freshtrax

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Even though the economic slowdown spreads all over the world, many top U.S. brands such as GM and Coca- Cola has been increasing sales revenue during the last couple years in China.  Let’s take a tour of some popular US brands in China.

Coca-Cola

According to China Daily, Coca-Cola, the world’s largest soft drink maker, registered double-digit sales growth in the China market during the last year.  The latest report shows the sales in China has increased 29% during the fourth-quarter, and Coke said it will continue to focus on generating double digit annual growth rates.  Recently, due to faster-growing juice producing market, Coca-Cola has invested more on the juice beverage market in China and built the Shanghai Technology Center and two production plants in Jiangxi and Xinjiang province with total investment of $120 million.  A new plant in Inner Mongolia region with $19 million investment has expected to open this year.

GM

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, GM boosted Chinese Sales 68% to 230,048 vehicles in March, compared with U.S. Sales of 188,546.  China became the world’s largest automobile market over took the U.S last year.  GM is planning to introduce 25 new or updated models by the end of 2010 and maintain the leadership in the world’s biggest auto market.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart began its retail operations in China in 1996, until now it serves more than 7 million customers weekly by its 175 stores in 90 cities.  The interesting thing is that Wal-Mart is the largest retailing company in the world by revenue, but it competes directly with Carrefour and Tesco in China.  Wal-Mart entered China later than Carrefour, however, its revenues will likely surpass Carrefour during 2010.  Recently, Walt-Mart promotes an Eco-friendly lifestyle in China.

McDonald’s

“China is McDonald’s Inc.’s fastest-growing global market” said Tim Fenton, the company’s president for Asia, Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He said China has $300 billion-a-year “informal eating out” market, and the annual expanding rate is 10%, compared with 2 to 3 % in the United States. The latest news is MacDonald opened a Hamburger University in Shanghai, China for the purpose to train the employees marketing and business management.

Nike

According to a recent Hill & Knowlton survey, the Chinese consider Nike the Middle Kingdom’s “coolest brand.”  The overall sales is $ 4.64 million, and Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) is 1.87 million, EBIT margin is 30%.  Nike has more than 10% EBIT margin higher than other countries such as the U.S. , and Japan.  The reason for the high sales but high EBIT, is that the Chinese consumers especially middle class are more likely to shop for particular brand name and China has higher import taxes.  An interesting oddity is even though Nike has 136 factories in China, all the Nike products still need to transfer to the third countries and then ship back to China.  This is due to the import contract between Nike and the Chinese government.   Still, Nike is considered by most of the Chinese consumers as a symbol of sports fashion and luxury.

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Looking at the successful cases from the U.S companies in China, one thing that is in common is all of companies developed the localization strategy, which is the key for entering Chinese market.  Thanks for taking the tour with us.

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When you think of brand names that represent traditional America to the consumer, I immediately think of Levi’s, Harley-Davidson and Budweiser.  How do American brands do in China?

The story of Budweiser in China is fascinating.  In 2003, China past the  US in total beer volume –which means China is  the largest in the world in terms of production volume.   China official estimates put the average per capita beer consumption at 5.19 liters(1.4 Gallons) but beer production increased to 43 billion litres in 2009 that translates to a whopping 33 liters( 8.7 gallons) per person.

Enviable position in the Market

In China, the world’s biggest beer market, Anheiser-Busch InBev(A-B InBev) occupies an enviable position.  In terms of brand share, Anheiser-Busch InBev is 4th in China.  Basically the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots are separated by only 1.4% (6.1% to 4.7%), so there is plenty of room to play for A-B InBev.   In terms of volume, A-B InBev is 3rd in the market where the top 4 in China represent about 54%.

Positioned for Success and Marketed for the Successful

So how does A-B InBev produce and market US beer in the Chinese market?  With the strategic investment in Harbin in 2004, A-B InBev has positioned 14 of 15 breweries outside of the US in China-production capacity  is not a problem.  Getting the beer to the people is not a problem either.  By 2012, A-B InBev will provide distribution to 200 cities in China doubling that from 2007 levels.

After looking at a variety of videos and web pages, one part of the brand marketing strategy for A-B InBev in China is much different than the US – appeal to the young and upwardly mobile Chinese.  This demographic is more digital savvy, travels often and in the upper end of the median in wealth. Budweiser sells at a price about eight times higher than that of local Chinese beers.  There is a  video ad that supports the sophistication of the product showing a professional man in a suit coming home and having his significant other bring a Budweiser to him on the penthouse deck.

The US part of the marketing is almost identical.  A-B InBev markets athletic, pretty women which appeals to the young male beer consumer.  The A-B InBev 2010 FIFA campaign in China was the Bud Babe Campaign where each contestant participated in a talent and beauty competition. A-B InBev also introduced state-of-the-art interactive voice response technology through the phone which allowed fans access to each candidate and to cast votes for each one.  The winner becomes the spokesperson for Budwieser China.

The Budweiser Ants are Popular in China Too!

Every one knows of the Budweiser Ants.  Well, China has fallen in love with them also.  The ants and Budweiser is almost synonymous with Chinese New Year.  Each year Budweiser puts together a unique video campaign for Chinese New Year.  ”The ideas should not only be humorous and impressive, but also reflect the international king of beers brand image of Budweiser. The ants will overcome all kinds of challenges by showing their intelligence, courage, teamwork, spirit and solidarity,” a spokesperson said.

For an average US brand, Budweiser has shown it can play competitively in the Chinese market.  For those hot China summers, wouldn’t you crave for the King of Beers?

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美国市场研究公司尼尔森发布报告称，亚太地区消费者最热衷于网购，该地区的很多人都会依赖互联网评论来制定购买决策。在中国大陆最为成功的例子就是淘宝网，由阿里巴巴集团于2003年投资创立。淘宝网业务跨越C2C（个人对个人）, B2B （商家对个人）两大部分。2008年其年交易额为999.6亿元，占中国网购市场80％的份额。截至于2010年，淘宝的注册会员突破2亿 。

2003年，中国人对网上购物已不再陌生。电子商务巨头美国eBay在这个时候投资1.8亿美 元，接管易趣，实现了进军中国市场的战略目标。1999年成立的eBay易趣经历了中国网络经济的疯狂与寂静，可谓一枝独秀，占据着90%以上的市场份 额，而且拥有良好的品牌优势和用户基础，eBay易趣由此在中国网络购物市场中占据了绝对优势。

谁也没有料到，作为新生事物的淘宝网出奇制胜–没和ebay易趣争抢既有的存量市场，而是收 割疯狂生长的增量市场。仅仅通过1年时间，这家“倒过来看世界”的互联网公司，就成了中国网络购物市场的领军企业。观察者将之定义为，“本土智慧与美国思 维交锋，极其耐人寻味”。

事实并非如此简单。几乎没有人意识到，位于浙江的淘宝网和位于上海的eBay易趣或者是位于北 京的8848等电子商务企业之间，至少有一点脉络完全不同——淘宝网选择的业务拓展中心是江浙一带，这里中小企业密集，产品的成本压力和销售压力巨大—— 而电子商务这种新生事物恰到好处的满足了它的需求。

数据可以让我们感受到淘宝的变化。 2004年以前，互联网实验室电子商务网站CISI人气榜上，还没有淘宝网 的位置；但从2004年2月开始，淘宝网以每月768.00%的速度上升到仅次于eBay易趣的第二位;在推出1年后，淘宝网排名已经超过eBay易趣， 位居第一。来自艾瑞市场咨询的报告显示，2004年中国网上拍卖市场规模实现了217.8%的增长，全年 成交金额从2003年的10.7亿元增至2004年的34亿元。搭上中国消费快车2005年，淘宝网超越eBay易趣,并且开始把竞争对手们远远抛 在身后。 从生存秀到生活秀2006年，淘宝网成为亚洲最大购物网站,同年,中国网民突破1 亿。 2009 年底，淘宝拥有注册会员1.7亿。

淘宝改变了大家以往的消费方式。很多都市中的白领，中午、傍晚下班后已经不再去周边的商厦逛街购物，而是习惯上网“逛街”。调 查数据显示，每天有近900万人上淘宝网“逛街”。据新生代市场监测机构的调查，像沃尔玛、家乐福这种大型大卖场，一个门店一天的平均客流量低于1.5万 人。这意味着，淘宝网一天的客流量相当于近600家沃尔玛的客流量。同时，人们相信并乐意在网上购买日常生活用品，这些商品已经占到网购总量的30%。越 来越多网民通过网络购买服装、居家日用品、食品保健品、母婴用品和家用电器。于是，有人认为，在淘宝网的带动下，电子商务已经逐步从网民消遣阶段进入“网 商”阶段，而这也正是互联网走向成熟的标志。

最早开网店的人都是出于好奇，把自己不用的东西放到网上 卖，就像一个“杂货店”。这和线下的零售起源一样。随着网络交易的兴起，一些用心专门经营某一系列或有限几个系列商品的网店越做越好，他们成了第一代赚钱 的网商，他们像是传统零售业态里的“专门店”。由于互联网没有地理距离的分割，这些店聚集在一起就像一个“百货公司”。在百货公司里，既有个 人的小店（在“淘宝网集市”里），也有商家的店铺（在“品牌商城”里）。随着网络交易竞争日益激烈，有的店专门以低价取胜，于是淘宝网有了“促销”区，相 当于“折扣店”。另外，就像周末许多美国人家把自家用过的旧货摆在门口，在路边插上牌子garage sales，吸引社区居民或者路过 的人买走一样。在淘宝网上，也有相对应的“二手闲置”区。

淘宝网上还有“全球购”，你可以托人在世界各地采购商品。在没有互联网的时候，我们只能借亲戚 朋友出差的时候，托人买东西。互联网推平了世界，使这项在线下不成规模的零售业态在网上焕发生机。上淘宝网，你就像住在城市最繁华的地方。推开门就是商 场：左边是品牌店、右边是个性小店，前面有折扣店、后面有旧货店，上面有世界各地的店，下面有游戏点卡、充值卡、机票等零售点。在2007年的网购商品销 售额排名中，依次为服装、手机、化妆品、居家日用品、家用电器、充值卡、相机摄像机、PC及配件、笔记本电脑、食品保健品，生活用品占据6席，IT数码类 仅占4席。

有人如此形容，淘宝网将会成为网络时代的领路人，带领我们走入网络消费新时代。与此同时，越来越多消费者倾向于网购，既简单又省时。正如美国市场研究公司尼尔森报告上显示，亚洲地区的消费者更倾向于网购。互联网的普及率以及社交媒体网站Facebook, Twitter,人人网，微博将会极大的影响消费者的购物决策。一个新的网络购物时代已经到来。

Photo by Gustavo Madico

上个月我们给大家讲解了如何利用社交网络去改变我们以往的旅行惯性思维。 现在我们一起讨论一下是什么推动我们旅游业的发展。正如我们所感受到的那样，亚洲旅游业供应商正在逐渐改变新的旅游业发展趋势：即时网络管理，智能手机旅行应用程序，和中国的网络旅行新动向。

即时网络引发的即时数码落差

在这个月初，我们讨论了四季酒店成功的导入及运用社交媒体为其创造品牌效应。 像一些知名度高的品牌可以提供网络即时服务，也可以投资在数码整合方面。 但是，像一些刚起步的或者知名度没有很高的品牌，却很难在网络和数码方面做出相应的调整。

正如5月份Water&Stone的分析报告所指出，社交媒体限制问题正困扰着大部分亚洲旅游业品牌。其中一个原因是无法预测投资在社交媒体上的时间管理。 中，小型企业导入新的旅游业策略，可以从数码媒体公司和市场分析专家了解到更多的信息。

一些管理方面的问题，例如社交媒体管理和客户反馈管理必须和商业决策以及旅游业新趋向接轨。

智能手机程序增加品牌价值

即时网络，顾名思义就是要在第一时间通过网络得到信息。 iPhone以及其他的智能手机给大家提供了更多的即时性和本土化的信息。 例如希尔顿酒店运用iPhone的智能程序去敦促与客户的交流和沟通，极大的促进了其亚洲市场的品牌效应及增加其总的营业收入。

中小企业实现网络即时数码化的方法可以结合iPhone智能运用程序和旅游业2.0新趋向。 例如， 一些商家可以帮助客户使用iphoto去浏览Flickr照片。 当人们想要在网络上分享新的旅行照片时，可以利用微博(twitter)去分享旅游经验，上传照片到他们旅行期间停留过的酒店或景点的微博网站。 人们甚至可以在twitter的照片上标记好旅行的地点。

富裕与睿智的中国游客

中国不断发展向上的蓬勃经济和持续增长的国民收入也给旅游业带来了全新的活力。据CIINC报道，网络旅行书籍和去年同期相比为网络销售带来了近67％的利润。

与此同时，中国的网民总体年龄偏低，从十几岁到三十几岁之间，也刚刚好和旅游业的消费年龄层重合。

据Messe-Berlin报道，对中国游客来说，最有人气的旅游地为泰国，美国，马来西亚和日本。 中国已经超越日本，成为欧洲市场最大的游客输出国。

随着网络营销的不断增长，许多中国的旅游业供应商也在利用网络销售寻找商机。 百度发表声明最近会对日本的旅游进行系统的宣传。 hotelmarketing.com也有一篇文章报道说70％的中国的旅行代理店想要利用网络社交为其服务。

不知您对未来旅游业的新的发展变化做好准备了吗？

Photo by futureatlas.com

2003年起建立的Linkedin 是最为著名的全球商务社交的网络平台。 总部设在Palo Alto的Linkedin在短短的几年时间里，由只有几个工程师，几张桌子的小公司迅速成长为全世界知名的，最为成功的专业商务社交信息网站。 目前为止， 有130个国家的3000多万专业人士都在运用linkedin 来寻找工作，合作伙伴，以及商业投资机会。正所谓在如今的商业化世界里，信息就是财富。

如今Linkedin 已经覆盖了50％ 的美国白领，拥有超过1亿美金的年度营收，与facebook在社交网站上形成分庭抗争之势。 唯一的不同是，Linkedin 更注重于商业价值，寻求商业机会， 而facebook更关注于日常生活和交友。
下面我们就来谈谈如何可以灵活运用Linkedin 在商务上助您一臂之力。

1.人脉决定优势。 中国人和美国人做生意有很大不同，但是人脉关系在任何国家都是相当重要的。 比如说有些在美国读书的朋友想回国找工作，不妨试试在Linkedin上面搜索一下国内专业人才招聘信息。 如果您想回国发展，也不妨试试找一下合作伙伴关系。

2. 提高知名度，充分利用机会，参与小组讨论。当您选择好要加入的群体以后，下一步就是回复或者提出问题与大家共同讨论。 这样的一个过程，也是大家互相关注互相学习的一个过程，也许你会因此而得到新的商机。

3.简历力求简洁明朗，更要不断更新内容。 如果一年以前的资料还没有更新的话，会给人一种拖拉，不讲求效率的印象。 简历虽然不要太过冗长，但是要力求与事实相符. 不仅仅列出现在的公司，最好也要列出以前工作过的公司。

4. 增加与工作相关的联系人。 Linkedin 容许您在网上搜索与公司及学校相关的联系人， 同时您还可以搜索到您的友人的联系人。 如果您添加更多的联系人，那么当人们要寻找一个雇员或生意伙伴的时候，您的资料被最先看到的可能性就会增加。

5. 帮助用户获取更多信息，了解彼此背景。 输入一个公司名称或者个人，就可以查找到和被调查人在同一个公司或同一段时间工作过的人。 试想您如果知道您的客户的工作背景及经历，就会大大促进彼此之间的交流。 这在美国本土的商务沟通之间已经非常普遍。

6. 有效判断公司或者行业前景。 比如您想开展自己的私人业务，通过与Linkedin 上面的有经验的人士交流学习，您可以有效的规避可能发生的商业风险。

7. 寻求建议。 通过使用其最新产品Linkedin Answer，您可以将商业问题发布到您的人际网络或者是全部Linkedin 网络。 与其他比较开放的网络论坛比较， 您可以得到更专业的答复。

8. 通过使用wordpress, 或者上传我的公司及我的博客的链接在主页上， 可以让大家了解更多关于您的背景及工作经验。

9. 邀请高层为您写推荐会为您的工作表现增加信用度。 一个好的推荐评语可以直接影响到大家对您的过往工作表现。

10. 增加一些业余生活，爱好及兴趣的信息会加深大家对您的印象。 Linkedin就好像是一张网络名片，纪录了您的工作历程及经历。

按照美国心理学家米尔格伦提出来的六度空间理论，“每一个人和任何一个陌生人之间所间隔的人不会超过6个，也就是说，最多通过6个人你就能够认识任何一个陌生人。 ”尽管理论上不超过6个，但是在无数的路径中，能够选对这6个人，却是一个大大的难题。 而通过商务网络社交网站则可以有效的降低这个难度。 Linkedin做为商务网络社交的佼佼者，为寻求商机的人士发挥着不可磨灭的作用。

Tencent QQ and Renren.com are the most popular social media networking tools amongst the younger generations in Mainland China. Tencent QQ, similar to MSN, and RenRen.com, similar to Facebook, are the most extensive network platforms for this demographic.



Let me briefly introduce how powerful Tencent QQ’s influence in Mainland China. Tencent was established in 1998 and the company’s headquarters are located in high-tech industry city of Shenzhen. Tencent is one of the largest comprehensive internet service providers with the most users. Tencent Holdings Limited (SEHK 700) went public in June, 2004.

Highly Integrated Media – Tencent QQ is the biggest Internet community in China so far. It includes QQ, which is free instant messaging computer program, QQ.com, QQ games, and online shopping website - paipai.com.

To provide better communication services for users, Tencent also launched QQ mailbox, QQ Search, and Qzone, which is the online resource sharing space between QQ users. Tencent also has very successful virtual image products, such as QQ pets, QQ games, QQ music/Redio/Live.

Network Volume is huge. As of September 30th, 2009, the number of registered accounts for the Tencent instant communication tool (QQ) had reached 1.057 billion, and total active accounts, 484.9 million. At a given time,  the highest numbers of simultaneous online user figures show75.50 million users while the highest simultaneously online game users figures were 5.7 million.

Renren Network was originally called Xiaonei Network, which is the Chinese social networking site with an interface similar to the Facebook. Renren Network is the most popular site among college students in China, and it requires all of the users to use their real identities for registering. Renren Network was established in Beijing in 2005 and belongs to the Oka Pacific Interactive group.

Renren Network is the most popular social networking site in Mainland China. At present,363 cities, 57979 high schools and 700 million high school students are connected on the Renren Network.

Japanese influence. Interestingly,  Softbank,  a Japanese telecommunications and media corporation, bought a 14% share of Renren and has now become its largest shareholder. Consequently, Softbank joined Oka Pacific in a quest to push Chinese social networking sites to a higher platform.

China’s Internet social media market is big and getting bigger and providing its youth ways of being connected to the social fabric of the times.

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