China’s consumers: exploring a complicated market – Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Foreign companies all too often had a simplistic view of China’s consumers. Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok looks at how she can now differentiate between consumers in different clusters, although she still has to keep it simple, she tells at an interview in Dao Insights.

Dao Insights:

What is the best way to split up the “China market” into consumer groups?

The most important distinction is between north and south China, which have completely different ecosystems when it comes to spending power, culture, and behaviours. This is especially true post-COVID-19, as its economic recovery has been extremely uneven throughout China. Southerners are engaging in “revenge consumption” (a strong desire to buy due to pent up demand); whereas people in the north, especially those residing in tier 2, 3, or 4 cities, are saving due to concerns about job security and commonly have two or three jobs on the side of full-time employment. As such, there is a completely different mental state between the two.

What about the impact of the tier-system on consumer groups?

I use city tiers out of ease, but the term over-simplifies China and its different consumer groups. City tiers were created a long time ago for government planning purposes, not for defining consumer behaviours. Take the example of Changsha: it is building a night economy from scratch by extending work hours, boosting night consumption, and developing cultural streets in order to become China’s number one 24-hour city. So, how do you classify it in the tier system?

Many China-watchers are moving away from these generalisations and focussing on “clusters”. These are groups of 3-5 cities which have similar economies and are a much more accurate way to define consumption patterns.

More at Dao Insights.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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

How Moutai passed even Coca-Cola in market cap – Ben Cavender

 

Ben Cavender

Moutai has been a runaway success, started as the drink for China’s elite but now conquering the market for the common people too, and it gains market value, even passing Coca-Cola. Marketing analyst Ben Cavender looks at CNN at the successful liquor as it prepares for another highlight as Chinese New Year is around the corner.

CNN:

Even amid a global pandemic, Kweichow Moutai, the company that makes the eponymous liquor, had a banner year: its stock surged around 70% on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2020. The company, which is part state-owned and part publicly-traded, is China’s most valuable firm outside of technology — worth more than the country’s four biggest banks. Globally, its market cap has not only surpassed all other alcohol distillers like Diageo and Constellation Brands, but also Coca-Cola, which had long held the crown as the world’s largest beverage maker by market cap. Valued at 2.7 trillion yuan, or $421 billion Kweichow Moutai is worth more than Toyota, Nike and Disney, too.

“Anytime they have any stock [of the product] available, it’s going to be gone almost instantly,” said Ben Cavender, the Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group. “You’ll see people clamoring [for it].”

Apart from the Chinese diaspora, however, Moutai is still virtually unknown overseas. Almost all — about 97% — of its sales come from China alone, according to its financial reports…

Being part of so many major public events in China “really set the brand in the national consciousness,” said Cavender, who likened it to another giant beverage maker, Coca-Cola, in that regard.

“That’s the same reason why Coke has actually done so well from a marketing perspective. If you look at the way they’ve done their advertising over the past 50 years, they’re at pretty much every big event. You see Coke at when the Berlin Wall comes down. You see Coke commercials at Christmas. I think Moutai is that brand for China, and so I think that part explains why it’s so popular.”..

Moutai has found a way to be “approachable for a lot of regular consumers, at least for special occasions,” while at the same time also offering collectors’ items that reach the ultra-rich, said Cavender.

“That’s something that makes Moutai, I think, different, from a lot of the international beverage brands,” he said.

It’s also been a tremendous advantage during an economically tough year: wealthy consumers who are spending less on travel may splurge more on liquor, Cavender added.

More at CNN.

Ben Cavender is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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How Douyin/Tiktok became mainstream – Matthew Brennan

 

Matthew Brennan

Content creation has been key for short-form engagement, writes the Jing Daily. And for  Bytedance’s Douyin/Tiktok it has paved the way from its original base of millennials to mainstream engagement, adds Matthew Brennan, author of  “Attention Factory: The Story of Tiktok and China’s Bytedance.

Jing Daily

For Douyin, the presence of arts content as dominant verticals echoes the attentions of the platform’s early millennial adopters. “It started with a core user base of trendy urbanites and art students in the early 20s demographic,” says Matthew Brennan, author of Attention Factory, a book chronicling the rise of parent company ByteDance. “By 2018, Douyin had gone fully mainstream.” Douyin’s warp speed growth was encapsulated by October 2017 during which the app’s users jumped from seven to 14 million and the average time spent in the app doubled to 40 minutes. The growth signaled a reach far beyond the initial Millennial and Gen Z users, and prompted a change of slogan to the all-encompassing “Record Beautiful Life.” Three years on, that vision includes “more than the classic dance, lip-sync, and comic content categories,” says Brennan, and touches upon the full spectrum of cultural content.

Embroidery is one such area. “I had some craft skills before, but I’ve really learned a lot through watching short-videos [on Douyin and Kuaishou],” says Han Yunyin, a retiree in Shanxi province. “Seeing other people’s [embroidery] abilities inspires me to buy more materials and continue making more myself.”

This cultural focus is increasingly driven by ByteDance itself. With more than 600 million daily active users, Douyin appears to have saturated the domestic market — though such predictions in the past have proved premature — and the Beijing-based company’s focus has turned to maintaining its audiences and extending user time, stickiness in industry parlance. Similar to YouTube, Douyin’s appeal rests with content not socializing, says Brennan, and with product teams having seemingly exhausted in-app innovations, the focus will rest on ensuring Douyin platforms unique, quality content. Arts and education are key to this strategy with Douyin self-identifying as China’s largest knowledge, culture, and art platform with nearly 15 million knowledge-based content videos in 2019.

More at the Jing Daily.

Matthew Brennan 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 can China bloggers charge brands so much money – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Western brands are often shocked by the fees they have to pay to retain bloggers in China. Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok explains why bloggers in China work differently and actually do no need brands for their operation. They can create their own brands, so do not need the Western ones, unless they pay, she says.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) 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.

China tech firms face more than geopolitical tensions in global expansion – William Bao Bean

 

William Bao Bean

Privacy concerns, marketing and local regulations on data security are just a few of the barriers China’s tech companies face when they want to go global, says seasoned VC William Bao Bean at the China Technode Emerge 2020 conference in Shanghai last week.  Geopolitical tension are way overrated as possible hurdles, he adds, according to Technode.

Technode:

2020 has been a tough year for Chinese tech companies selling to overseas markets. In India, local authorities banned a total of 177 Chinese apps in June and September following border clashes between the two countries. In the US, the Trump administration announced impending bans on short video app Tiktok and instant-messaging app Wechat, which are among the most successful Chinese apps in international markets. Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei is facing increasing restrictions on supplying gear for Western countries’ next-generation 5G networks.

Beyond geopolitical tensions, Chinese tech companies expanding overseas also face obstacles in the form of privacy regulations, marketing, and localization, William Bao Bean, general partner at investment firm SOSV, said during the opening panel at the Shanghai event.

“The challenge for entrepreneurs going across the border is actually trying to understand what you can do and what you cannot do,” Bean said. 

The lack of regard for privacy has led to some of the problems Chinese tech companies face in markets like Europe and the US because of stricter local regulations on data security, Bean explained.

“You have to adapt to the local market. You have to follow the local law. And half the time, people [startups] don’t even know that they’re breaking the law when they go across the border,” he said…

Chinese venture capital (VC) funds may find it difficult to raise money from US pension funds, said Bean. But he believes that the hurdles faced by VCs are not affecting Chinese startups. “That’s a money problem, not a startup problem,” he said.

“China has got the number-two largest VC industry in the world in terms of the amount of funds put in startups and it’s actually easier for Chinese companies to raise money from China,” he said.

Bean said that Chinese tech companies should see Southeast Asia as their next destination in their global expansion plans to avoid regulatory uncertainties in Europe and India.

“Southeast Asia has a lot of the same challenges, problems, or opportunities that China had 10 years ago. It’s a mobile-first market. So people’s first or only experience with the internet is on a smartphone, which is very similar to China,” he said.

Bean said he couldn’t be sure whether or not there will be more Chinese tech companies facing global regulatory backlash like Huawei and Tiktok, but he is optimistic that this would not stop Chinese startups from going overseas.

 

More at Technode.

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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Instant consumption for the spoiled China consumer – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

China’s consumers are the most spoiled in the world and instant consumption, instant delivery after purchase, is standard, not only for food but for all consumption articles, says marketing specialist Ashley Dudarenok at her weblog.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

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

Surviving in the new cold war - Arnold Ma

  

Marketing expert Arnold Ma runs his branding agency Qumin from London in both China and the West. He explains how brands, and his company, are doing now relations between China, the US and the UK get complicated, to put it mildly. Arnold is interviewed by Shirley Ze Yu and Martina Fuchs. What Chinese brands are doing well in the West, and many other questions.

Arnold Ma and Shirley Ze Yu are both speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need them on your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

At the China Speakers Bureau, we start to organize online seminars. Are you interested in our plans? Do get in touch.

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How to define your China consumer market - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

When you want to explore the China consumer market, it is not enough to define age group or geography, but you need to dive into the complicated submarkets inside those groups, explains marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok at her vlog.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form.

At the China Speakers Bureau, we start to organize online seminars. Are you interested in our plans? Do get in touch.

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

What can brands learn from China's corona crisis? - Arnold Ma

Arnold Ma

What can brands learn from China for the post-corona crisis? Marketing expert Arnold Ma from Qumin in London joins a discussion at Retail Marketing. Building loyalty during a crisis is key, he says. Some traditional behaviors will return to the old patterns, but consumers will stick to newly developed insights, he adds.

Arnold Ma 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 social media define marketing in China - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing veteran Ashley Dudarenok explains how she joined the social media bandwagon in China post-2009 for her marketing ventures, interviewed by 852 Reboot HK. With remarks on the future of Hong Kong and the fallout of the coronavirus. And why companies need at least seven business models to survive 2020.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. 
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How companies use corona fears to sell their products - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein

Most of China is moving away from the coronavirus crisis, but the fears are still running deep. Companies, notably the hard-hit car industry, try to use that fear for marketing their products, says business analyst Shaun Rein to the BBC. 

BBC:

Shaun Rein, managing director at the China Market Research Group, ...: "Companies are trying to take advantage of fears of Covid-19 to sell products and services to consumers and to be able to charge a premium." 

In 2015, Tesla sold cars with anti-pollution filtration systems that were very popular in China. Its "Bioweapon Defense Mode" was aimed at people worried about air pollution in cities. 

"Auto makers are now trying to position their cars as safe against viruses too. I'm no doctor or scientist, but I'd warn consumers to be cautious of any company saying their products reduce virus transmissions, especially Covid-19 ones," Mr Rein said.

More at the BBC.

Shaun Rein 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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Success tips from a China marketeer - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Becoming a successful marketeer can be learned, says China-veteran Ashley Dudarenok at Hive Life. She gives six tips to move forward in selling into China. For example: get a mentor. "You can do it all – but it’s going to take you twenty years. Do you want to do it the hard way? Or do you want to pay somebody some money to show you how to do it in probably in just two to three years? "

Hive Life:


#1

Find a mentor and accelerate your success

“We’re all smart people here – you can all learn how to write a book. You can all learn how to do China marketing. You can all learn, believe me, how to run a successful business. You can do it all – but it’s going to take you twenty years. Do you want to do it the hard way? Or do you want to pay somebody some money to show you how to do it in probably in just two to three years? My first book took three months because I paid somebody to walk me through the process so it was so much faster than it would have been otherwise. This also applies to mindsets and psychology. I hired my first success coach for a total of six sessions – and those six hours transformed my life. I paid her what was a lot of money for me at the time. But now, I would pay her ten times more because I know what it would lead to.”

#2

Set boundaries to keep you on your path 

“You need to protect yourself. If you have a negative family member and this person is literally in your space all the time, even if you are happy, they’re still going to get to you because you will feel it. So first, you need to distance yourself from them and limit your exposure. I had an experience with a very close member of my family and I had to literally discontinue that relationship for about a year and a half. And I said, ‘you know what, this is my boundary, and I choose to discontinue this relationship because every time we talk, it’s only negative stuff. And I know that this is the TV channel that you’re watching all the time, but I’m watching a different channel. I’m happy. I’m in a comedy-adventure kind of channel, but you’re watching that negative thriller and you like it. So let’s not watch the same channel.’”

Four more tips at Hive Life.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her 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.  

Learning Mandarin is needed to open your mind - Arnold Ma

Arnold Ma

Learning Mandarin is a way to open your mind and the world, says marketing guru Arnold Ma to the British Council, since still a small part of the Chinese speak foreign languages.

Arnold Ma 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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China's biggest retail buzzwords - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok looks at her weblog the biggest online buzzwords in China's retail over the past three years and her dynamic overview. And what will happen in 2020?

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers  Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in 
our speakers' request form. 

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Getting close to your customers is key - Arnold Ma

Arnold Ma

Brands focus to much on social media platforms and generic influencers, and forget often they need to get closer to their customers, says marketing expert Arnold Ma in the McKinsey Report on the 2020 State of Fashion. In China and the rest of Asia consumers are faster to adopt new trends and increasingly guinea pigs for Western brands.

The McKinsey Report:

Arnold Ma, chief executive of creative digital agency Qumin, suggests players should move up the influencer funnel, partnering with individuals or other brands who truly live the lifestyle and can tell an authentic story, rather than blindly paying popular more generic influencers to promote their products... 

“People [in Asia] don’t hold onto legacy behaviours such as using Facebook or sticking with credit cards instead of mobile payment,” says Arnold Ma, founder and chief executive of Chinese digital marketing agency Qumin. “When something new comes out, people welcome it with open arms.” 

This explains why tech currents increasingly flow from the east. 

“The west is just seeing successful examples and copying it,” Ma says. “They’re using Asia as a guinea pig.” 

Staying on top of Asian social platform developments is not only important to better reach consumers in Asia. Brands can also apply learnings from social media trends in Asia to their business elsewhere, giving them an edge over competitors in non-Asian markets. So, what do Asia’s next-gen social media foretell?

More in the McKinsey Report.

Arnold Ma 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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When having a CMO is not a good idea - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean

When companies cannot pay enough, they often give their key people fancy titles, like Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). But startup guru William Bao Bean, the managing director of Shanghai-based startup accelerator Chinaccelerator, warns against titles with a 'C' in it, unless it is your CEO, especially when you are a startup, he tells Phocuswire.

Phocuswire:

When you have a startup, you don’t put the word 'C' in too many titles, except for CEO,” says Bao Bean.
“The skills required in the early days are different from the skills required later, and it's often hard to demote people.” Bao Bean says that startups should avoid bringing on a CMO because “a startup by definition is looking for scalability and repeatability and there is no point in selling something that is not scalable and repeatable.
“Startups shouldn’t hire a CMO until they have something in the market, and you don’t have something in the market until its scalable and repeatable.”
Bao Bean says that companies with a CMO generally have “product, market and fit,” but an early-stage startup likely hasn’t achieved this yet because it doesn't have a product that people want.
“A startup is like a party where once you get into the front door, there's no one there. A customer journey needs to be in place.”...
Instead of hiring a CMO, Bao Bean recommends filling a head of growth role first. “You need a head of growth from day one,” he says.
“You never move from startup to company without somebody who's using data to drive a startup.” Eventually, once "product, market and fit" is achieved, then it is time to split marketing responsibilities away from the head of growth and to hire someone to fill up the funnel.

More in Phocuswire.

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.

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

Ashley Dudarenok: top 25 Asia innovator in the Holmes Report 2019

Add caption

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok has been chosen by the Holmes Report as one of the top 25 Asia innovators for 2019. "Innovation starts with asking questions."

From the Holmes Report:

Ashley Galina Dudarenok has founded not just one but two consultancies focused on marketing in China. ChoZan is a social media agency while Alarice specializes in marketing training — and both outfits reflect Dudarenok’s expertise in navigating China’s famously fast-moving digital landscape. Dudarenok’s tireless entrepreneurial spirit has underpinned her progress on multiple fronts: as a member of Alibaba’s global influencer entourage and JD’s global China experts group, an Amazon bestselling author of three books, and running one of the world’s most popular China business vlogs. 

How do you define innovation? Innovation is finding a new, better way to do things. Innovation is moving forward. Innovation is life. 

What is the most innovative comms/marketing initiative you've seen in the last 12 months? Private Traffic on WeChat in China / KOC 

In your opinion, what brands and/or agencies are most innovative around PR and marketing? Durex in China is great :)

More at the Holmes Report.

Ashley Dudarenok 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 innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.   

How to hire and retain people in China - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Hiring and retaining people for your successful team is a tough challenge in China. China marketing-veteran Ashley Dudarenok tells about her tips and tricks. Attitude is the most important thing. How to figure out whether somebody is fit for the team. 

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers' request form. 

Are you looking for other experts to manage your China risk at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list. You can watch part 2 here.

How does Alipay works for foreign tourists? - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok is enthusiastic about the announcement of Alipay to open up for tourists visiting China, followed shortly by a similar move by WeChat. On her vlog, she explains how visitors without a Chinese bank account can now use Alipay. Details on WeChat were not yet known at the moment of recording.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her 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.

How to launch your product at Zhihu - Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Duarenok

Zhihu, China's popular Q&A site comparable to Quora, can be a good place to launch your product, says China marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok at the Jing Daily. But the content-driven platform needs - not surprisingly - also a content-driven strategy, she explains.

Jing Daily:

 “Brands on Zhihu need to be able to provide knowledge-driven content, and not be self-promotional. This is how they will reach the consumers who use it,” says Ashley Galina Dudarenok, founder of research platform ChoZan.co.

• A focus on knowledge — not sales — is the key to success. For brands launching on Zhihu, you should be seeking to build trusted relationships with the platform’s users. “Don’t just sell your product or brand,” Dudarenok says, “These consumers want to hear your in-depth expertise. For example, if you’re a cosmetics brand, don’t just talk about what the product is, but how it is made, and where the ingredients come from.”

• Ensure there is a trusted personality attached to the brand and keep your audience in mind.

More at the Jing Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her 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.