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Finding a formula that taps into the Chinese psyche remains the Holy Grail for marketing professionals whose job it is to build market share and drive sales. Companies like McDonalds, Pepsi, Levi's, Motorola and even Apple want it to solidify their presence in China.
Carmakers, both foreign and domestic, are using marketing with the intent of building lifelong bonds with drivers. Fashion icons like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Hermes, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent (just to name few) are competing to reach aspirational Chinese women and establish brand connections.
So for marketers in Chinese we need to find the 'magic sauce', the formula for unlocking the Chinese consumption base. Despite the best efforts of advertisers, though, these people remain a paradoxical bunch.
From my perspective, Chinese consumers are more focused on brands than most of their Western counterparts. They want to know which new trends will give them added status, and buy luxury goods not because they necessarily like them but because they are representations of success. But they are also very fickle and loyalty to a single brand virtually does not exist. They will happily jump from one label to the next. This continuing quest for 'cool' is one part of another, deeper search for a bond that can reach well beyond the confines of the large urban centers where multinationals brands have focused their marketing efforts.
Some brands have already a 'cool factor' simply from the space they occupy as a product; expensive running shoe companies, a mobile phone companies or event the consumer electronics firms creating new MP3 players but for others, like toothpaste or toilet paper firms, however, this is not an option; marketers must find other ways to attract new customers, connect with them and then retain them in the long-term.
For the very large multinationals offering sophisticated products under brands that have taken much time and money to develop, raw price competition isn't the answer. This is particularly the case in a domestic market crammed with generic alternatives produced cheaply and distributed out through effective and inexpensive channels. The angle that many have used in their marketing messages is the Chinese affinity for status and the widespread lack of safety in the market.
So, the first issue brands face is getting above the noise and establishing a place to be heard. Then ensure that once you have got into that 'place' that you use a message that will establish an immediate value to your consumer and build a connection. Evolve this message (even more rapidly than you would in Western markets) and leverage the 'herd' to help drive consumer behavior- Chinese like to see other Chinese using, wearing, doing, having the products that they have.
So what does this mean for digital marketer's?
Each Brand has it's own objectives- both short/long term but for some general observations I would suggest:
1. Use cash back, discounting, vouchers via a branding, search, affiliate or email campaigns to get presence
2. Chinese consumers have a high participation rate online for competitions, polls, casual gaming- use these
3. Mobile is now becoming useful in reaching a particular demographic (18-25 yrs) but leverage an integrated online/traditional approach to achieve better results
4. Social Media is now required in every campaign (measure and refine and make it a long term activity). Chinese Consumers will build communities around dynamic and evolving sites but will rapidly disperse if the fan page/group is static or not growing
5. Chinese consumers love festive periods like Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, even Valentines etc. Interesting creative's with these themes will get attention and importantly impressions and clicks.
Please log in and share your views below on what else marketers can do/use in the pursuit of selling to the Chinese consumer.
Sunday 7 February, 2010