- Critically evaluate the conflicting pressures from internal and external stakeholders in a global market-entry scenario.
- Assess the strategic trade-offs between short-term financial viability and long-term brand equity, particularly when cultural heritage is a core asset.
- Develop cross-cultural branding and market-entry strategies:
- Design a branding strategy to translate a unique cultural heritage into a compelling value proposition for a foreign market with cognitive biases.
- Formulate and compare distinct market-entry paths using both qualitative and quantitative data.
- Evaluate and integrate digital innovation for cultural IP monetization:
- Assess the strategic potential and challenges of Web 3.0 technologies to monetize intangible cultural assets and build a global brand community.
- Propose an integrated action plan that addresses immediate financial pressures while building sustainable brand value and mitigating risks.