1、 外文翻译 原文 Complete guide to China branding 10 steps for China brands Material Source:Venture Republic Author: Martin Roll - Business & brand strategist Introduction Tencent is representative of the many young and ambitious Chinese companies. Tencent offers Chinese consumers instant messaging (IM) and
2、 social networking, called QQ, which is the equivalent of Facebook in the US. The company started operations in 1998, went public in 2004 and presently controls 69% of the Chinese IM and social networking market. While Hang Seng Index, Hong-Kongs blue chip index on which Tencent is listed lost 54% o
3、f its market value, Tencent beat that with a 30% drop in its shares. It also registered a 73% increase in profit at US$108 million and a 91% increase in sales at US$297 million. By carefully diversifying its revenue sources, Tencent earns 69% of its revenues by selling virtual products while a mere
4、12% is contributed by online advertising. Although the company faces serious competition from the number two players, China Mobile and Microsofts MSN, Tencent has warded off any threats for the time being. But as is the case with many Chinese companies, the focus almost exclusively seems to be on op
5、erational effectiveness and efficiency and not on enhancing shareholder value by creating a resonating brand identity that can afford a sustainable competitive advantage to the company. This chapter examines the exciting and intriguing brand landscape of the booming Chinese market. The New China Wit
6、h a population of over 1.3 billion, a labor force of around 800 million, an economy of over US$7 trillion, an annual average growth rate of 12% and per capital GDP of around US$5,400, China is one of the biggest markets in the world with an enormous growth potential. Chinas share of the world output
7、 has more than doubled since 1991 to 12.7%, third only to Europes 15.7% and USs 21%. Chinas foreign trade has averaged nearly 15% or more than 2700 percent in aggregate. Further China became the first country since 1980 to overtake US in attracting foreign investment China attracted US$53.2 billion
8、as against US$52 billion for the US. The rise of the affluent customers in China has spawned many booming sectors. There are more than an estimated 300,000 Chinese with net worth exceeding US$1 million. Chinese consumers contribute to almost 12% of the global luxury sales. China is now the worlds se
9、cond largest auto market. Worlds 20 biggest car companies have production facilities in the country. In 2006, passenger car sales surged 30% to 5.1 million units. The luxury car market is forecasted to boom from 177,000 cars in 2007 to more than 800,000 in 2014. The Internet presents yet another sim
10、ilar story. The world leaders in online search, Google and Yahoo, are struggling in China, with the local player Baidu leading the market with a 57% share of the Chinese search market and Tencent discussed in the opening of this chapter has exposed the enormous market potential for instant messaging
11、 and social networking services. Change is sweeping not just the booming Chinese industries but also the Chinese consumer. Chinese consumers are forcing the way companies do business. The evolving China is not just about the affluent coastal cities but also the interior rural and small cities. Compa
12、red to many of the bigger cities, smaller, inner cities have much lucrative consumers with 55 percent of them in the 18-34 years age group, 59 percent of them being highly fashion conscious, and 83 percent preferring branded products because of their superior quality and their symbolic value. A case
13、 in point of this consumer profiles business potential is Amways US$2 billion success by deploying 130,000 salespeople to directly interact and influence Chinese in many of these interior, smaller cities. In addition to the enormous potential of Chinas smaller cities, Chinas teenage and middle class
14、 customers are emerging as a very powerful and lucrative segment of customers for both domestic and global businesses alike. The urban teens, who tend to be more brand loyal than older customers, have been found to spend about US$36 billion a year including families spending on their teenage childre
15、n. The Chinese middle class is another force to reckon with. It has been estimated that by around 2011 the mass of lower middle class will be around 290 million (almost the size of the total US population) and by 2015, this segment will have a total spending power of US$701 billion (4.8 trillion Ren
16、minbi). Furthermore, it has been forecasted that by 2025, this segment will increase to 590 million with a whopping US$ 1.3 trillion (13.3 trillion Renminbi) spending power. This is the picture of a new China, the one that is so lucrative that businesses around the world are rushing to capture a pie
17、ce of the market. But in spite of such booming industry sectors, Chinese companies are struggling to build strong brands that resonate with customers and help build sustainable and long term relationships. With intensifying competition, China cannot depend on the sheer size of the market eternally.
18、Success can be sustained only if Chinese companies invest in brand building. This article discusses this strategically important topic of building brands in China, the unique advantages enjoyed by Chinese companies, the challenges these companies face and strategies to help Chinese companies to stan
19、d their ground in the domestic market and to successfully enter foreign markets through building strong brands. Branding in China The purpose of this article is to unequivocally argue for the strategic importance of building resonating brands. It was argued and showed throughout various case studies
20、 and examples in many of the other articles by Martin Roll just why companies should create powerful brands and how they can go abo ut building them. Those brand management principles apply to all countries, including China. As such, it will not be argued here again in this article However, the focu
21、s will be to demonstrate the burgeoning challenges of building brands in China. China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Added to this is the fast growing middle class who are willing to pay higher prices to own branded goods. To make market conditions even more conducive for bra
22、nded goods, the Chinese government has been allowing foreign companies in an increasing number of different industry sectors. But in spite of all these positive factors, there are a lot of inherent challenges that Chinese companies have to overcome in before becoming noted brands. Some of the more p
23、rominent challenges are discussed in the following. Trading mindset China has long been under the dominant trading mindset, where in businesses have been overly concerned with sales and turnovers. This meant, that the companies usually focused on building tangible assets like factories, assembly pla
24、nts, R&D labs and so on. This also meant that the focus of the company was more on immediate tangible gains rather than long term intangible gains. All these factors have combined in making marketing and branding as not so important for the Chinese businesses. This mindset has not allowed companies
25、to make any substantial investments in brand building. With the low cost that Chinese companies were exploiting till very recently, it seemed that branding was not so important. Branding is a long term organization wide exercise that may not yield tangible and immediate benefits. Further, top class
26、brand management practices demand substantial allocation of managerial, financial and human resources over fairly long periods of time. This route directly contradicts the traditional mindset of Chinese businessmen. But as the Chinese economy is evolving and as more and more global companies are mak
27、ing their marks in such diverse industries as consumer electronics, fashion, fast food, and even cosmetics, Chinese companies are gradually realizing the importance of having a strategic outlook and investing in building brands rather than factories. But this is just a beginning and this dominant mi
28、ndset that has dictated business practices for centuries cannot be easily overlooked and it will indeed be an arduous task for Chinese companies to evolve with the times and adapt brand management practices. Developing economy Even though China is projected as the goldmine that all companies want to
29、 reap from, it still is a developing nation. Only around 150 to 200 million Chinese of the total 1.2 billion are moving up the pyramid into middle class and having the resources to indulge in consumer products. There is a huge divide between the haves and the have-nots. Cities such as Beijing and Sh
30、anghai have become the clusters for the new affluent class and many of the interior cities and towns are still predominantly rural. Given this huge disparity, it is only natural that companies are still grappling with their strategies for the Chinese market. Less focus on innovation Innovation and c
31、reativity are very important elements of any product development. Some of the biggest brands in the world such as SONY, Apple and Samsung have built their sprawling empires based on constant innovation and creativity. Although innovation is difficult to measure, R&D spending as a ratio of gross dome
32、stic product (GDP) can be an indication. On a national level, Asian economies lagged behind the rest of the world on R&D spending as a ratio of GDP from 1987 to 1997, with the exception of Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea each currently spend 3 percent of GDP on R&D, compared to 2.7 perc
33、ent in the US. But indications show that the innovation deficit is likely to change. China is targeting to spend 1.5-2.0 percent of GDP on R&D. For Chinese companies to reach the next level of building really resonating brands, one of the first steps is to develop a mindset of creating something nov
34、el rather than adopting ideas from the western world to local customers. Implications of IP protection The implications of IP protection in Asia have been a major barrier against building brands. In their own backyards, many Asian companies have faced rampant counterfeiting and infringement of IP ri
35、ghts. Until and unless legislation and law enforcement get better in the region, it may be a hurdle that prevents a deeper appreciation and respect for intangible asset management in the Asian boardroom. The World Customs Organization estimates that 57 percent of global merchandise trade, amounting
36、to US$450 billion, is due to counterfeits. China alone is estimated to be contributing significantly to all the fake and pirated goods worldwide. In 2004, for example, French luxury house LVMH spent more than US$16 million on investigations, busts and legal fees against counterfeiting. This counterf
37、eit market has indeed become one of the most pressing challenges for Chinas quest to build a strong country brand at a holistic level and for the individual companies that have to combat this problem on a daily level. Regulatory effect Till very recently, most of the Chinese companies were protected
38、 by the government and financially supported. As not many sectors were open to foreign competition, Chinese companies did not face any sort of urgency to improvise their productivity and enhance their competitive advantage. Most of the companies had favorable access to resources and that offered the
39、m a greater advantage than the non-Chinese companies. But with the opening up of the Chinese economy, market conditions are gradually changing. Even though the favorable treatment continues in certain extent, most of the industry sectors have become highly competitive. Chinese companies are being fo
40、rced to improvise their productivity and build sustainable competitive advantage that would allow them survive and thrive in the competitive market. This sudden shift in the market structure and the business conditions pose a huge challenge to Chinese companies. To adjust to the changing competitive
41、 spectrum and also to update business practices and culture simultaneously would be a long drawn process. Given these significant challenges, Chinese companies will have to be aggressive to not only overcome these roadblocks but also to ensure that their journey toward building globally recognized b
42、rands are constantly monitored to thwart any big or small roadblocks. Furthermore, these challenges are more relevant to the domestic market. However, one of the biggest global challenges for any Chinese company is to overcome the inherently negative associations the customers overseas have of the M
43、ade-in-China effect. Before discussing branding strategies it is important to discuss this single most threatening challenge to Chinese brands. Made-in-China Challenge In 2005, Lenovo acquired the PC division of IBM for a whopping US$1.75 billion. The logic was simple and straight forward - Lenovo w
44、ould ride IBMs brand equity in establishing itself as a credible brand in the PC industry. This acquisition was splashed across global media as the beginning of the Chinese global brand takeover. In China, Lenovos acquisition was heralded as the onset of a new branding era. After all, Lenovo became
45、the worlds No.3 computer maker in the world after Dell and HP. But a year later, Lenovo has issued an earnings warning that it would not be meeting its financial target - it reported a 16% decline in first-quarter earnings. Its profit fell to US$38 million, well short of the US$40 million that analy
46、sts had forecasted. In fact 35% of sales come from China where shipments grew by 25%. Operating margins in the US was 2.2% compared to a whopping 6.5% in China. The country from which a company (product/service/brand) originates, has an effect on the companys perceived quality and likeability in the
47、 minds of consumers - this is referred to as the country-of-origin (COO) effect. COO is not a new concept. It has been leveraged by companies and countries alike for decades now. German engineering, French wine, Swiss watches, Japanese electronics, 100% pure New Zealand, and Malaysia-Truly Asia are
48、few known examples of such COO effect. It has been proven in academic research that COO effect does have an influence on customers perceptions towards products/services/brands. China for long has suffered from a partly negative COO effect depending on what product categories one look at. Given the c
49、hanges taking place in the global and the Chinese markets, what role does COO play with respect to China. Before discussing strategies for building Chinese brands, it is imperative to have a discussion of what causes COO and how can it impact Chinese companies. The Country of Origin Effect Many factors - brand image, brand personality, brand associations, communication messages influence the perception of customers about the quality of a brand. The very reason a company indulges in branding is to assist cu
