

It’s thrilling to see a new generation of marketers devising completely new ways to engage with consumers. And although the holistic approach was born out of the idiosyncratic structure of the Chinese market and thus may not be directly applicable to every country’s media landscape, in some ways it may be better suited to today’s global marketplace than traditional Western methods are.Īs a former marketing head who worked to build global brands in overseas markets, and now as an academic studying corporate marketing, I am both thrilled and alarmed by what’s happening in China. For companies that hope to enter China or grow existing operations there, understanding the Chinese marketing mindset will be essential to achieving success. It is faster, cheaper, and in some respects more effective than the traditional Western marketing paradigm. It relies on the creation of shareable, viral content and the presence of dominant, channel-straddling media giants. Western managers may underestimate the power of China’s new competencies.Ĭhinese marketers have developed a unique approach tailored to China’s mobile-first consumer. After spending time in China conducting in-depth interviews with C-level leaders from a dozen Chinese companies (including Tencent, Oppo, and Mengniu) and 15 multinationals with a significant presence in China (including McDonald’s, Visa, and BMW), I am convinced that this view is wrong. Firms are particularly quick to export their media and ad strategies to developing markets, where advertising and media are more recent developments. And when the programs aired, there was no mention of price promotions or discounts on the liquor-the campaign was aimed entirely at building consumer awareness and engagement.įor decades now, Western executives of multinational brands seeking to expand globally have operated under a simple premise: Although marketing content and channel selection should be customized to local markets, Western marketing principles are universal. Instead of spending months meticulously planning the campaign, Xi Jiu and Tencent produced the content-conceiving, negotiating, creating, and airing the shows-in just five days. The native-advertising content was highlighted across Tencent’s news, social, entertainment, and gaming platforms, and more than 1.2 million people clicked through on their mobile phones to watch each day.
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Together, the liquor company and the technology firm created a series of hour-long, live-streamed shows in which great chefs from different regions of China taught viewers to cook local specialty dishes, pairing them with offerings from the liquor brand. If Xi Jiu were a large Western company in a developed market, its brand managers would have begun laying plans many months in advance-consulting with an ad agency allocating money to TV, online, and billboards brainstorming creative approaches and filming commercials.īut Xi Jiu’s approach to its home market was entirely different: It partnered directly with Tencent News, China’s most popular news app. In 2017, the fast-growing Chinese liquor brand Xi Jiu wanted to launch an ad campaign to boost sales in anticipation of Chinese New Year.

This article examines the adjustments Western companies must make to succeed in China-and around the world.


It is faster and cheaper and often more effective than the Western marketing paradigm. Meanwhile, Chinese marketers have developed a unique approach tailored to China’s mobile-first consumer. Firms are particularly quick to export media and ad strategies to developing markets, where advertising and media are more recent developments. For decades, Western executives of multinational brands seeking to expand globally have operated under a simple premise: Marketing content and channel selection should be customized to local markets, but Western marketing principles are universal.
