While the world is suffering from a recession, Chinas young seem still to be hungry for foreign brands, much to the delight of numerous companies that are focusing their efforts on this segment. It is the vast number of potential customers and the fact that many of them are raised as the only child with more disposable income that makes this market so attractive.
Bonnie Cao has written up a short article published in this weeks Business Week. It's a quick read worth your time. Just check it out.
As a company you have to know exactly who you want to sell your product or service to. Segmenting your market and adjusting your messaging accordingly goes under the category "marketing basics". Over the past years new segments as Chinas little emperors, metrosexuals, and baby boomers, just to name a few, have been targeted by brands all around the world and messaging campaigns that were more or less creative were launched.
The gay segment has also gotten some press over the last decade and many companies are cashing in on this consumer segment. I just came accross UO! Wines from Spain, that also want to get a share of the pie. Interesting new spin on how to market wine. Just check it out! I am curious to see how they will do in the long term, but I am sure they will get some press, good and bad!
Social media is currently one of hot areas brands try to focus on. The influx sites as myspace, facebook, twitter, etc. have, especially on younger people, is noticable as their growth has not peaked yet. A new study by analyst Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group and Wetpaint ranks the top 100 brands by social media engagement. Check it out!
Be the leader of a tribe, or from a marketing perspective, segment your market and know who is your target customer. This speech by Seth Godin, a great mind full of energy, illustrates how finding people that have the same interests and by challenging the status quo, a business or brand can reach the next level.
Check out the video, it is very entertaining and informative.
Socially responsible marketing can be creative too and I definitely like this idea of using pictures of crying children made out of matches. What they are trying to say with all this: "Don't leave matches around children". A nice way to get noticed and remembered, don’t you think?
Tagline: 72,000 children were seriously burnt in Mexico last year. Don't leave matches around children. Advertiser: Michou y Mau Foundation for the Burnt Child Advertising Agency: Young And Rubicam, Mexico Creative Directors: Carl Jones, Adrian Brizuela, Ramiro Plascencia Art Directors: Arlette Farah, Mario Aguilar, Carl Jones Photographer: Paolo Gori Copywriter: Lilianzur Fuentes
Cinco de Mayo is around the corner. Being a very important national holiday that involves festivities and in many households surely a few beer, Dos Equis is embrancing the opportunity to further impregnate their brand. National Pride + Holiday + Fun = Dos Equis, or at least they are trying to convey this thought.
Here is the whole article:
Mexican beer brand Dos Equis yesterday launched Expedition Cinco, a mobile marketing tour featuring branded off-road vehicles and unique sampling teams. Inspired by the escapades of the brand’s “The Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign, for two weeks leading up to Cinco de Mayo, the tour will engage consumers in 14 local markets via sampling, promotions and on-premise activations.
“Cinco de Mayo is not only an important Mexican holiday, but [also] an important part of the Dos Equis Mexican heritage,” noted Paul Smailes, brand director, Dos Equis. “Expedition Cinco is an opportunity to bring to life the brand’s adventurous spirit, while creating an authentic and engaging mobile marketing experience for our consumers.”
Expedition Cinco Teams, which consist of an Indiana Jones-like leader and Dos Equis ambassadors dressed as exotic tribal princesses, will travel in branded Dos Equis six-wheeled adventure vehicles to various Dos Equis accounts in the targeted market. The brand ambassadors will distribute such items as rigging carabineers and compasses and provide on-premise sampling opportunities. Consumers can additionally have their pictures taken with the “tribal princesses” in accounts and in front of the adventure vehicles. Consumers can access their photos online at www.ExpeditionCinco.com.
Expedition Cinco will visit Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix; San Antonio; San Diego; San Francisco and Tampa Bay, Fla. New York-based Mirrorball is the experiential marketing company behind the program.
Today I would like to share with you an interesting paper by Daniel Spear:"Branding in China: The Challenge of Selling Starbucks Coffee in a Tea-Drinking Nation and Other Lessons."
It is a good example on how a company tries to change consumer taste or behavior, that stands in a cultural context, through effective brand management.
Below is a short introduction of the article and the link to the site. You can also find the PDF with the full article under the link.
On January 30, 2009, Columbia Business School hosted a conference exploring branding in China and India. With a population of 1.3 billion, China presents an attractive market opportunity for many multinational companies, as well as some unique challenges in building and expanding a brand. The first panel discussion focused on branding trends in China and was moderated by Mauro Guillen, the Dr. Felix Zandman Professor in International Management and director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management & International Studies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Mark Aoki-Fordham, director and corporate counsel for Starbucks Coffee Company, spoke about the challenges of selling coffee in a tea-drinking nation and protecting the valuable company trademark in Chinese courts. Roger McDonald, outgoing executive director for global accounts for Xerox Corporation, explained Chinese attitudes toward brands in light of the country's historical experience and modernization. Jessica Zoob, senior vice president of global strategy and business development for American Express Company, outlined how partnerships in China can be effective and addressed the issue of Chinese consumer brand loyalty.
Here is another interseting example on how to adapt your product to meet the needs of the environment and target market. In this case the goal was not to create another extension of a Barbie, but to create a product that stands within a cultural context that enables the consumer to extract a clear set of values that he/she identifies with.
According to the article here are some of the key learnings they are trying to transmit:
The Fulla doll is one of the few Muslim dolls in the market but provides the necessary depth of the Muslim lifestyle to act as a role-model for young girls. This was accomplished through understanding the preference for Islamic influence sans cultural baggage and the need for children to be protected from detrimental influences that are too concerned with image and sexuality.
Fulla was not created as an extension of Barbie, and neither is she meant to be seen as a version of Barbie. Rather, she was created with a starkly different personality in mind that would allow her to be identified by children and parents alike who are keen on establishing values other than what Barbie exudes.
To accentuate the Muslim lifestyle and establish a connection between consumers and Fulla, the creators of the doll extended Fulla’s influence by providing life-size Fulla ancillary products such as prayer mats and foodstuff to create the ultimate Fulla experience.
Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EBD) has issued a tender for a creative and media agency to develop and implement a marketing campaign with the goal of positioning Singapore as a premier business location.
Singapore is already known as a business hub in South East Asia with many MNCs calling it the home of their Asian headquarters. Their government has been putting lots of effort into establishing Singapore as a financial hub and is also heavily investing into the Biotech sector. With a shortage of natural resources and land they have been clearly focusing on their strengths by promoting a knowledgebased culture and emphasize education in order to create a highly skilled workforce. In basic terms it is all about knowing the strengths of your "product", exploit them, and build your campaign around it. Marketing 101!
High rankings in expat surveys already prove that Singapore is on the right track and I am curious to see if the new campaign will bring up a few more highlights of the South East Asian Tiger.
Today´s post might not be in a particular cultural context, but nevertheless I think it might interest you. When it comes to placing a companies brand there are many options media agencies can draw from. Be it a billboard, magazine, webpage, or even somebodies body, those are all well known tools marketers use. However, London based media agency Curb has found another medium where to place a logo or slogan. They specialize on low impact advertising with natural materials as sand, snow, or even grass. A cool and creative way of using the resources available at any given moment and location while leaving a mark on the consumers mind. I surely will keep my eyes open the next time I walk along the beach or watch a soccer game. Have you seen any examples?
I just found this new fashion brand and think the concept behind it is pretty interesting and worth sharing. Akufunctures design is based on Chinese mythical characters as the Monkey King, creating a brand that is targeting the urban market. Combining culture and urban fashion is defenitely worth a try and I am curious to see if this brand will leave its mark on the market. I like the idea and look forward to see some of those tees on the street. A brand with a strong cultural touch, way to go.
Here is what they have to say about themselves:
A fusion of Chinese culture and urban fashion is at the core of Akufuncture. For many years, Japanese fashion has taken over much of the urban scene with its creative ideas and clever artwork. It has utilized many Japanese cultural icons, figures, styles, and legends to great effects. The wildly popular Japanese fusion suggests that there has always been a thirst for the "oriental mystique" in the west. With 5000 years of history, China is rich with cultural mystique, ancient heroes, and romantic mythology. However, the West has yet to experience the irresistible essence of true Chinese culture. Our goal is to get you in touch with the "essence of the East" through a new trend of "fusion fashion".
Therefore, Akufuncture wants to spark your desire to explore the essence of the orient while strutting avant-garde fashion. Our product descriptions include a short background of the artistic style and mythical figures that have inspired us to create this line. Hopefully, the more you read, the more you will be interested in the culture that has lasted many centuries. After two years of rigorous effort and planning, Akufuncture was finally established in November of 2008. We really appreciate the hard work of every individual involved in our journey and thank all of you for your support in getting us one step closer to our goal.
Branding a product or service is very common, but how about branding a day? Well, it can be argued that some holidays are surely branded besides having a historical or religious base, but other branded days are purely commercial.
Just a couple of weeks ago couples around the world celebrated Valentines Day putting a smile especially on the face of florist, chocolate manufacturers, jewellers, and restaurant owners. However, in some countries this is taken even further and in Japan White Day is celebrated on March 14th. The Japanese celebrate Valentine's Day in a rather unique fashion, with women giving the men chocolate as well as other gifts. But there is more to it, the gifts of chocolate are divided into two types: giri choco (obligatory chocolate) and honmei choco (chocolate for the man the woman is serious about). Giri choco is given by women to their superiors at work as well as to other male co-workers.
On March 14th, exactly one month after Valentine's Day, men who were lucky enough to receive gifts of chocolate have the chance to return the favor by giving the women who gave them gifts of chocolate a more expensive box of chocolate or sweets, as a sign of love.
There are a few theories on how White Day started and according to wikipedia:
“White Day was first celebrated in 1978 in Japan. It was started by the National Confectionery Industry Association (全国飴菓子工業協同組合) as an "answer day" to Valentine's Day on the grounds that men should pay back the women who gave them chocolate and other gifts on Valentine's Day. In 1977 a Fukuoka-based confectionery company, Ishimura Manseido (石村萬盛堂), marketed marshmallows to men on March 14, calling it Marshmallow Day (マシュマロデー).
Soon thereafter, confectionery companies began marketing white chocolate. Now, men give both white and dark chocolate, as well as other edible and non-edible gifts, such as jewelry or objects of sentimental value, or white clothing like lingerie, to women from whom they received chocolate on Valentine's Day one month earlier. If the chocolate given to him was giri choco, the man as well may not be expressing actual romantic interest, but rather a social obligation”.
I just thought this is an interesting example on how smart marketers can brand a day and assure a huge seasonal spike in sales. How about branding a day yourself, any ideas. This might just make sense to Seinfeld lovers, but remember George Constanzas fathers holiday called “Festivus”. Well, Festivus for the rest of us!
In the mids of a global economic crisis consumers watch more carefully what they spend their money on. Some marketers might see this as a difficult time where surving is the priority, but it is the breed of marketers that sees a challenge as an opportunity that normally succeeds. Why not use this opportunity and strengthen your brand while others take a more defensive role. You might ask yourself now how and the answers seems almost too simple, it's the big G. Surprisingly the G stands not for Greed, something that has been heavily associated with the financial crisis. In this case the G stands for Generosity, or Giving.
When people are experiencing hardships they will appreciate even more getting a break and anything a company does to make the consumers life easier will be more than welcome. This can really enhance your brand reputation and allow companies to gain a new customerbase, that is likely to be loyal once things look better again. At least I think that if somebody was good to me during these times I will be a loyal follower at a later stage, besides telling everybody about their good deed.
Trendwatching.com has published in their February briefing a nice article on this topic and I encourage you to read it.
The popularity of dramas in many Asian countries is well known, especially over the last years when the "Korean Wave" swapped the region and made their dramas one of their export hits. Building a campaign around tv dramas is exactly what J&J Thailand has done with it's contact lense brand Acuvue. They have created a short story series featuring in the lead role an actual customer, the actress Jessica Pasaphan. With this campaing they try to raise brand awareness among young women, and what is better than getting them hooked on a show while promoting their product.
It shows again, know your customer well and try to find new mediums to reach them in a effortless seaming way. As long as the drama does not make you feel like you are watching a non-stop commercial things should be ok.
When it comes to culture, food is an important part of it. Yum! Brands Inc. better known for their main brands Pizza Hut and KFC knows how to address the cultural part in their expansion run through China. Besides their plans to open 500 new restaurants (in 2009) in the Middle Kingdom, they are aware of the fact that catering to the local taste by making the necessary adjustments to their menu should be an integral part of their strategy.
A few examples of their Pizza Hut menu in China are:
Tuna fish pizza, zesty shrimp soup, roasted squid, a variety of rice-and-meat dishes (kimchi pork, curry beef and Hungarian beef rice), and green tea.
This shows once again that if you want to establish your brands overseas it is crucial to know your market and target customer, but without neglecting specific traits of your brand.
Trying to impose typical American flavors might not always be the right thing to do, and especially in markets where religious believes might prohibit the consumption of certain foods (e.g. Beef in India, etc.)
Sounds like YUM! Brands has understood that being culturally sensitive is the key to success. Bon Appetite!
There are brands that do not stand out for their luxurious or colorful design, but for pure convenience and practicability. One of those brands is Nissin's Cup Noodle.
If you have been in a convenient store in Japan you might have bought there some instant noodles and used one of the microwaves available to get them ready to eat. Furthermore, anybody that has been in Tokyo knows that the vending machine concept is taken to another level and can be found pretty much anywhere.
Cup noodle has now taken this concept by heart and a step further in their latest promotional campaign. Already known as a convenient product,its key brand value, it is trying to reach the "geeky segment" with this campaign. Besides, I am pretty sure that as a by product the media coverage generated will also reach other segments of interest.
But now more about the campaign. Until the end of March, Cup Noodle fans will be able to enter a contest to win one of 3000 limited edition "My Vending Machine Cup Noodle dispenser/water heaters". Want to know more, well just check out the video.
I just found this an interesting way of promoting a product while further emphasizing the brands key value. Thank you cup noodle, and thank you Japan for offering sometimes things that are just a bit different.
And the winner is .................. Coca Cola, probably no surprise. Once again the beverage giant is on top of the world according to Interbrands 2008 ranking. Silver and bronze go to IBM and Microsoft respectively. However, one of the newcomers that is pushing hard is Swedish apparel brand H&M which comes in at 22, a great spot for the first timer in this ranking.
Other brands that should be mentioned.
Google jumped up from 20 to 10 in just one year. Not bad!
Financial services brands have all lost a few spots, no wonder, considering what happened in that industry last year. (Citi, HSBC, UBS, Merryll Lynch, etc.)
Samsung (21) still provides Sony (25)with headaches
It will be interesting to see what happens in 2009. Strong brands should endure a recession. Lets see who takes advantage of this situation and rises to the top.
Over the last years we have gotten used to the fact that everytime we are surfing the web companies as Google and Yahoo are collecting data on our behavior and what particular ads we are watching. Japanese NTT Communications has taken this thought now to billboards in Tokyo. From this month on a digital billboard in a railway station will be equipped with two webcams and a software that analyzes how many people watch the ad and for how long. An interesting concept that will enable advertisers to make necessary adjustments much quicker and thus billboard advertising more efficient, adding a whole new dimension to AD-ROI. Will we feel watched; well I guess we are already, but for a brand manager it can surely be helpful when he is deciding on how to distribute his ad $$$.
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