Showing posts with label Unilever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Unilever. Show all posts

Monday, September 16, 2019

Why multinationals eye incubators for a competitive edge - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean
China's competitive landscape is changing fast, and the blooming incubators for startups offer multinational a much-needed edge in local competition, says William Bao Bean, managing director of the Chinaccellator in Shanghai to Forbes. “When you’re under pressure and local players are taking market share from you, you look to innovation.”

Forbes:
“The competition from the local players is really intense,” especially at a time of slowing economic growth this year, said William Bao Bean, managing director of Chinaccelerator, one of the most active foreign-backed accelerators in the country, in a recent interview. 
To get an edge, more and more multinationals are turning to accelerators and incubators. “When things are going smoothly, you’re not feeling that pressure,” Bean said.  
“When you’re under pressure and local players are taking market share from you, you look to innovation.”... 
Bean, a graduate of Bowdoin College, knows his way around Asia, having moved to the region in the 1990s. After positions in Deutsche Bank, Softbank and SingTel Innov8, he in 2014 joined SOSV, a venture capital firm that runs accelerators. Chinaccelerator, where Bean is a managing director, provides seed capital and mentoring for globally minded technology entrepreneurs. 
The search for innovation solutions helped spawn a Johnson & Johnson incubation facility in Shanghai that opened in June and will house up to 50 startups. It started with 31 resident companies at an event that was attended by Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief science officer.   
“Johnson &Johnson has deep roots in China with an innovation footprint dating back nearly four decades,” Stoffels said in a statement. “We are committed to fueling innovation in the region and unleashing the power of science and technology to advance the health of people in China and around the world.”  
Sanofi and Microsoft have also been notably active with a similar approach, Bean says.  Merck, for its part, plans to open the Merck China Innovation Hub in Shanghai in October. 
Yet it’s not only tech and pharma multinationals that are looking for new ideas through startups in China, Bean said. “Consumer brands are really looking for new cutting-edge solutions from startups to help them become more competitiveness versus much stronger local brands,” he said. The consumer-focused companies partnering with startups are no slouches:  ABInBev and Unilever.
More in Forbes.

William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Monday, June 13, 2011

Unilever realistic on growth - Shaun Rein

NANTONG, CHINA - MAY 25:   Products of Unileve...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
The Dutch-British conglomerate Unilever set a target on increasing its revenue stream from China five times. A realistic target, tells business analyst Shaun Rein of the plan of P&G largest international competitor, according to Bloomberg.
Unilever’s Chinese expansion goal is realistic, according to Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, a Shanghai-based consumer consulting company. Premium brands in the fast-moving consumer-goods industry are growing about 20 percent annually in the country, he said in a phone interview.

“The government is trying to shift the economy from manufacturing-oriented to consumption-led,” Rein said. “Unilever are well poised because they have a strong branding and they created trust with the consumer.”
More in Bloomberg.

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him on your meeting or conference? Do get
ShaunReinportrait
in touch.
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Inflation raises tensions - Shaun Rein

ShaunReinportraitShaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr
The unusual fine of 2 million RMB (euro 200,000) for Unilever after announced prices rises caused a stampede, illustrates how inflation is becoming a headache for the authorities, Shaun Rein says in various comments.
In AFP:
"This is a very unusual measure. I think it is a way of scaring companies to think twice before they raise prices," Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group in Shanghai, told AFP...
"Consumers feel it is much harsher... food prices from yoghurt to milk to eggs to cooking oil have gone up 10-20 per cent in the past six months," said Rein.
In Market Watch:
The fine levied on Unilever reflects Beijing’s growing sensitivity about inflation numbers, according to China Market Research managing director Shaun Rein in Shanghai.
Government officials and company executives were also aware of the growing political sensitivity of the issue, Rein said.
“Last month’s leaks really upset certain folks, so everyone will probably be more tight-lipped,” Rein said.
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