Archive for the ‘Market Research China’ Category
Friday, April 18th, 2008
In her first Thursday Night Insight post, Marketing Manager Caroline Harrison reflects on how cultural differences hold the key to the success or failure of products or services across the globe.
After years of study and years of employment in the fields of marketing and market research, I would like to think that by now I understand the value of market research. After all, day-in day-out, I see clients discover things about their business, or their clients, or the markets in which they operate, which they had never known before; sometimes they already had an inkling and, naturally, sometimes market research proves that they were right all along. But equally often, the research we conduct for them throws up surprises.
Around this time last year I was struck by a bolt of lightening (metaphorically speaking, of course). In a flash I saw the true consequences of not carrying out market research before entering a new market.
I was living in Beijing at the time, working in the B2B International China office. Many things strike you as different in China, but I was fascinated to find that the whiter your skin, the more beautiful a woman is considered to be over there (dark skin is apparently associated with peasants who have to toil in the fields all day). This was great news for me since finally there was no pressure to frazzle myself on a sunbed or waste hours applying fake tan.
Not that I could fake it had I wanted to, and that’s my point in all this. Because here’s the thing; beauty products in China all contain whitening agents rather than the bronzing agents so many equivalent products in the UK contain nowadays.
Although I found this to be an interesting observation, more than that I couldn’t help but think how crucial local knowledge and cultural understanding are when looking to enter a new market.
Imagine some executive of a beauty products company sitting in his or her cosy office back in the UK. With the nation’s top-selling moisturiser (featuring tanning agent for that natural sunkissed glow, of course!) reaching saturation point in the local market, it looks like it’s time to launch the product abroad… So where would be good? What about China? After all, with 200 million 15-34 year old women at your disposal, just imagine the clamour for this hugely popular product… And just imagine the profits that would come rolling in…!
Of course, I now know that the reality would be somewhat different. Without investigating the market in advance, this ambitious executive would have one of the costliest and most momentous product launch failures of all time on his or her hands.
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Thursday, April 3rd, 2008
Part 3 - Language
In the final extract of our three-part series on effective communication with businesses in China, we tackle the crucial issue of language.
The official language of China is Mandarin Chinese (also known as Putonghua). Although there are many, many dialects across China (including the popular Cantonese, which is spoken in Hong Kong and surrounding areas), Mandarin is taught and used in schools and universities.
There are two types of written Chinese characters: simplified and traditional. In general, simplified Chinese should be employed for communication with a mainland Chinese audience.
Since there are tens of thousands of Chinese characters whose written form gives little indication of pronunciation, a phonetic spelling system using the Latin alphabet (called pinyin) is increasingly used nowadays to help Chinese children and foreigners alike to improve their spoken language skills. Pinyin is helpful to Westerners since it translates Chinese characters into a recognisable form and also indicates which of the four ‘tones’ of Mandarin should be used. You should note that pinyin is generally not used as a form of written communication.
One exception to this rule is that in major mainland Chinese cities you can often find street names and subway signs shown in pinyin as well as in Chinese characters. English speakers will also be relieved to know that translations into English are increasingly common, especially in tourist areas. This is likely to become even more prevalent in the run up to the Beijing Olympics. Similarly, the frequency and standard of English spoken in hotels and taxis, etc. will only increase in the future.
As with any foreign language, it will help considerably if you are willing and able to speak Mandarin, even if it’s a case of just learning a few basic phrases. In addition to helping you when you encounter people who simply don’t speak a word of English, there is no doubt that people will appreciate that you have made an effort and it will go some way to breaking the ice for those business negotiations.
Further useful information on conducting business in China can be found in B2B International’s white papers:
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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Part 2 - Face-to-face
In the second of our three-part guide to communicating with Chinese businesses, we look at the ways in which you communicate better once you actually get to that all-important meeting.
In exactly the same way that many Chinese are impressed by a professional-looking corporate website, PowerPoint presentations are used by forward-looking Chinese companies. The same is expected of Western companies, and the more effort that has gone into producing an impressive presentation, the more credibility your organisation will garner. Given the difficulties of language barriers, PowerPoint presentations provide an excellent opportunity to summarise your company through clear, succinct bullet points and by using a whole manner of graphs, pie charts and other diagrams.
Interpreters and translators will likely be crucial to conducting business successfully in China. Since any interpreter or translator may effectively become your negation partner, you should always brief them fully in advance. It may be advisable to take your own interpreter rather than rely on one provided by the company you are visiting. If you can’t get a recommendation through a business contact, the China-Britain Business Council is one organisation that can arrange interpreters for you.
Always make sure you speak clearly and in ‘manageable’ sentences. Repeat crucial information to ensure that this is communicated properly. Write down any large numbers to avoid mistranslation and misunderstandings. Make sure you have explained any key industry terminology to your interpreter in advance of the meeting. Avoid the use of jargon and jokes, as these may get lost in translation and risk causing confusion or offence. Finally, although you may not understand everything that’s being said in the meeting, observe the body language of your clients to get a feel for how things are progressing and to understand who might be the more important players and decision makers in the room.
Further useful information on conducting business in China can be found in B2B International’s white papers:
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Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
Part 1 of 3 – Modern Technology
If you were asked to get in touch with a company in China, chances are you’d wonder how easy it would be to get hold of the right person and get your exact message across. Active UK China Publications gives some handy hints on things to consider if you’re tasked with communicating with a Chinese company. More expert tips, based on B2B International’s first-hand knowledge of conducting business in China, are available in our white papers Market Research in China and China and the Outsourcing Opportunities.
It goes without saying that all the mod cons we use in day-to-day business are prevalent in China. In fact, chances are that they are probably all made in China! This of course means that Chinese businesspeople tend to have access to landlines, mobiles, fax machines and emails.
In many respects, Chinese mobile phone numbers will be more useful to you than a landline telephone number. Mobile telephones are extensively used in China, and business calls will frequently be taken outside of working hours or during meetings. This is clearly advantageous from a business point of view, especially given the significant time difference between the UK and China, but you may therefore want to show restraint when handing out your own mobile phone number!
In China, fax machines still play a very important role in business, unlike in the West where email has become the indispensable tool of choice. Not all businesses have reliable high speed internet/email connections, and in more traditional companies individual employees may all still share a single generic email address. Faxes, meanwhile, are seen to provide fast and safe (i.e. virus-free) delivery to the recipient, whilst providing proof of a document’s origin and source. Another key advantage is that many Chinese find it easier and quicker to handwrite Chinese characters than to type them. Of course, like with any fax, you would need to ensure that any confidential documents are expected by the recipient, to ensure that they are not read by co-workers in the office.
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Friday, March 14th, 2008
Setting up the B2B International office in Beijing in January 2007, director Matt Harrison spent a year in China. Here, in his first Thursday Night Insight, he reflects on customer service, Chinese style.
It is fair to say that customer service in China is variable. The time I spent living in this rapidly evolving country exposed me to service that ranged from ‘not so hot’ to excellent on a daily basis. Trips to the bank, for example, were challenging and – to put it mildly - time-consuming. The rare occasions on which I went shopping for clothes were usually cut short, as I quickly became furious with the shop assistants who insisted on following me around the store, recommending items I’d just walked past and trying to bargain with me on things I wouldn’t have bought at gun-point.
Positive experiences of customer service are becoming more common, however, and an increasing emphasis on monitoring and achieving customer satisfaction is ever more apparent. When you pass through passport control at Beijing Airport, for example, an electronic device at the passport desk asks you to rate the way you have been dealt with on your entry to the Chinese capital. And as you leave the airport, an impossibly huge line of taxis is waiting to immediately take you into the city.
Chinese customer service at its best, however, is seen in the thousands of restaurants that Beijing has to offer, and eating out would be my top tip for visitors to Beijing.
Upon entering a Chinese restaurant, you are typically immediately welcomed by 3 or 4 brightly attired women, who welcome you loudly (in unison), before one of them takes you to your table and provides you with a menu. Strangely, there is only one menu provided, no matter how many people are eating with you, meaning that all of the food is often chosen by the ‘head’ of the group. Many menus are bilingual, although some entrepreneurial restaurant managers provide a separate English menu, containing less choice of food and higher prices!
As you choose your meal, the service is excellent, maybe excessively so, as the waiter or waitress stands right next to you, eager to answer any questions you might have. To a reserved Englishman used to having a drink the minute he sits down and choosing the meal on his own, this can be off-putting! Look around the restaurant though, and you will see waiters and waitresses sharing their knowledge of the huge menus for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, ensuring that the customer gets exactly what he or she wants.
The food arrives quickly, and in no particular order. Don’t expect a starter and a main course here! The duck’s lower jaw, pigs’ knees and other delicacies may well arrive quicker than the soup, with the rice usually arriving last as a ‘filler’. And by the way, don’t expect ‘real’ Chinese food to resemble European or American Chinese food too closely – I will be boasting until the day I die about some of the things I ate, which include deer’s brain on egg custard, diced ram’s testicles, duck’s feet and chicken’s head. But the range of food is staggering, and the numerous service staff are always at hand to help. Much of the food is prepared next to you at the table, avoiding any suspicion that it is pre-prepared.
All-in-all, the average Chinese restaurant is a lesson in how to provide top-class customer service, not to mention a high quality product. The only exception is perhaps as you leave, if you need an official business receipt. This process can involve 10 minutes of your time, 3 members of staff, and a bizarre mixture of printed and handwritten paperwork. Proof that even the best suppliers have room for improvement!
The next blog from Matt reveals the fun of taking a rickshaw.
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