e3 global insight magazine issue15
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Global Insights Magazine
3 7 10 1130 years of branding in China
Marketing Sans Frontieres
East vs. West: The difference in advertising & design styles
Spotlight: The social media landscape in China
Issue 15 – Edited by Adsmith China 2013
What can we learn from Asia?
e3 insights
GO EAST YOUNG BRAND! Asia is incredibly diverse – from the big cities of Shanghai and Tokyo to the countryside of Southeast Asia – languages, religion and culture vary. How can brands tackle entry into Asia, when in India alone there are hundreds of languages spread across 1.21 billion people? And let’s not forget about Australia – also a vital member of the APAC region. Serious research and planning is a must for any brand spreading their wings into Asia.
For B2B brands there is a concerted lack of marketing expertise in Asia – or possibly a lack of investment. For example, a German brand initially set up for manufacturing in China for export elsewhere begins to shift sales to the domestic market in Asia. Often the marketing manager comes from the manufacturing side, or little budget is set aside for proper marketing materials or campaigns. Brands that do it right can bring the best of their global branding and messaging and combine it with local expertise – but they should be prepared to invest and to be patient.
Messages, and even brand names, often get lost in translation. It may not be necessary to “reinvent the wheel,” but translated material can end up becoming a strange hodge-podge of content if the concepts do not translate well. So as marketers, we have to look at the source material as well as the target market, and adjust the messaging for our targets. Truly understanding the target market is so absolutely crucial here.
Channels are also very different from the West. Imagine China – no Fa-cebook, no YouTube, no Twitter…your global marketing strategy just took a left turn! As an American who has spent the last 15 years in Asia, it is actually these differences that are the most interesting to me and what makes our jobs so much fun!
2
Mike Golden
Managing Director
mike@adsmithchina.com
Chinese people who grew up in the 60s and 70s can hardly recall 10 brands from their childhood; back then, there were few manufactured products and most of them were unbranded. Two generations later, it would be a challenge to find a Chinese urban lady who can’t name 10 brands of luxury bags.
30 years of brand building in China
Since most brands and product categories did not exist 20 or 30 years ago, there is no ‘brand legacy’ across generations: In mature western markets, brands tend to pass from generation to generation: if your parents used Colgate, you are much more likely to buy Colgate for the rest of your life. In China, brand preferences differ greatly across key demographics (age, income, rural or city residents, etc…). We also see numerous cases of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) products and brands introduced by children in the household.
With so little history and legacy in consumer minds, brands setting up in this market at that time had the unique opportunity to do it from a blank piece of paper. This made even more sense in the light of China’s huge and fairly isolated population. As a result, we witness today huge differences in brand positioning and offer-ings between China and other countries. The general recipe of success for foreign brands was to project some cliché elements from the country of origin and totally revisit the local offering.
Brands were focused on creating new needs, growing their market base while at the same time keeping leadership in their category. There was a clear advantage to early comers with a long term vision and means to back it up such as Nes-café who introduced instant coffee to China in the mid 80’s and has been defining coffee consumption and lifestyle since then. Developing market awareness was – and still is in many con-sumer markets – the main focus of brands, through massive (and often simplistic) ad campaigns, often riding on the fame of local celebrities acting as ‘brand ambassadors’.
Along with the emergence of middle class and wealthy consumers, Chinese people started to turn to brands as symbols of lifestyle, social status or personality. In a Chinese culture that traditionally values uniformity, brands provided a unique way for individuals to assess and state their personal-ity. Today, as consumer markets are becoming and more mature and competitive, brands start to target smaller sets of clients and differentiate along a set of values. In the setting, brand awareness is less relevant – customer interaction and engagement are the names of the game. Social media proves to be the ideal platform to support such interaction; it enables a brand to engage directly and efficiently target customers and can provide an environment for customers to express their personality. Consumer brands are now investing heavily in ever more creative and sophisticated campaigns combining hard advertisements, couponing, promotions and social media with mobile device localization. 3
Arnaud Debane
General Manager
Superbrands China
Tourism Australia launched a new tourism campaign focusing on Australia’s natural beauty.
This new campaign cost 250 million USD.social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 125%
Australia
Chennai's Tapas bar, Zara's joined efforts with Chennal City traffic police to create a social
media initiative that raised awareness for drunk driving. Within hours of being uploaded on
YouTube, this video generated up to 85,000 likes and immediately became popular.
social mediapenetration 95%
mobile penetration 78%
India
A public health campaign was launched in Indonesia, testing the limits of an actress. It
required the actress to smoke a total of 100 cigarettes for a commercial, portraying the
lack of glamour from smoking.
social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 105%
Indonesia
Japan's most popular ad family, 'The Whites' remains #1 with viewers for the past six
years. 'The Whites' family' has become a staple of telecom Softbank’s marketing by being
the most popular recurring commercial characters in Japan.
social mediapenetration 58%
mobile penetration 106%
Japan
E-Mart solved their problem with slow crowds during lunch hours by introducing a new
sun-based QR Code for shopping convenience. The QR Code is revealed between 12pm
and 1pm, in the form of a special offer or daily promotion. Marketers were excited that
sales increased during lunch time by a whopping twenty five percent!
social mediapenetration 87%
mobile penetration 110%
South Korea
Samsung launched the 'Smart Phone Line' app so that customers could virtually line up to
purchase the new Galaxy S4. By sharing the S4 features released every day on social
media, you moved further up the virtual line, and eventually earned your place in the
purchase queue.
social mediapenetration 95%
mobile penetration 117%
New Zealand
Volvo invited Faith Dickey, a world class rope walker, to cross a rope tied between two
moving Volvo FHs with a time bomb element. This video stunt ad quickly become viral,
garnering over 5 million views on YouTube in less than a month.
social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 94%
Philippines
Coca-Cola positioned itself as a non-threatening ally to affectionate youth by creating a
Coke vending machine that responds only to the currency of hugs. social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 147%
Singapore
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau introduced "Thailand Connect", a global
marketing campaign with the goal of generating almost Bt100 billion in revenue over the
next year. The new campaign focuses on three key strategies: a diversity of destinations,
unrivalled business opportunities, and high quality of Thailand's MICE (meetings,
incentives, conventions and exhibition) professionals.
social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 117%
Thailand
WWF and TRAFFIC have launched an ad campaign depicting a rhino with human feet in place
of its horn. The campaign provides a though-provoking visual to communicate to citizens that
rhino horn is made largely of keratin, the same substance that makes up human finger nails
and toe nails. The print adverts conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather Viet Nam hope to stop the
poaching crisis and debunk the widespread myth of rhino horn's curative properties.
social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 147%
Vietnam
By shaking their smartphone at Coca-Cola's new television commericial, customers could
collect bottle caps that earned them mobile games, discounts and sweepstakes entries.
This app reached the top of the local app downloads for iOS in a single day, receiving
380,000 downloads in one month.
social mediapenetration 93%
mobile penetration 214%
Hong Kong
Extra's ongoing advertising campaign portrays a love story between two young people
while highlighting their gum product. Combined with celebrity actors and detailed
background music, the campaign has been very successful at reaching the younger
generation.
social mediapenetration 53%
mobile penetration 78%
China
Country Marketing Facts Interesting Marketing Campaigns
4
Interesting Marketing Facts About
The Asia-Pacific (APAC) Region
Tourism Australia launched a new tourism campaign focusing on Australia’s natural beauty.
This new campaign cost 250 million USD.social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 125%
Australia
Chennai's Tapas bar, Zara's joined efforts with Chennal City traffic police to create a social
media initiative that raised awareness for drunk driving. Within hours of being uploaded on
YouTube, this video generated up to 85,000 likes and immediately became popular.
social mediapenetration 95%
mobile penetration 78%
India
A public health campaign was launched in Indonesia, testing the limits of an actress. It
required the actress to smoke a total of 100 cigarettes for a commercial, portraying the
lack of glamour from smoking.
social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 105%
Indonesia
Japan's most popular ad family, 'The Whites' remains #1 with viewers for the past six
years. 'The Whites' family' has become a staple of telecom Softbank’s marketing by being
the most popular recurring commercial characters in Japan.
social mediapenetration 58%
mobile penetration 106%
Japan
E-Mart solved their problem with slow crowds during lunch hours by introducing a new
sun-based QR Code for shopping convenience. The QR Code is revealed between 12pm
and 1pm, in the form of a special offer or daily promotion. Marketers were excited that
sales increased during lunch time by a whopping twenty five percent!
social mediapenetration 87%
mobile penetration 110%
South Korea
Samsung launched the 'Smart Phone Line' app so that customers could virtually line up to
purchase the new Galaxy S4. By sharing the S4 features released every day on social
media, you moved further up the virtual line, and eventually earned your place in the
purchase queue.
social mediapenetration 95%
mobile penetration 117%
New Zealand
Volvo invited Faith Dickey, a world class rope walker, to cross a rope tied between two
moving Volvo FHs with a time bomb element. This video stunt ad quickly become viral,
garnering over 5 million views on YouTube in less than a month.
social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 94%
Philippines
Coca-Cola positioned itself as a non-threatening ally to affectionate youth by creating a
Coke vending machine that responds only to the currency of hugs. social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 147%
Singapore
The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau introduced "Thailand Connect", a global
marketing campaign with the goal of generating almost Bt100 billion in revenue over the
next year. The new campaign focuses on three key strategies: a diversity of destinations,
unrivalled business opportunities, and high quality of Thailand's MICE (meetings,
incentives, conventions and exhibition) professionals.
social mediapenetration 96%
mobile penetration 117%
Thailand
WWF and TRAFFIC have launched an ad campaign depicting a rhino with human feet in place
of its horn. The campaign provides a though-provoking visual to communicate to citizens that
rhino horn is made largely of keratin, the same substance that makes up human finger nails
and toe nails. The print adverts conceptualized by Ogilvy & Mather Viet Nam hope to stop the
poaching crisis and debunk the widespread myth of rhino horn's curative properties.
social mediapenetration 94%
mobile penetration 147%
Vietnam
By shaking their smartphone at Coca-Cola's new television commericial, customers could
collect bottle caps that earned them mobile games, discounts and sweepstakes entries.
This app reached the top of the local app downloads for iOS in a single day, receiving
380,000 downloads in one month.
social mediapenetration 93%
mobile penetration 214%
Hong Kong
Extra's ongoing advertising campaign portrays a love story between two young people
while highlighting their gum product. Combined with celebrity actors and detailed
background music, the campaign has been very successful at reaching the younger
generation.
social mediapenetration 53%
mobile penetration 78%
China
Country Marketing Facts Interesting Marketing Campaigns
5
6
Case Study:Hamilton Beach: Showing Chinese Consumers the meaning of “Good Thinking” in Cooking
situation Analysis:American small kitchen appliance brand Hamilton Beach launched into China in an attempt to penetrate a very lucrative market. The brand met with several obstacles such as low brand awareness as well as intense competition from larger kitchen appliance brands that have had a longer market presence and larger distribution network. Hamilton Beach needed to devise a marketing strategy that would help set them apart from the competition while at the same time add value to consumers seeking a better and more premium lifestyle.
solution:After conducting some qualitative research as well as a competitor analysis, we developed a strategy based on a key consumer insight: the Chinese tar-get audience wanted to learn how to cook Western/International cuisine in order to show that they have attained success in their lives. As a result, we devel-oped the brand strategy: “My Culinary Companion: An Inspiration for a Premium Lifestyle for both Family & Friends”. Rather than trying to be too hard sell, we focused on positioning the brand as a consultant who would teach the eager consumers some cooking tips, share some recipes, and would also encourage people to share their culinary experiences online via the dif-ferent platforms.
We also implemented the following activities based on the brand strategy:a. Launched a media outreach plan aimed at telling
the brand story of Hamilton Beach that focuses on 100 years of American innovation as well as the Good Thinking behind the brand’s product features
b. Launched a social media campaign that leveraged promotions on Weibo (Chinese Twitter) as well as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) who have a strong fan base interested in cooking, sharing recipes, and cu-linary experiences
c. Generating relevant online content that is strategi-cally inserted into the relevant channels in order to position Hamilton Beach as an expert in cooking/recipes as well as small kitchen appliances
the Results (so far):The campaign has generated some comprehensive media coverage (16 media clippings within 2 months, with a total of 703,500 impressions), most especially in online sources linked to lifestyle. In addition, we man-aged to increase the number of Weibo fans by more than 100% thanks to the seasonal promotions that we implemented. Furthermore, we succeeded in engag-ing fans online through KOLs and chat forums, thereby driving more traffic to the brand website, the Hamilton Beach Weibo page, as well as the brand store on T-Mall.
GoodThinking
7
Marketing Sans FrontieresWorking collaboratively brings out the best for brands – local agencies can help marketers understand what works best in their markets, but without los-ing sight of the brand’s international goals and vision.
Magna SteyrAdsmith worked with SPS Marketing in Austria to support Magna Steyr, one of the world’s key
automotive parts manufacturers, to develop a completely Chinese version of their HR video series “My Life.” My Life features employees from the Chinese HQ of Magna Steyr – portraying their work and free time environments. SPS in Austria helped with the storyboard and post-production, ensuring world quality standards, while Adsmith China handled the local video shooting and script writing.
Metsa FibreHelsinki-based Recom-mended Finland and Ad-smith China have collabo-rated for over 3 years to develop marketing materi-als for one of the world’s key paper pulp producers, Metsa Fibre. This included developing the key graph-ics and text in Finland, followed by Chinese text development and editing in Shanghai.
Stubb’s Shanghai Stubb’s is a famous BBQ restaurant from Austin, Texas, and also the brand owner of Stubb’s BBQ sauce, found in supermarkets across the USA. Entering Shanghai with their first restaurant, Stubb’s came to Adsmith China for help developing the marketing materials as well as PR and social me-dia strategy. In need of a website based on the lat-est technology, Adsmith collaborated with Swiss E3 agency member Duck Dive to design and program the Stubb’s China website.
8
The New Influencers
Since the spread of the printing press across the globe more than four hundred years ago, media has played an influential role in what we think and the way we feel about everything from politics and social issues to busi-ness and brands. Over the last century, the influence of media has grown exponentially with the advance of technology. The impact of mass-distributed newspapers and magazines, radio and television has reached further and deeper into our lives. The few who own and control these valuable media interests have the power to exert their views – paid-for or otherwise – in an extraordinarily influential manner. In the USA just five companies; Time Warner, VIACOM, Vivendi Universal, Walt Disney and News Corp generate as much as 95% of all mainstream media. But as technology spins ever faster, we’re seeing the emergence of a new breed of influencers who play by a completely different set of rules.
In less than a decade, we’ve witnessed the rise of blog-gers to a position of real influence. In a trend that’s still growing, the gap between those who consume tradition-al media, and those who read blogs is closing – and fast-er than most comprehend. In the USA, the most widely read newspaper is the hundred year-old Wall Street Journal with around 65 million readers each month. Comparatively, U.S.-based news and opinion blog; The Huffington Post is not far behind, building a readership of around 54 million in just seven years.
However, influence cannot be measured by readership figures alone. Research has shown blog readers to be
considerably more polarized than consumers of tradi-tional media. Demonstrating that word of mouth is being supplanted by ‘word of mouse’, online readers are gravi-tating towards blogs that accord with their personal in-terests, beliefs and philosophies, drawing more accurate comparisons with television programs and magazines. A glance at magazine circulation provides another star-tling insight into the strength and popularity of today’s bloggers. Time magazine - an icon of U.S. publishing - has a monthly readership of just over three million people, compared with the business news blog; Business Insider, which has a readership of more than twelve million. Peo-ple magazine with a readership of three and a half million compares no more favourably with celebrity news blog Perez Hilton, read by more than ten million people each month. And whilst magazine publishing is defined by ge-ography, the world’s bloggers assert influence without borders, dipping-into the richest local scenes around the world in a way traditional publishers never could. But perhaps the most critical ingredient of influence is the bloggers’ independence. Disconnected from any sense of editorial or commercial direction, bloggers are seen as enthusiastic, independent passionistas - a powerfully positive credential. As the influence of bloggers has grown, so-too has their value in the eyes of brands from fashion to food, from travel to politics and beyond.
Once seen as enthusiastic amateurs, bloggers are now a front row fixture at the highest profile fashion shows and paid columnists in the pages of world famous fash-ion magazines. Fourteen year-old American blogger Tavi Gevinson who blogs as The Style Rookie is a front row regular at Marc Jacobs shows and a columnist for Elle Magazine. Other established fashion bloggers; Fashioni-sta, Bryanboy, Susie Lau of Style Bubble, Geri Hirsch of Be-cause I’m Addicted and Scott Schuman who’s also known by his blog moniker The Sartorialist are considered ‘must invites’ for up-and-coming and established fashion hous-es. At the Swarovski New York Fashion week last year be-tween 10 and 20 percent of media invited to each show were bloggers. “Bloggers are increasingly important to us and we invite a select group of 35 to 40 to the show,” said
First published in The Melbourne Review, October 2012By David Ansett, Founder and Chief Creator of Brands, Truly Deeply
Eric Delph, Vice President of public relations and marketing at Nicole Miller. “Moving more bloggers into seats and putting some as far up as the first and second row was a priority.” Fashion designer Prabal Gurung agrees “Blogging opens the door to greater brand recognition and famili-arity to a younger generation. It is an approach to marketing in a more unconventional way that is becoming almost the norm.”
Like their fashion peers, food bloggers have also stepped out of the media shadows. Lead-ing food bloggers such as Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim and Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zuchini fame have a readership that exceeds those of many traditional magazines in their space and are feted with book and TV deals. The Austral-ian hospitality industry is also fast coming to terms with the influential role of bloggers. Melbourne food blogger Jess Ho was recruited by hip Melbourne eatery Chin Chin as part of their social media strategy. Ms. Ho who runs the blog; ‘That Jess Ho,’ was employed when the restaurant launched in a dual role as front of house and social marketer. Chris Lucas, owner of Chin Chin, was attracted by Ms. Ho’s blogging and public relations background, ‘’She understood the space and she had credibility in that space,’’ he said.
Another category to have shot to prominence is mom bloggers. In the USA there are now almost 4 mil-lion mom bloggers, including Rebecca Woolf of Girls Gone Child, Jenny Lawson from The Bloggess and Catherine Connors of Her Bad Mother who have become household names amongst their audience. Of the 32 million moms who go online each month, more than half of them visit a blog. With a combined readership of more than 50 million moms each month, this category of bloggers are becoming heavy hitting brands in their own right with book deals and spots on CNN, Today and Good Morning America.
Fashion blogger Phoebe Montague of Lady Melbourne sees an increasing awareness by brands of the subtleties of social media; “Brands are not only asking for a mention on the blog but wanting to be mentioned on my social networks as well. They are far more aware of the reach of Twitter and Facebook and usually want to know how many followers or likes I have.”
A common thread for bloggers and a powerful differentiator from traditional forms of media is their absolute love for what they do; their shared passion for writing, for connecting with their online com-munity, and most importantly their pure passion for the subject matter. Rohan Anderson, Author of food blog Whole Larder Love says; “I love writing the blog, it’s just part of my life. I do like having a subversive message of being a little more involved with where your food comes from, and my hope is that people can take notice of my example of an alternative life.” Hillier of Checks and Spots tells a similar story; “The reason I blog is to simply share. I love sharing with others the things, people, places and trends that I discover. I love sharing in the sense of community that Checks and Spots has created. And I love the chance to meet people from all over the globe that I share interests and passions with.”
It’s precisely this undercurrent of passion that both fuels the blogging industry as well as provides its critical point of difference from traditional media. And this passion also plays a critical role in managing the conflict that arises when brands seek commercial relationships with bloggers. As Lady Melbourne’s Phoebe Montague sums-up; “It’s a pretty simple formula: I only blog about what I love. That keeps the checks and balances pretty even.”
9
The difference in advertisingstyles: East vs. WestAdvertising and visual communication is without a doubt an essential component of every company’s marketing strategy. As technology continues to improve and break cultural, as well as linguistic barriers, the art and science of marketing certainly becomes much easier.
That being said, it is important to note how important and applicable HSBC Bank’s motto is when it comes to ad-vertising and graphic design: “Think globally. Act locally.” Having a consistent style, tonality, and message is no doubt imperative to a company regardless of the market in which it operates, but so is a deep understanding of local market dynamics as well as cultural and linguistic differences.
So what are the differences between Western and Eastern design styles? The following explains the DOs and DON’Ts of designing from an Asian target audience perspective (our main focus here will be for a predominantly Mandarin-speaking demographic):
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• A lot of black & white is used, as it represents purity,
style, & looks clean
• Bright colors or any multi-colored combination are normally
avoided as it would make the design look too “loud”
• A lot of straight lines are used
• No large discrimination between the usage of round, rec-
tangular, or triangular shapes
• Strong visual imagery is often used to represent a mar-
keting message or a brand
• Numbers often have either a Biblical representation or a
link to some common Western folklore or stories
• Modern Western design calls for simple, clean, yet strik-
ing layouts
• Font/type treatment: clean & new types of fonts are pre-
ferred into contrast to older ones, & there is also the flex-
ibility of being able create strong visual imagery using
Western fonts
• Black is avoided because it represents misfortune
• White is the color used during funerals (linked to death)
• Red, gold, & yellow are welcomed as they symbolize
good luck, fortune, prosperity, & good energy
• Round shapes are encouraged, as they symbolize unity &
harmony
• Triangular shapes or sharp edges are avoided, as they
represent bad luck
• Need to be careful when using Chinese characters in the
design layout, due to their double meaning
• Avoid numbers such as 4 (anything in groups of 4), as the
Chinese word for 4 sounds similar to the Chinese word
for death
• Use numbers such as 6, 8, & 9 as they bring good fortune
• Empty or “clean” spaces in a design layout are generally
considered boring or not outstanding enough
• Be careful when using Chinese characters in the layout,
as the spacing & size are not the same as letters of the
Roman alphabet
Western Design Eastern Design
Symbols/Numbers1
Shapes
Color
Spacing/Font & Type Treatmentf
Spotlight: Chinese social mediaWith almost 600 million internet users, China’s internet sphere is massive. Instant Messaging, Search, Music, Microblog, Games and Video are the most popular applications on the net – and all of this in a place where most Western social media (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) is blocked. Have no fear – Chinese have grown their own social media sites: Weibo, WeChat, Douban…some are copycats of Western sites, some are completely original.
Weibo, similar to Facebook, boasts 500 million registered users – but the number of active users is only 10% of that number, according to recent studies. Chinese are brand loyal: 66% of users follow brands, and the average user follows 8 brands on social media.
Marketers in China typically user key opinion leaders – bloggers and microbloggers with substantial followings – to put out key messages, new product introductions and brand information. Seeding content across blogs and forums is also a common practice. Brands must be wary to monitor the web carefully for negative comments posted not only by disgruntled customers, but also their rival brands.
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712
507
500
300
259
200
172
172
113
73
Qzone
tencent Weibo
sina Weibo
Pengyou
51.com
Renren
douban
Kaixin 001
Jiayuan
* Millions of registered users, 2012
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Find out how the E3 perspective can help you.
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AdsmithThis issue of the E3 Global Insights
Magazine was published by Adsmith
China, a creative agency specializing
in PR & digital solutions in China.
Adsmith China, 3E Anken Green
668 Huai An Road, Jing’An District
Shanghai PRC 200041
Tel.: +86 21 6083 1123
www.adsmithchina.com
info@adsmithchina.com
Adsmith / ChinaAdvertigo / RomaniaAloft Group / USAAnsel & Möllers / GermanyAudacity / USABase One / UKBB&B / FranceBBC / BelgiumBernstein / GermanyBMLab / RussiaCafé Design / HungaryC&COM Advertising / Czech RepublicD.A.G. Communication / ItalyEpoka / PolandIgriega / SpainMaitri Advertising Works / IndiaMedia Consulting / PortugalOz Branding / IsraelPreferendum / FranceRainfall / RomaniaRecommended / FinlandRecommended / SwedenS’P’S Marketing / AustriaSanderWerbung / GermanySchindler Parent / GermanyTANGRAM / LiechtensteinTANGRAM / SwitzerlandTruly Deeply / Australia
Ten Things to Consider Before Launching your Brand in China
1. Prepare to be persis
tent and patient. Take your business plan and
double or even triple the amount of time.
7. Be sure to make business cards
(preferably with Chinese and a Chinese version of your name) before
visiting. Don’t use Google Translate for this (one client showed up
with “Black Conquer Death” on his card).
8. Brace yourself for long banquets with potential clients. These may include
toasting red wine in shot glasses, long pours of warm beer, and unidenti
fiable meats. Sucking this up is what ‘culturally sensitive’ means.
9. Keep control of your brand image and marketing col
laterals. Keeping your international image is important; the local marketing agency can help make sure the text and photos make sense in Chinese and portray your
brand identity and position correctly.
4. Visit China 10 times before starting anything. Talk to as many people as you can.
6. Be aware that ‘mainland’ China, Taiwan (Mandarin or Standard
Chinese) and Hong Kong (Cantonese) use different speech as well
as written characters. You will need separate entry strategies
for these regions.
5. Make sure your
business has a Chinese brand name
and that you trademark it in China.
10. Last but not least…don’t be scared off by all this! The market in China is fantastic and Chinese
are ready to do business.
2. China isn’t that cheap
anymore.
3. HR Headaches. Hire the best
people you can find. And then be prepared to let them go after
major disappointments.
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