Unraveling Unilever’s marketing strategy in China
During 2021’s investor presentation about Unilever’s business in China, the Executive Vice President, Rohit Jawa, and the Head of Investor Relations, Richard Williams, depicted winning China as a priority for the British-Dutch Group. Despite the frequent ups and downs, Unilever’s marketing strategy in China proves the company’s long-term commitment to engage with local consumers. In […]
The strategy behind the colossal rise of Decathlon in China
Decathlon is both a manufacturer and retailer of sportswear and sports equipment based in France. Shipping worldwide, it is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world with 1,696 stores in 59 countries as of December 2020. Among them, China represents a massive market for the company. Present in China since 2003, Decathlon had 313 […]
How brands are biting into Chinese mooncake culture
Every mid-autumn festival Chinese people celebrate by spending time with their loved ones while exchanging and eating mooncakes, densely baked pastries that come with a wide variety of fillings. The festival is deeply rooted in ancient tradition and there are several legends about its origin, but the most convincing explanation is that it is closely […]
Erke’s 尔克 marketing strategy in China: integrating CSR and domestic sport initiatives
Erke 尔克 is a Chinese sportswear brand, founded in June 2000 with a headquarter in Xiamen. Erke products include sports shoes, sportswear and various sports-related products: bags, caps, sports equipment, sports protective gear. Most of Erke’s stores are located in second- and third-tier Chinese cities, targeting students and athletes. The Chinese sportswear brand has recently […]
Manner Coffee: From one roadside store to nation-wide, how this boutique coffee shop has expanded throughout China
The coffee market in China continues to grow at a tremendous pace, with a variety of shops testing out different business models in this industry. But after the rise and fall of Luckin, the sudden rise of instant coffee like Coffee Pls, and a myriad of foreign players like Starbucks, a simple and humble Manner […]
Chinese think Apple is crazy: Apple’s splash-resistant ad goes viral for wrong reasons
At the start of July, Apple published a splash ad (one that appears on screen for a few seconds when an app is launched) on major social media platforms in China including Weibo, Bilibili.com, and 携程 Ctrip.com. The ad featured a man holding an iPhone to his ear in the drenching rain. and the short […]
FILA asks Chinese who are today’s idols
On June 28th, FILA’s new campaign 《对话》 (Conversation) and its Weibo hashtag #一个时代的偶像# (#The Idols of Our Time) was released and soon became a hot topic. By 5th July, this topic was read 460+ million times and discussed 456,000+ times (including 155,000+ posts with the hashtag). With this ad, the brand celebrated its 110th-anniversary using […]
Price discrepancies in China: What drives some product prices up and others down?
When comparing prices in China to Western countries there are often unexpected differences. As the cost of living in China is relatively low, one would expect the prices of products to be lower, but that is not always the case. Price discrepancies in China do not only offer opportunities to leverage those differences but it […]
How foreign cosmetics and skincare brands in China can succeed: China Paradigm transcript #123 with Jean-Philippe Benoist
GED localizes and establishes foreign cosmetics and skincare brands in China. Currently, GED is partnering with about 20 cosmetics brands. Having initially started with offline channels and distribution with SEPHORA, they are now focusing on digital online sales and marketing channels such as RED, WeChat, Weibo, Bilibili, TikTok, Tmall, JD, VIPshop, and others. Their target […]
Digital advertising in China, using simple platforms to engage Chinese customers: China Paradigm transcript #121 with Jie Zhang
Founded AdChina in 2015, AdChina.io provides a SaaS-based solution allowing foreign companies to do digital advertising in China across many local platforms. They received their first round of VC investment in 2019. Founder Jie Zhang’s educational experience was at Fudan University, where he studied physics. His previous work experience includes 10 years working for Huawei, […]
Australian CEO and founder of Shanghai content production studio: China Paradigm transcript #118 with Rodney Evans
Today’s episode features Rodney Evans. He is the founder and CEO of Central Studios Shanghai. Rodney has been in China since 2005. He founded his Shanghai content production studio in 2009. They mostly cover production and post-production in photography and video, used as marketing content for brands in China. Central Studios Shanghai has a 1,000 […]
A guide to product packaging sizes in China
China’s retail industry looked promising in the first quarter; the retail sales of consumer goods excluding automobiles was 3,155.4 billion yuan (USD 492.2 billion) in March, a 34.2% increase from last year. This gives a positive outlook for consumer-packaged goods (CPG) companies as consumption rebounds in China. However, the rising competition intensity and changing consumer […]