China
As Brexit continues to cast concern for EU trade, Siddharth Shankar sheds light on the ASEAN region and suggests that companies looking to enjoy a fruitful foreign trade relationship should consider the countries within this increasingly important market, which is welcoming international trade.
In 2017, May 10 was declared the annual ‘Chinese Brands Day’ as the Chinese government, keen to build the country’s influence internationally, looked to help promote ‘Made In China’ brands. Here, Doreen Wang gives her thoughts on the impact of the initiative just after its first anniversary and looks at how Chinese brands focus on growth.
Chinese New Year falls on Friday February 16 this year and we leave the rooster and move into the year of the dog. But alongside this traditional celebration, the Chinese calendar is now filling up with new events that are designed to entice consumers into shopping and spending. Elspeth Cheung identifies the best digital & events marketing strategies for festivals new and old.
It takes place after Halloween and just before Black Friday/Cyber Monday; this major event marketing opportunity has taken off in China, with e-retailers battling to provide the best discount deals for the world’s largest audience – China Singles’ Day, 11/11, is a vast e-shopfest . . . here’s how it works:
Providing customers with personalised content can lift revenue by 15%, according to Harvard Business Review, so why is it that businesses so often settle for producing generic marketing – or, worse, create messages that simply do not translate? Robert Berkeley says they need to do more to localise content if they are to draw in customers and grow their businesses.
From international exporter to consumer-driven importer, China is changing: urban, urbane, tech-savvy and sophisticated, smartphone users are falling in love with luxury brands, embracing cross-border consumerism and driving a Chinese e-retail boom.
Selling to Chinese consumers requires a bespoke approach. Don Zhao explains how brands should talk to this audience and gives examples of those that have been successful.
There was a day when brands controlled their marketing messages. Not any more. Your marketing is being done for you, even while you sleep. That makes for a very exciting world, a new world and from a marketing perspective. How will you make it work for you?
After the Brexit vote, Nenad Cetkovic looks ahead to international trade and says the ecommerce opportunity is beckoning.
Tencent, Alibaba overtake long-time leader China Mobile to claim top two spots, report finds
Internet service company Tencent has becoming the most valuable Chinese brand for the first time, and newly-listed online retailer Alibaba has entering the ranking at No.2, according to a new study. Both brands leapfrogged long-time leader China Mobile, which had held the top spot since 2011.
The 2015 rankings, revealed via the fifth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands report carried out by marketing and brand consultancy Millward Brown in conjunction with WPP, clearly shows a rapid rise in the brand value of technology and tech-related retail brands. Technology companies have become brand powerhouses, and as a result the technology category has now surpassed financial institutions as the highest value category ($106.9 billion), contributing 23% of the Top 100’s total value.
Brands from private enterprises (also known as ‘market-driven’ brands) dominate in terms of value growth, rising 97% since 2013, while SOEs (state owned enterprises) declined 9%. Whereas five years ago the Top 5 brands were all SOEs, three of this year’s Top 5 – Tencent, Alibaba and Baidu – are market-driven. Together the three represent around half (48%) of the value of the Top 10, led by Tencent which nearly doubled in value in the past year alone.
The total brand value of the Top 100 Chinese Brands is $464.2 billion, a rise of 59% since the ranking launched in 2011. This growth has outpaced that of the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands (+41%), and has also surpassed the most valuable brands in Brazil (which fell 40% in value from 2011-2014) and Latin America (which have grown only 3% since the Latam ranking launched in 2012).
Analysis of the brands in the Top 100 as a stock portfolio proves that investment in brand-building delivers strong shareholder return. Between July 2010 and October 2014 the brands in the Chinese MSCI stock index increased 4% while those in the Top 100 appreciated 32%.
Retail, cars, technology are the fastest growing categories
Retail was the fastest growing category, with a phenomenal increase of 3,827% due to the inclusion of new entrant Alibaba. Even without taking Alibaba’s value contribution into account, the category grew by 64%, after a year of successful innovation by brands. The car category grew 141% in value after new entrant Great Wall enjoyed success with its SUV sales, and technology increased its value by 78%, again driven by consumers’ positive response to the creativity and innovation of brands in the category.
Meanwhile, lower economic growth in China and government policy changes contributed to a decline in seven categories including alcohol, apparel and financial institutions.
Five-year trends
Now in its fifth year, the BrandZ ranking of China’s most valuable brands shows evidence of a long-term trend: the rise of ‘market-driven’ brands and the relative slowdown among SOEs. Looking at the Top 50 brands over the past five years, the brand value of those that are market-driven has grown 278%, compared with 6% for SOEs. Currently, the total value of the Top 100 is roughly evenly split between market-driven brands (47%) and SOEs (53%).
While SOEs remain significant contributors to the ranking (and play key roles in China’s broader economy), their performance highlights the increasing competition SOEs currently face in the Chinese market.
As Chinese companies improve the way they develop and execute marketing strategies, the gap between Chinese brands and multinational brands in China is also narrowing. Consumers increasingly see little difference between the two – choosing brands based on the value they offer, rather than provenance (their history as a business in China). Five years ago Chinese and multinational brands were 26 points apart on the BrandZ™ Brand Power Index, which measures a brand’s competitive position in its category. Today their scores are almost identical.
David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store, WPP’s global retail practice said: “2015 marks the fifth year of the BrandZ China ranking, giving us a clear insight into how brands have strengthened during an extremely dynamic period. Those which have grown in value have constantly innovated, based on a sound understanding of rapidly evolving technology and consumer behavior. Investment in brand, innovation and connecting with consumers will now be the critical success factors for brands operating in increasingly competitive categories.”
Doreen Wang, global head of BrandZ, Millward Brown, said: “Consumers increasingly accept Chinese brands because they see them as meaningful and dynamic, not only because they’re well-known. The big question now is what brands must do to be accepted in international markets. Success will depend on understanding consumers’ behavior and needs, integrating technology to improve the brand experience and playing on China’s unique identity to offer meaningful points of differentiation.”
The Top 100 table can be downloaded here.