China brands tap into nationalism after NBA-conflict - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Li-Ning and Anta, two Chinese shoe sport manufacturers, took a nationalistic twist in their marketing after the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets triggered off criticism from China's government. Marketing expert Tom Doctoroff comments on the slippery slope of nationalism in China marketing for Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera:

These companies have also made efforts to tap into rising nationalism among China's youth. 

In the case of Li-Ning, the company rebranded itself and began running advertisements rooted in national pride in an effort to capitalise on political tensions with other countries, Tom Doctoroff, senior global advisor at Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy, told Al Jazeera. 

The controversy surrounding the US National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Houston Rockets earlier this year also provided Li-Ning's domestic competitor, Anta, with an opening to burnish its credentials as a patriotic Chinese company, says Doctoroff. 

Anta severed its relationship with the NBA after the general manager of the Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted a message in October supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. The tweet provoked a fierce response in mainland China, where state television stopped broadcasts of the league, multiple companies suspended or terminated cooperation and social media was flooded with criticism. 

Both Anta and Li-Ning are trying to "make inroads driven by nationalist sentiments", said Doctoroff. The Houston Rockets incident was a "shot across the bows" of the sneaker industry, the sports teams connected to it, and business in general, he said. 

"If a brand makes a hint at supporting dissolution of what China considers to be its legitimate territory, then the brand will suffer," Doctoroff noted. 

Every brand will have to grapple with balancing "freedom of expression and commitment to maintaining China sales," he said. "Most will be cautious … These are delicate times."

More at Al Jazeera.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Why Trump is blowing it - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

There seems very little doubt whether the complaints president US Donald Trump has about China's trade practices hold ground. But China veteran Tom Doctoroff sees Trump using the wrong methods to correct the trade concerns, he writes at LinkedIn.

Tom Doctoroff:

Make no mistake. China's trade practices are grossly unfair, mercantilistic in the extreme. Obsessed with growth, the underpinning of domestic social stability, the Communist Party does not play nice. It profits from ambiguities that have not been resolved since its accession to the World Trade Organization. The result? Rampant intellectual property theft, state intervention in and protection of "strategic industries" and forced technology transfers. Furthermore, China's recent policies are not friendly. Xi Jinping's "China 2025" plan espouses "self-reliance" in sectors from artificial intelligence to electric vehicles as fundamental to China's "dream" of national glory. It also smacks of epic statist intervention. 

So Trump's push to rewrite the rulebook, with clear "don't cross" red lines, is not unreasonable. That's why, until recently, his PRC trade policies have earned rare bi-partisan support. 

But Trump is blowing it, hugely.

More at LinkedIn.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Huawei: too late to save its international image? - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

China's telecom giant Huawei turned on an unprecedented PR machine after it got into rough weather and even exposed its reclusive founder to foreign journalists. Too late, too little, but not untypical for most Chinese companies, even when they have global aspirations, says marketing veteran Tom Doctoroff to the Holmes Report.

The Holmes Report:

Huawei's reluctance to communicate, furthermore, is only compounded when the stakes rise, as exemplified by the company's experiences over the past 18 months.  "Huawei's mismanagement of its international image is typical of Chinese entities — governmental or corporate — who simply can't respond to challenge," says former JWT China CEO Tom Doctoroff, now chief cultural insights officer at Prophet. "The instinctive impulse to lurch into a defensive, self-protective hunch precludes mutual understanding and win-win collaboration."

More at the Holmes Report.

Tom Doctoroff 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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How can brands reach China's slash generation - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Social engagement has changed the Post-'95 generation in China beyond recognition. China veteran Tom Doctoroff dives into the ways brands can reach this complicated "slash generation" for Mumbrella Asia. How a new generation walks away from traditional conventions.

Tom Doctoroff:

Several forces have expanded the Post-95 generation’s world view in China. The country now boasts a generation that embraces multidimensional identities and paths for the future. 

The youth refuse to be confined to a narrow set of interests. They refer to themselves as the “slash generation.” According to a survey conducted by Ctrip, the online travel portal, 85% of Post-90s believe a “modern person should have a multitude of interests.” Their role models are people who have achieved just that: Ji Lingchen is a Taobao brand creator/reality TV star/hip hop song writer. 

The explosion of possible passions combined with the ease of forging online communities has transformed social engagement. Small “tribes” of individuals who share similar niche interests — street culture, bodybuilding, hardcore gaming, gay choristers, cosplayers — have blossomed. 

Acceptance of non-conformist pursuits has shaped the Post-95s’ view of the future. So, too, has the burgeoning of careers that did not exist a few years ago — for example, UX designers, data scientists, short film directors and cloud service analysts. For now at least, the new generation eschews “conventional” definitions of success and dulled-out corporate hierarchies. 

But then looks are deceiving. 

In China, everything is a means to an end, and requires a payoff, now or in the future. Experiences aren’t simply enjoyed. 

Passions need to be converted into social currency that lubricates forward advancement. Broad societal endorsement from parents, teachers and classmates is becoming less important than acknowledgement from “the people that matter”: members of the same sub-tribes. 

For instance, Xu, an independent traveller, says: “My friends and I learn from each other’s experiences so we can plan for an even better trip next time.” Multidimensional passions and a broad worldview are spoken of as “tools” in “the toolbox of life,” skills or “weaponry” that can be deployed to overcome unexpected hurdles.

More in Mumbrella Asia.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Why "House of Cards" got a massive following in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

"House of Cards" might be a cynical parody on US politics, millions of Chinese also enjoyed the Netflix production and hade it a huge impact in China. Cultural expert and China expert Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer, explains to the Washington Post why. "It essentially confirmed that our government is not so different than theirs."

The Washington Post:

For international viewers under unfriendly regimes, this well-produced caricature of Washington proffers an unspoken truth about the duplicity of American power. And their governments have been all too happy to have their citizens believe that these dark shenanigans are realistic. 

Since its debut, the show has reached millions of viewers in China, as well as top leaders of the Communist Party. Netflix isn’t available in China (and it doesn’t release any data about viewership), but “House of Cards” has received millions of downloads through pirated torrents and third-party streaming websites like SohuTV, which secured the rights from Netflix for the show’s early seasons. Sohu ranked the second season, which features a Chinese oligarch trying to influence a U.S. election and a trade war between Beijing and Washington, as the most popular American show on its site after its 2014 release. According to the site, the first season received 24.5 million views in China, with the largest portion coming from residents of Beijing and government employees. 

“ ‘House of Cards’ had a huge impact in China,” said Tom Doctoroff, the chief cultural insights officer at Prophet, a brand and marketing consultancy, and an expert on the Chinese market, “because it essentially confirmed that our government is not so different than theirs. People took a great deal of satisfaction and maybe a little schadenfreude in that.” 

The show also portrayed Beijing as the United States’ adversarial equal while reaffirming Chinese propaganda about American double talk on democracy and human rights. President Xi Jinping famously referenced the show during a visit to the United States in 2015. Cui Tiankai, China’s ambassador to Washington, said in 2014 that “House of Cards” embodied “some of the characteristics and corruption that is present in American politics ” and that it highlighted the disadvantages of bipartisan politics.

More in the Washington Post.

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Luxury as display of success in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Luxury, as a display of success, is a key element in China, among all different cohorts, says marketing veteran Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer to Emarketer. What they have in common is a Confucian culture, binding all Chinese together, he says. If explains the longing for luxury.

Emarketer:

Tom Doctoroff:

Luxury, no matter what demographic cohort in China you're talking about—whether it's young consumers who have limited out-of-pocket funds or the man on top of the mountain—is used as a demonstration of the ability to get ahead in the game of life or maintain one's place. And this is largely driven by Confucian culture. 

eMarketer:

Could you explain what Confucian culture is and how it's connected to luxury consumption in China?

Tom Doctoroff:

Confucian culture is a combination of rules and regimentation, and [the idea] that the individual does not exist independent of his obligations and responsibilities to others. Therefore, there is a need to obey certain standards; in this case, demonstration of success. 

But the other part of Confucian culture that people don't usually think of is that it's a meritocratic culture. Not by rebelling but by mastering the rules, you are able to climb up the hierarchy. Luxury goods and the type of positioning that luxury goods have reflect the aspirations of what people want to project about themselves in society. So luxury is not frivolous at all. 

If you look at the role luxury plays in American society, it is relatively minor compared with Chinese society. In the US, these types of expression [aren't required], no matter how subtly they are displayed. In America, people don't have the same rule [to demonstrate] a marker of success, due to the nature of its individualistic culture.

More at Emarketer.

Tom Doctoroff 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. 

Are you looking for more luxury experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list. 

China consumers have become more sophisticated in dealing with brands - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Consumers in China have become more sophisticated over the years in the way they handle brands, says China veteran Tom Doctoroff, Chief Cultural Office or Prophet and author of the bestseller What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer, at the occasion of the 2018 Prophet China Brand Relevance Index(TM) at the Market Business Inside.

The Market Business Insider:

According to the 2018 China Brand Relevance Index™ (BRI) survey conducted by Prophet, a global brand and marketing consultancy, Chinese consumers have become more strategic in their purchase. They increasingly value meaningful and tangible innovations of home-grown Chinese brands and appreciate enriched experience through content. 

Tom Doctoroff, Chief Cultural Officer at Prophet said: "Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, actively seeking products and services that provide substance, innovative experience and belongingness. Over the years, we have seen a growing number of brands – both domestic and international – striving to tap into the local market and this trend will be here to stay. To win the hearts of Chinese consumers, brands should be built upon in-depth consumer insights that help boost their relevance to Chinese consumers."

More at the Market Business Insider.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Less bling, more consumption in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Marketing guru Tom Doctoroff denies stories about a downgrade of consumption in China, as some assume. There is less bling in the bigger cities, but the rest of the country sees more consumption as people just get enough income to start consumers, he tells at CGTN. Tom is the author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer.

Tom Doctoroff 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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Stable elements in China's fast-changing digital reality - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

China's digital world is changing faster than anywhere else in the world, but some elements remain stable, says marketing expert Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer to Warc. "Chinese people are so emotionally engaged with the images and experiences they share with the “like-minded” – that is, people who “matter” because they have the same interests.”

Warc:

“China’s digital landscape is evolving rapidly. But timeless cultural truths – that is, a regimented, rules-bound offline world – ensure the relationship between individuals and their online identities remain highly compartmentalised and emotionalized,” said Tom Doctoroff, Chief Cultural Insights Officer at brand consultancy Prophet, in an exclusive story for WARC. 

“Compared with day-to-day reality, [the internet is] a blank canvas of self-expression. That’s why Chinese people are so emotionally engaged with the images and experiences they share with the “like-minded” – that is, people who “matter” because they have the same interests.” This motivation implies two imperatives for brands. First, they must provide a platform for emotional release and creative liberation. Second, they must provide social currency and peer endorsement on a scale unimaginable in the West. 

“In China, pride is never separated from purchase. Self-image is inextricably linked to consumption because: a) there are relatively few ways to express identity given society’s conformism and b) brand choice represents forward advancement,” Doctoroff said. 

Doctoroff advises brands to look toward four key principles when engaging with young Chinese online: encouragement to break through traditional barriers or ‘old world’ expectations, empowerment to try new things, opportunities to project their status and offering a gateway to ‘greatness’. 

“Purchases need to reinforce the new generation’s aspiration to maintain a modern, multi-faceted identity. They want to project discernment in relationships, evolution of social consciousness, worldliness, and contemporary “health and wellness” practices.”

More in Warc.

Tom Doctoroff 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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How marketers can address challenges of China's affluent - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

China's affluent class is growing fast, but matching the newly found wealth with traditional roots offers them major challenges, writes marketing veteran Tom Doctoroff at AdAge. He offers marketers five tips to deal with those growing challenges.

Tom Doctoroff:

With incomes rising and lifestyle choices expanding, the motivations of China's emerging affluent class—primarily consumers in their 30s and 40s—are evolving rapidly. Compared to 10 years ago, they are driven by the challenges of balancing multi-dimensional roles, rather than merely achieving basic professional success. 

What does that mean? For one, China's upper middle class invests in "experiences" to provide a broad worldview. From sharpening expertise in health and wellness to exploring different cultures and cultivating a broad range of personal hobbies, projecting a multi-faceted identity defines success. Wide horizons are a weapon on the battlefield of life. 

There's a tension there: "I want to do more and be more but I struggle to balance it all." This anxiety is a modern-day manifestation of the ancient Confucian "doctrine of the mean"—or zhong yong—which espouses maintaining balance and harmony. 

Both men and women have trouble achieving harmony between competing roles, interests and identities. Speaking in generalities, men want to be providers for the extended family, professional role models and masters of taste and manner. Women hope to be protective mothers, accomplished professionals and "new generation individualists." 

Marketers that offer brands and experiences that resolve this conflict of the heart will earn loyalty. Here are five ways to do this.

Five tips at AdAge.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Getting China's political aspirations right in marketing - Shaun Rein/Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

International airlines, ignoring Taiwan is part of China, according to China, were the latest to get into hot water with their marketing. But China's sensitivities are nothing new, say Tom Doctoroff and Shaun Rein to OZY. It makes sense to let your China marketing vet by some China veterans, says both.

OZY:

Most companies targeted appear to have tried to accommodate Chinese demands by apologizing and amending references to Taiwan, for example, to read “Taiwan, China.” 

“There’s a lot of fear. Companies are all trying to figure out if anything they’ve done is wrong,” says Shaun Rein, founder of China Market Research Group, a Shanghai-based consultancy. “They are looking at their websites … not just their own but also their suppliers’,” he adds. 

The White House waded into the dispute in early May, calling Beijing’s demands “Orwellian nonsense,” and stating that Beijing’s demands were “part of a growing trend by the Chinese Communist Party to impose its political views on American citizens and private companies.”... 

Tom Doctoroff, a partner at Prophet, a U.S.-based marketing consultancy, says Beijing’s intervention has so far been just a “minor irritation” to multinationals. “China has always been extremely sensitive when it comes to its territorial integrity,” he says. Recent events underlined the importance of making sure that marketing and other materials were vetted by staff with knowledge of the Chinese market, Doctoroff adds. “China is a market with a completely different worldview from the West … it’s imperative that how you go to market is localized,” he says.

More in OZY.

Tom Doctoroff and Shaun Rein are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need one of them at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

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Social currency in an online society - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

China's deep Confucian roots do influence the way the internet has developed, says marketing veteran Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer, to the South Morning Post. “I call it pride commerce, where there is the idea that you are what you buy … and that sharing your interests is a way to make your identity stronger,” Doctoroff said.

The South China Morning Post:

Social+ apps have also gained traction because Chinese tend to be more expressive and open online compared to in person due to the strong influence of Confucian values that minimise individualism in favour of the collective good, according to Tom Doctoroff, chief cultural insights officer at branding and marketing consultancy Prophet. 

“The Chinese often generate social currency through their activities and online persona. The online world is a place where you can project your identity safely, and so there is a greater amount of expressive liberation happening online in China relative to other countries,” he said. 

As China continues to prosper and its middle class becomes more affluent, many Chinese want their interests or material possessions to reflect that they are “sophisticated and worldly”, so many are happy to share their personal interests or purchases with others online, he said. 

“I call it pride commerce, where there is the idea that you are what you buy … and that sharing your interests is a way to make your identity stronger,” Doctoroff said.

More in the South China Morning Post.

Tom Doctoroff 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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How brands can overcome political problems - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Cartoon Peppa Pig was the latest to get into China's political crosshairs, but it was not the first and will not be the last, says branding expert Tom Doctoroff. For Mumbrella Asia he gives a quick overview of those problems, and some tips to avoid them, and limit the damage when you get caught.

Tom Doctoroff:

But, once anger abates, normalcy returns. Chinese consumers are even more pragmatic than nationalistic. Superior value always wins the day. 

That said, there is no room for complacency. 

The best armor is a compelling and well-defined brand purpose, a consistent long-term relationship between consumer and brand that underpins all subsequent engagement with that brand. It articulates a brand’s calling and how it contributes to consumers’ lives. 

SK-II overcame its scandal by elevating the brand’s purpose from functional anti-aging to an emotive “power to change your destiny.”  It resolved a conflict between women’s desire to both conform to conventional standards of beauty and escape the confines of societal expectations. The brand’s efforts were multidimensional. For example, it created a social movement to arm “left behinds” – unmarried women over the age of 27 – with the confidence to be beautiful at any age. 

Brands must also be “customer obsessed”. 

In an era of consumer empowerment fueled by technology, experience is king. From a delivery app that reveals courier location to facial recognition that generates tailored menu recommendations, KFC occupies a high ground of “seamless personalisation” within the quick service restaurant category. 

Starbucks has overcome media brouhahas about tainted meat and price gouging. But business is booming – there are more than 3,000 stores across the PRC – because the brand offers inspired customer experience, not just coffee.

More in Mumbrella Asia.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

Online identities in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff in Paris

"Chief Insight Officer" Tom Doctoroff explains change and consistency of China's consumers in a fast digitalizing world at China Connect Paris 2018. "Basic motivations remain the same." Doctoroff is the author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more consumption experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

The future of China's millennials - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

A new generation is emerging to set their mark on China. Marketing veteran Tom Doctoroff looks at the relative newcomers, and how they differ from past generations, for state-owned TV station CGTN. "Post-90s are proudly patriotic, they want to see a strong China,” he says.

CGTN:

Tom Doctoroff, senior partner at brand and marketing consultancy firm Prophet, refers to the Post-90s generation as being pragmatic “doers.” And there is a reason for why this group of millennials plays stock in the here and now, he says. 

“It’s a double-edged sword, because on one hand they grew up in a period of rising affluence. But they also became adults in a period of economic insecurity, so they don’t have a hundred percent faith that the future is going to be stable.” 

And if this group of millennials ends up taking a role in government? How will they lead? 

Doctoroff says one can take comfort in the fact that the structure of Chinese society is as it has always been, and because of this, millennials respect it and its authority. 

“China is still a Confucian society, the relationship between the individual and society is not fundamentally changing. So nobody’s looking to blow up the system,” he says. 

That said, what this new connected generation can bring to the leadership table is balance, driven from their international experiences, Doctoroff says. He expects this group to bring about further reforms in the service sector, and also hopes that they can bring about a more flexible and responsive government. 

And this is where Chinese millennials differ slightly from that of the West – where millennials there are profoundly individualistic and think they are the basic unit of the society, Doctoroff says. 

“So people are trying to navigate the system here [in China] as opposed to American millennials where they are trying to shape the system so it’s really quite different.”... 

In a nutshell, Doctoroff says the interests of China’s New Era and its new generation of Chinese are aligned, citing the post-90s as an increasingly patriotic generation. 

“I think Chinese patriotism in this New Era is only going to grow, but I also think the Chinese are pragmatic; they don’t want to take over the world,” he says. 

Doctoroff commends the government’s efforts in their focus on innovation and the Internet plus strategy, citing China’s economic development program as something that is already liberating the creative energies of many. 

However, he says that there are too many technological barriers for young Chinese to discover the world and truly engage with it. 

“And I think that this is a mistake because again the millennials, post-90s are proudly patriotic, they want to see a strong China,” he says. 

“I do not think there is a risk that there’s going to be a rebellion, if say, Facebook were available, or if they could read the New York Times via a virtual private network. So I do think it’s time to loosen up a little bit without losing control,” Doctoroff adds. 

That being said, he has a question for this generation of millennials. “How much of this is a life-stage – the fact that they are currently young, relatively free, unmarried – and how much of this is a true generational shift?” 

Doctoroff says he is not entirely certain that this group can keep up with their passion as they enter the next stage of life, for instance getting married and having the burden of caring for a family, as well as the financial burden of owning an apartment. 

“Can you stop the urge to reinterpret convention based on your own passion, as the demands of survival and  living reassert themselves? That, I am not a hundred percent sure,” he says.

More at CGTN.

Tom Doctoroff 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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What's the deal with Alibaba's new retail? - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Supermarkets in China (and where not) have been unfriendly for innovation - to put it mildly. But Alibaba's HEMA's supermarkets, starting the so-called "new retail", are causing a revolution, writes marketing guru Tom Doctoroff in AdAge. 25 Stores are functional and dozens more will be open soon.

Tom Doctoroff:

Until recently, China's grocery retail scene was primeval. Customer service was an oxymoron. A walk down the aisles of locally managed chains such as LianHua, HaiHang and Bubugao is a depressing experience, with ultra-bright lighting, wilted produce and scowling employees. Due to operational rigidity and cultural tone deafness, no international hypermarket—Carrefour, Walmart or Tesco—has achieved broad scale. 

Hema, on the other hand, oozes customer-centricity. In-store restaurants build a sense of in-store community. Layouts are easy to navigate and address Chinese sensibilities—for example, live produce is put near the entrance. In the U.S., the closest equivalent might be Whole Foods, though it's worth noting that Alibaba debuted its Hema brand before Amazon bought Whole Foods. 

Traditional retailers haven't tried to create an emotionally appealing brand, while Hema has. The brand name Hema Xiansheng means "boxed/packaged freshness and liveliness," while it also sounds like the phrase "Mr. Hippo." Hema uses a personified hippopotamus as its mascot. Its advertising is also more adventurous than other supermarket brands. Hema had a pop-up "Seafood Art Exhibition" in Shanghai, in an aquarium-style glass house, where consumers could check out expensive seafood products such as Boston lobster and Alaskan king crab. 

What will make Hema resonate? For one, it provides multi-level reassurance. China is the ultimate low-trust society. Economic, social and political interests remain unprotected by impartial institutions. Food, specifically, is dangerous stuff. The fear of contamination has been acute since 2008, when six babies died and several hundred fell ill from tainted milk powder. Parents pay 300 percent premiums for imported infant formula. In this context, Hema's transparency is manna from heaven. QR code displays reveal the origin of every product—where it was made, where it's from—as a guarantee of quality. 

The Hema purchase process also introduces new levels of "seamless product trial." Rather than piling goods into a cart and handing over cash over to a surly worker at the cash register, shoppers can "graze and pay" as they go. Imagine a woman enticed by a tropical fruit she may serve at a dinner party. With Alipay, she can buy just one, take a bite, and buy ten more later if the product passes muster. Or she can order online for delivery just before the event. 

Finally, the supermarket opens new worlds of discovery. Hema's multidimensional online-and-offline experience turns shoppers to connoisseurs of the exotic. Buyers are instantly provided information about, say, a novel dessert's provenance or recipe ideas for unusual seafood dishes. In China, a nation obsessed with sending pictures of food through cell phones, culinary adventurism is tantamount to lifestyle elevation. Given the ubiquity of social media platforms WeChat and Weibo, cuisine is translated into "face"—that is, currency of social advancement. "Showing you know" is a weapon in China's competitive battlefield of life.

More in AdAge.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

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Lifting branding to a new level - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Deep insight in consumer behaviour is what marketing should offer, writes branding guru Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer, on his LinkedIn page. Cluttering that insight with "exaggerated faith in algorithms, programmatic efficacy and hyper-personalization," is not helpful he adds. And: "Insights are not observations."

Tom Doctoroff:

Technological innovation is not the only starting point for branding, customer experience, and product development. A brand’s relentless relevance must also spring from deep insight into consumer behavior. In an era characterized by exaggerated faith in algorithms, programmatic efficacy and hyper-personalization, marketers should answer a higher calling to embrace psychology and cultural anthropology to penetrate the souls – and lives -- of consumers. 

Insights are not observations. They latter record what people say or do.  The former reveal inner desire.   

The first character of the word insight in Chinese is dong, which means “hole.” It is a fitting parallel; insights into consumer behavior are deep.   They need to be unearthed.  Insights explain fundamental motivations for behavior and preference, answering the question “Why?” More specifically, this article advocates the most powerful insights are tensions – between and within cultural and/or human truths – and brands must use them maximize relevance. 

It’s worth noting global brands often struggle to maintain relevance across far-flung markets because they ignore the importance of underlying urges in determine buying behavior. Some of the greatest failures in China, for example, have been caused by cultural tone deafness. Ebay didn’t appreciate the need for reassurance when making virtual transactions. Kellogg cereal misjudged the importance of a “mom’s warm hug” in the morning when launching cold, crunchy breakfast cereal. Best Buy underestimated price sensitivity when promoting the expertise of in-store sales personnel. 

Across the developing world, Unilever’s Dove “Real Beauty” positioning – advocacy of women defining their own standards of attractiveness irrespective of social context -- fell flat because the brand failed to appreciate the role of external admiration in non-individualistic markets such as the US and Europe.

Much more at LinkedIn.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

How to brand your message in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Stability and tradition in China are much stronger over the generations than many outsiders assume, marketing guru Tom Doctoroff, author of What Chinese Want: Culture, Communism, and China's Modern Consumer, argues in this video clip for Amcham. Tensions between generations do exist in China too, but they are different from those elsewhere in the world, he argues.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

How Starbucks conquered a tea-drinking nation - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Starbucks opened its largest outlet last week in Shanghai, and is moving from US to China as its largest operation. Marketing guru Tom Doctoroff looks at the strategy of the US coffee retailer who entered a tea-drinking nation, and gained tracking few foreign companies got, he explains in IdealsShanghai. "A Houdini act of Marketing".

Tom Doctoroff:

I once heard an analogy that Starbucks is a true modern day colonial power – one that quietly enters a country, builds four walls around people and puts expensive lattes in their hands. Of course, the actual concept behind the Starbucks brand in the West lies in Howard Schultz’s  ‘The Third Space’; being the space between home and work where consumers can slip into a plush chair and quietly read a book in total anonymity and relaxation. 

China, however, is a different beast entirely. For one, it’s a nation of tea drinkers, and secondly, consumer behaviour here is very specific. Yet this week brought with it the launch of Starbucks’ new roastery concept in Shanghai, another ribbon to add to a year that has seen Starbucks become the fastest growing brand in China, with 3000 physical stores, a new one opening every 15 hours, and plans to open 5000 by 2021. 

Starbucks has entered the China market with extreme precision. ‘The Third Space’ has no relevance in this market and they recognised this instantly. For a premium price and a premium brand, Chinese consumers don’t desire relaxed anonymity, they want to project an identity and status associated with their choice. It was critical that Starbucks localized their strategy, and they did. This is something I like to call ‘Houdini’s Act of Marketing’; Starbucks needed to work out how to maximise public consumption – only then could it charge premium prices. 

To a foreign brand looking to make a splash in China, scale is everything. When it launched, the real estate strategy was always to secure big stores in high end office buildings. Individual chairs were also demoted in favour of bigger tables to create social spaces. Starbucks was aligning itself with the ‘professional elite’ and the stores rapidly became a gathering site for people who wished to identify with, and more importantly, project this image.

More in IdealsShanghai.

Tom Doctoroff 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. 

Are you looking for more strategic experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.  

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The golden rules of marketing in China - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff

Brand expert, Prophet senior partner and ex-JWT veteran Tom Doctoroff unveiled "three golden rules for marketing in China" at Mumbrella360 Asia.  Doctorff said brands need to understand the Confucian “tension” between climbing social hierarchy and protecting oneself from social or economic failure.

Tom Doctoroff 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.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.