Renowned for his culinary insights and heartfelt expressions, Mr. Cai Lan once said, “Even if the whole world stands against you, good food will always be on your side.”

As a celebrated food connoisseur, Mr. Cai Lan not only knows how to enjoy food but also aspired to create a dim sum shop that resonates with young people. In 2018, this dream became a reality with the launch of Cai Lan Dim Sum, a dedicated chain that has grown over five years to include 60 stores across 12 cities in China. In each new location, Cai Lan Dim Sum has quickly become a local phenomenon.

Recently, the newly opened store in Shenzhen’s Qianhai One Mall stands out as particularly unique.

• The store adopts a natural and elegant courtyard-style space design with extensive use of natural elements.
• It has introduced a range of tea-based beverages, including the “Pu’er King,” a 15-year-old vintage tea known as the “Emperor of Pu’er.”
• For its menu, Cai Lan Dim Sum even brought a touch of heritage with the Lion Dance Pastry, a handcrafted delicacy requiring 45 minutes of precise carving with over 160 cuts per piece.

While Cai Lan Dim Sum is already a high-profile and widely celebrated brand, this evolution reflects deeper market shifts. Over the past few years, as rational consumption has emerged from the pandemic, both capital investors and consumers are reassessing the value created by the internet-driven popularity economy.

• From the investor perspective, popularity-focused strategies often lack sustainability. High initial attention tends to fade quickly, and without a retention strategy, popularity fails to convert into lasting customer engagement.
• From the consumer perspective, visiting viral “internet-famous” stores feels like a gamble. While curiosity may drive a first visit, the experience often ends as a one-off adventure.

This raises an age-old question for all brands: How can popularity be transformed into “retention momentum”?

01 The Key Challenge: Turning Popularity into Retention

In today’s fast-changing consumer landscape, offline experiences need to be creative, novel, and engaging. However, high popularity often comes at the cost of brand loyalty. For example, some viral brands, like Tiger Brigade, once attracted long queues but have since faded into obscurity.

Brands with short life cycles face amplified challenges, especially with the economic pressures of the past three years. For many restaurant operators, the key question is:

“When the buzz subsides, will customers still think of you? Will they return?”

This challenge is not unique to Cai Lan Dim Sum but resonates across the entire F&B industry, a sector notorious for low loyalty as customers constantly seek new flavors and experiences.

To address this, Cai Lan Dim Sum partnered with CBi China Bridge to introduce a user-centered methodology. Together, they sought to understand and innovate around their target audience, enhancing brand strength and service capabilities to transform popularity into retention.

02 The Core of Brand Experience Upgrades: Focus on Users and Experiences

When thinking about brand upgrades, what aspects would you prioritize? What strategies would you employ?

Traditionally, brand upgrades focus on eye-catching visual identity changes or new marketing copy. However, CBi China Bridge believes that sustainable growth lies not in surface-level innovations but in whether the experience aligns with consumer needs and consistently delivers satisfaction.

Thus, the core of the brand experience upgrade is understanding users’ service experience expectations, diagnosing existing gaps, and designing a new service experience system.

Research and Diagnosis

To identify areas for improvement, CBi conducted store visits and focus group interviews, diagnosing pain points in current experiences and uncovering customer needs, consumption scenarios, and service expectations. This deep dive provided insights into the entire dining journey.

03 The Three-Step Experience Design Process

Step 1: Great Experiences are Built Around Target Users

Four years ago, young people were drawn to Cai Lan Dim Sum for its youthful energy. Four years later, some have moved on, citing the same traits. Do young people only like novelty? Are they inherently against old, traditional things? Do they always prioritize efficiency?

CBi discovered that when it comes to tea and dim sum, young people have their own that attracts young people?**

Today’s young consumers are not exclusively trend-chasers. For them, dim sum represents tradition—a taste from childhood, a scene from memory, a nostalgic atmosphere, or a retro style. Words like “classic,” “vintage,” and “traditional” evoke emotional connections and a sense of identity.

• What are young people really “eating” when they choose dim sum?

Dining on dim sum isn’t just about food; it’s about immersing oneself in a relaxed, slow-paced Cantonese tea culture. However, many current store designs and service processes fail to align with this expectation.

“The seating at Cai Lan Dim Sum often feels like a fast-food joint, with two-person tables that make you want to eat quickly and leave. Sometimes, the table gets so cluttered with dishes that I feel pressured to finish quickly so there’s space for new plates.”

“The staff clear plates so fast, it feels like they’re rushing me. Even if I wanted to savor the meal, I’d feel uncomfortable.”

Step 2: Great Experiences Need Novelty and Emotional Resonance

Having identified user pain points, the next question is how to design standout moments and create differentiated services.

While Cai Lan Dim Sum’s team values product strength over celebrity branding, the market demands a more visible expression of the brand’s advantages, including its IP’s cultural value and product creativity.

CBi recommended “relaxation” as the emotional core of the brand, integrating Mr. Cai Lan’s personality and cultural assets into the user experience. This approach conveys the brand’s ethos of “natural, unrestrained, and cultural” relaxation through elements like:

• Incorporating Mr. Cai Lan’s quotes and handwritten calligraphy into store designs, allowing customers to experience his carefree lifestyle.
• Pairing each dish with an explanatory card, highlighting the cultural depth behind Mr. Cai Lan’s culinary philosophy of “turning food into knowledge.”

By combining these elements, Cai Lan Dim Sum creates an experience that is not only distinctive but also emotionally resonant.

Step 3: Great Experiences Require Consensus, Co-Creation, and Alignment

Cai Lan Dim Sum’s team consists of experienced veterans and fresh new talent. Like many organizations, they face challenges such as:

• Cross-departmental misalignment due to differing perspectives and priorities.
• Difficulty achieving consensus and co-creation for brand experience development.
• Missteps in execution when strategies fail to align vertically across the organization.

CBi addressed these challenges through its expertise in collaborative processes:

• Engaging teams in user research for deeper understanding.
• Conducting customized co-creation workshops to foster consensus.
• Using professional service design tools to build the brand experience together.

04 A Blueprint for Next-Generation Brand Upgrades

In summary, brand-building is not just about communication but about experience.

Cai Lan Dim Sum’s success in upgrading its brand and service experience lies not in the race to keep up with competitors but in crafting meaningful experiences grounded in user insights. The process also stays true to the team’s mission: to create a dim sum shop that both satisfies its founders and resonates with young people through innovation and authenticity.

While the seven-month iteration of store and service upgrades marks just the beginning, it’s clear that the ultimate winners in this competitive market are those who leave a lasting impression beyond novelty.

In an era dominated by popularity and viral brands, Cai Lan Dim Sum demonstrates that the endgame is not simply about “queues, posts, and eventual decline.” Instead, by focusing on brand-building and delivering experiences that resonate emotionally, Cai Lan Dim Sum has found its true competitive moat—transforming popularity into enduring retention momentum.