Haijun Ni
Research Fellow, School of Art Design and Media, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST); Director, Research Center for Time-Honored Brand Innovation; Professor, Brand University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany; Expert, 2014 Shanghai Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Program; Winner of the 2016 Shanghai May Day Labour Medal; Council Member, Culture and Creative Industries Branch of the Shanghai Western Returned Scholars Association; Member of the 2nd and 3rd Huangpu District Committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Shanghai; Council Member, Xuhui District Intellectuals Association, Shanghai; Vice President, Shanghai Industrial Design Association; Deputy Director, Design Committee, Shanghai Association of Creative Workers;
Research Areas: Innovation of time-honored brands; brand innovation strategy and practice; brand digitalization and interdisciplinary innovative design in the intelligent era
Profile: Deeply engaged in brand innovation and the cultural revitalization of time-honored brands, with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary collaboration among design, computer science, communication studies and management, forming a typical cross-disciplinary learning and research environment and encouraging graduate students to grow through real-world projects. Led research covering more than 70 time-honored brand enterprises in Shanghai; developed dozens of self-media platforms such as “Magic City Time-Honored Brand Research” and “Magic City Time-Honored Brand Encyclopedia”, and expanded into AIGC content production, intelligent design and digital assets for time-honored brands; led the Time-Honored Brand Revitalization Program Studio to win the Silver Award at the 2023 national “Challenge Cup”; drove the renewal and upgrading of more than 50 time-honored brands, including Bright Food Group, Bailian Group and New World Group, together with their brands such as White Rabbit, Guanshengyuan, Foshou, Wu Liangcai, Maochang Eyewear and Xiandela. In 2012, founded the Shanghai “Creative Voice” design platform with support from the Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industries Development Fund; in 2019, under a program approved by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission for innovative studios of scarce artistic talents, established the Time-Honored Brand Integrated Innovation Studio at ECUST to integrate industry-academia-research resources. In recent years, led the “China Creative · Time-Honored Brands and New Guochao” special competition, which across its 18th to 20th editions covered more than 640 universities in China and abroad, attracted over 10,000 entries, and promoted the signing and commercialization of award-winning proposals with time-honored brands;
With abundant academic and practical achievements, he was named among the Ministry of Culture's “Top 100 Young Chinese Designers” (2014) and as an “Advanced Worker in Science Popularization of Shanghai” (2020); earlier, he was selected as a “Young High-End Creative Leading Talent” by the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League (2013); he won the UK International Young Design Entrepreneur Award (2006) and was received by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown the following year (2007). He has long been committed to public welfare and education, receiving the Shanghai Youth Informatization Public Welfare Award (2014–2015), and cultivates creative talent through courses, lectures and social services. Grounded in Shanghai (Haipai) culture and combined with an international perspective, he leads the innovation of time-honored brands and the development of Guochao. Students from diverse backgrounds who are interested in branding, intelligent design, cultural innovation, communication studies or management are welcome to apply to the research group, to jointly explore interdisciplinary research and practice in brand innovation in the intelligent era.
Email：Nathan_nee@pibrand.cn
Published Books:
Ni Haijun, Zhou Jie. Creative Thinking [M]. East China University of Science and Technology Press, 2026.
Ni Haijun, Yu Baoping. Inheritance and Revitalization: A Collection of Time-Honored Brand Innovation Cases [M]. Wenhui Publishing House, 2025.
Shao Longtu, Ni Haijun, Cheng Ruifang. The Power of Design [M]. Jiangsu Phoenix Science and Technology Press, 2018. ISBN 978-7-5537-9116-6.
Ni Haijun (chief editor). Creative Frenzy: Creative Voice Yearbook 2012–2014 [M]. Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, 2014.
Selected Journal Articles:
From Service to Product: A Study on Own-Brand Product Development of Traditional Commercial Time-Honored Brands [J]. China Advertising, 2026.09.
Ni Haijun, Shi Jiahui. From “Selling Products” to “Winning Recognition”: A Study on the Overseas Expansion Pathways of Time-Honored Brands Empowered by Culture [J]. Modern Management, 2026.06.
Yu Zhihong, Xu Xinyin, Ni Haijun. “New Haipai+”: A Cognitive Leap Based on Shanghai (Haipai) Culture [J]. Screen Printing, 2025.07.
Liu Yunxia, Ni Haijun. Research on Brand Innovation Strategies of Time-Honored Brands in the Eyewear Industry: A Case Study of Maochang Eyewear [J]. Modern Marketing, 2025.
Yu Zhihong, Wang Mingran, Ni Haijun. Analyzing Brand Innovation of Chinese Time-Honored Brands through Classic Global Fashion Brands [J]. Time-Honored Brand Marketing, 2025.01.
Zhang Yuhan, Liu Yunxia, Ni Haijun. Research on Innovation-Driven University–Enterprise Cooperation: A Case Study of the Collaboration between Sanlian Group and East China University of Science and Technology [J]. Modern Management, 2024.11.
Ni Haijun, Shen Jie. Innovation Is the Core Value of Time-Honored Brands: A Study on Innovation Models Based on the Extension of Traditional Design Chains [J]. Modern Management, 2024.11.
Ni Haijun, Liu Chang. Unleashing the Potential of Blossoms Shanghai to Reshape the New Glory of Shanghai's Time-Honored Brands [J]. China Advertising, 2024.03.15.
Shan Jie, Ni Haijun, Wei Benyue. Research on the Synergistic Development of Shanghai's “Time-Honored Brands” and “New Brands” [J]. Modern Business, 2023.12.
Ni Haijun, Wang Jun, Xin Jueyi. How Can Time-Honored Brands Uphold Integrity While Innovating and Set New Sails? [J]. China Advertising, 2023.03.
Shen Jie, Ni Haijun. Research on Brand Upgrading Strategies of Time-Honored Food Enterprises under the Ready-to-Cook Meal Boom: A Case Study of Shanghai Longmen Aquatic Products [J]. China Advertising, 2023.01.
Ma Xuanyu, Ni Haijun. A Comparative Study on the Strengths and Weaknesses of Brand Extension for Time-Honored Brands [J]. China Advertising, 2023.01.
Ni Haijun, Liu Yi. New Guochao Upgrading Strategies for Time-Honored Brands: A Case Study of the Eyewear Brand Maochang [J]. China Advertising, 2021.12.
Ni Haijun, Pan Jiahao, Liu Chang. Research on the Rejuvenation of Domestic Brands: A Case Study of a Consumer Survey on Aisen Chilled Fresh Pork [J]. China Advertising, 2021.11.
Ni Haijun, Jiang Tong. Brand Communication of Time-Honored Brands in the Context of Guochao: The “Irreplicable” Communication Approach of the White Rabbit IP [J]. Brand Research, 2020.05.
Ni Haijun. Revival and Breakthrough of Time-Honored Brands [J]. China Advertising, 2019(04): 68.
Ni Haijun. Creative Expo Routes [J]. China Advertising, 2010(06).
Ni Haijun. Dazzling Dandelions [J]. China Advertising, 2010(10).
Ni Haijun. Time, Please Slow Down: A CEO's Self-Cultivation [C] // Experiencing Creativity II. Oriental Publishing Center, 2015: 75-82.
Innovation research on time-honored brands; research on brand innovation strategies and practices
