After attending a recent Greater China Conference it is apparent that now is the right time to take advantage of the opportunities China can bring to us and we to it. There are 1.338 BILLION people in China and approximately 15 Chinese consumer brands already appear in the WPP top 100 brand charts.

‘Everyone’ in the tier 1 cities in China wants to buy international brands. The biggest growth areas, indicated by increasing website visits, are health, fitness, beauty, education, cars (the average age of a Lamborghini owner in Shanghai is an astonishing 24) and car clubs.

At the same time China isn’t without its challenges. As the country moves through the Kuznets curve new challenges are presenting themselves in no uncertain terms. The government is attempting to drive growth down from 10% to 7%. The environmental challenges the country is facing are massive, the labour market is getting tighter and skills shortages are already apparent.

The current boom has been achieved through rapid urbanisation which has delivered huge growth but at a rate that cannot continue. In fact, according to Jonathan Watts author of `When a Billion Chinese Jump` and the Guardian’s Asia correspondent, the biggest fear is China running out of water.

Speakers at the conference, including Watts, Stefan Rust, Exicon, Richard Tsang, SPRG, Nicola Menelssohn, IPA (recently returned from a trade delegation visit to China) shared more of the above and more of the below but in particular some sage advice if you are thinking of doing business in China (some of which might sound familiar to us Europeans)

China is not one market

Developing  ’guanxi’ (relationships) with government officials or influential individuals is key to success

Understand the importance of  ’face’

Speed – fast response times are expected

Scale – individual Provinces can have between 50-100 million people

Many Chinese companies insist on playing by their own rules

And as I open Jonathan Watts’ book the opening paragraph tells us what is waiting. ‘As a child I used to pray for China………….And please make the world peaceful. Please help the poor and hungry people, and please make sure in everyone in China doesn’t jump at the same time (which would shake the earth off its axis with disasterous results for us all).’

Scary, but China is the home of scary numbers.  Here are a few mind boggling China facts:

Population – 1.338 billion

GDP-  $6.3 trillion

In 3 years China added more internet users than exist in the USA

PC penetration 16 per cent % in 2007 will be 25 per cent by 2013

IT spend 2011 – $80.2bn

You can’t show a Chinese policeman in an ad in China (it’s ok if he/she is US/British, though)

Key language is Putonghua plus its 1000 dialects

Shanghaiese is a different language to Putonghua

Five Provinces have 49.9% of all mobile users

The Nokia OVI store owns 65% of app store visits in China

Decline in web useage -3%

Increase in mobile web usage +28%

2 Location-Based Apps That You Can’t Live Without (Part 3 of 3)

Mo Elnadi (@MoElnadi), Head of Digital Strategy, The Reptile Group

There are many new applications that make very good use of geo-location and particularly FourSquare check-ins.  A new application called #Hashable, for example, allows professionals to connect and keep track of others whom they met at an event, or make business introductions among their trusted networks.

Waze, on the other hand, provides the driving community with a free SatNav system that automatically updates maps and traffic jams based on members’ check-ins as they drive around towns worldwide, using your mobile phone GPS receiver.

Follow: @MoElnadi for more Social Media tips

See Also: 

Location-based services: A Fad or the Future of #SocialMedia Marketing? (Part 1 of 3)

What is the future of location-based service? Does it really lie in local search or services? (Part 2 of 3)

2 Location-Based Apps That You Can’t Live Without (Part 3 of 3)

A Marketer’s Guide to Social Pull Marketing  - (Part 1 of 2)

Location-Based Marketing: What is the future of location-based service? Does it really lie in local search or services? (Part 2 of 3)

Mo Elnadi, Head of Digital Strategy, The Reptile Group

 

What is the future of location-based service? Does it really lie in local search or services?

Many professionals are currently also using FourSquare to business- network, and discover like-minded people around them at events such as trade shows and conferences for example. The potential to Tweet from within those applications increases their effectiveness and also contributes to this trend.

We’ve yet to witness a big debate around privacy concerns and willingness of mobile users to share their geo-location. An state seems to have been reached whereby users understand that the trade-off is that they now know that, for example, by sharing their location, they benefit by getting more relevant search results and offers.

Marketers need to examine the behaviour of online consumers through studying their ‘intent-driven actions’. Those actions could act as a strong signal of intention, to help brands discover the right moment to engage with consumers effectively as `timing` is key in building intimacy, trust and to  create real value over time. And this is where those applications come in very handy.

By customers declaring  ‘where they are now’ to marketers, they are connecting the physical to the virtual using location-based mobile applications like FourSquare which acts as a powerful signal of intent that says :`I am here. I am consuming your product. So what have you got for me?`

Consumers also love sharing tips about venues through those apps. This sharing concept is very common as an act of generosity by those who just want to help; as they believe that the most generous person among a similar community almost invariably, acquires the greatest influence among their network. Many may be less philanthropic; it could just be a status symbol.   Nevertheless, many marketers believe that this action automatically provides word of mouth opportunities for their brands and venues; as marketing messages get amplified, and promotional materials are shared by users with their friends, who in turn repeat the pattern with others creating a ‘viral effect’ transforming consumers from passive ‘recipients’ to proactive ‘sharers’.

Follow: @MoElnadi for more Social Media tips

See Also: 

Location-based services: A Fad or the Future of #SocialMedia Marketing? (Part 1 of 3)

What is the future of location-based service? Does it really lie in local search or services? (Part 2 of 3)

2 Location-Based Apps That You Can’t Live Without (Part 3 of 3)

A Marketer’s Guide to Social Pull Marketing  - (Part 1 of 2)