CIC was the first company specializing in social media research in China and is now part of the Kantar Media group, ‘Tina Hu’ a Senior Director from CIC came to visit Added Value UK to educate and explain the impact of social media in China, how it differs from Western social media and how brands are adapting to fit into the Chinese online culture. Read more…
The one-child policy in China has now grown up, creating a new generation where only children are having only children – One Child Policy 2.0. Read more…
If a country, territory, or destination is a brand, then its residents are its ambassadors and its visitors are its consumers. The destination’s “brand value” (visitors’ perception of it) can either be augmented or eroded by events, or by the actions of just a handful of its residents. As any brand trustee would tell you, just one “rogue” in the organisation can cause a remarkable fall from grace – that can take months and sometimes years to repair, if it can be repaired at all.
General Electric recently released an online campaign encouraging Chinese entrepreneurs to partner with them to address China’s most pressing environmental and resource challenges.
A noteworthy aspect of the campaign, titled “Future Folklore”, is how environmental issues are grounded within Chinese history and culture. This departs from a persistent stereotype which encourages local consumers to fight against Chinese tradition to achieve environmental outcomes. The typical tone is often condescending – where normative behaviour is inevitably Western and Chinese are asked to “get in line” and “abandon ancient thinking”. Read more…
In China a common way to distinguish people is by the generation in which they are born. The terms “post 80s” and “post 90s” have become the default to define different values of Chinese who have grown up in the period after the politically disruptive Cultural Revolution (which ended with Chairman Mao’s death in 1976).
These terms are so widely used, that brands have consciously started to deploy them to target specific age groups. Li Ning, a local sports apparel giant, presented a provocative campaign in 2010 that suggested “no-one understands the post 90s”. The relationship between the post 80s and post 90s is relatively caustic. The post 90s argue that the post 80s are out of touch with new China. While the post 80s dismiss the post 90s as selfish brats who are selling out to the “West”. Read more…
Growing without a stink
As the economic might of China grows, so too does the ambition of Chinese brands to expand internationally. In fact, several Chinese brands have already started to gain traction in the West. Successful examples include Haier, a white goods manufacturer, and Lenova and Huawei, who offer computer and communication solutions.
A noticeable feature of first wave of successful Chinese brands abroad is a distinct lack of “Chinese-ness”. There is nothing in the brands’ imagery that clearly marks them as “made in China” or culturally recognizable as Chinese. Read more…
On the eve of the Chinese New Year, Steve Bale, Oracle Added Value’s Non-executive Chairman, explores what the Year of the Water Dragon will mean for one of the world’s fastest growing markets.
Dragons are notoriously unpredictable beasts. There’s only one thing that can be said with any certainty about them… if you are going to ride one, you’d better hold on tight.
The good news is that this year’s dragon is easily the most civilized of the five that exist in the otherworld of the Chinese zodiac. 
Read more…
Is China losing its appetite for the hustle and energy of its New Years celebrations? Or is the holiday still an opportunity to connect with consumers? Nicolas Peden, cultural-insight explorer at Oracle Added Value, delves into Shanghai to find out.
Nothing like a tall cup of coffee to reinvigorate.
I wouldn’t dream of starting my day without two large cups ‘o’ joe (forgive this hopeless New Yorker).
It’s what kept me chugging along the last couple days when trekking through hazy Shanghai to unearth the city’s “Chinese New Year Spirit.” Read more…
Oracle Added Value today announced the appointments of Matthew Carr as the new Deputy Managing Director of the Hong Kong office and Arthur Tam as Head of Talent Development, Greater China. Carr joins the business effective immediately and will report directly to Katie McClintock, Managing Director, Hong Kong. Tam will formally assume his new role in January 2012.
In his role as Deputy Managing Director of Oracle Added Value, Hong Kong, Carr will head a joint team combining qualitative and quantitative consultants, focusing on delivering strategic business solutions to meet client needs in the region. Read more…
Beijing–: What makes a Chinese luxury brand? Do any truly exist? Oracle Added Value’s Chairman, Steve Bale, looks at how Chinese heritage with modern artistry might be offering a new option for luxury buyers in China.
What, I wonder, constitutes a Chinese, or for that matter an English, French, Italian, Spanish, Swiss, German, or American luxury brand? Does the brand have to be designed as well as hand-crafted locally? If so, is it a prerequisite that the brand’s designers and artisans are themselves local? Must it bear a name that sounds as if it is from the heartland of the home country? And what about a couple of hundred years of local history being a must, as well as the treasure trove of wonderful stories that tend to come with that? And surely it must tap in to the brand identity of the country of provenance – and be synonymous with one or more of the qualities that are spontaneously associated with the name of its home country? What about the requirement that its head office is based there and, also, that it is listed on the local stock exchange? Read more…
