The Social Media Strategy of Ritz / Carlton for China

As explained before, to succeed in China, a brand needs to go beyond the data and immerse itself in the culture in order to develop relevant marketing.

In the luxury world, the impression of high quality and dream is very important, so the chosen design should resonate in minds of Chinese.

The brand called Ritz-Carlton understood well they need a specific strategy for China. The firm, owner of 4 hotels in China, launched a new Chinese website  and a public account on Sina Weibo

Chinese people have a high level of customer’s appreciation for History (traditions, History and heritage). The Ritz-Carlton brand took that into considerations with digital channels reflecting that tradition, while also demonstrating that the brand is speaking to the audience in a way that is culturally relevant.

It seems the team who worked on the strategy knows China. For example, the blue color is usually associated with immortality and wisdom. This could explain the use of shade of blue for its richness (similar to the blue color found on Chinese porcelain). Ritz Carlon is doing good but should do better than that: they missed some important other elements for Chinese consumers.

Welcome Google Map into Your Business!

Google Map is starting to scan the inside part of businesses. The American firm is not only video recording / scanning vineyards at Bordeaux but also a few restaurants in Paris. You should now that the Google cultural institute is based in France 😉

+4% Month to Month in May 2013 for WeChat & SinaWeibo – Half Social Sharing Coming from them and Qzone

TV Commercial Aiming to Boost Interest for WeChat in India

Whatsapp and Facebook are very strong in India.

WeChat has already thousands of users. However, India is still less developed economically than China and many people cannot afford to buy a smartphone. Tencent would like to get more and the WeChat team developed a special version under Java for features phones.

Tencent decided to launch TV commercial to expand the user base there. Click below to see it:

Tencent is showing to the world the firm is able to market their products in international markets. The commercial is featuring Indian stars in Bollywood style singing while they are away from each other and keeping contact thanks to WeChat. We were impressed by how well it fits the majority of Indian people.

Insights on Marketing with Mobile App WeChat: FREE version!

WeChat-Marketing-Strategy-Brief-Report

Report to be released July 1st, 2013

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Strategies for Economic Development in China

Classification of Cities

This classification splits the Chinese market in different levels of developments. It is useful for strategies of business development and market analysis.

The tier 1 cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen.These were the first to be opened up to competitive economic development by the Chinese government, and so are the most populous, affluent and competitive cities in the country.

The tier 2 cities are around 60 cities. Tianjin and Chengdu are growing faster than other cities of this category. These two cities are considered rapidly developing economic centers. Nanjing and Xi’an are growing but less quickly. Wuhan and Hefei were behind but now are developping faster.

The New Consumer

The new consumer class is more likely to consider emotional benefits of the product or service she/he buys and prefer certain brands. She/he will typically be of the younger generation and live in the more developed eastern coastal provinces.

Younger consumers are more likely to imitate the spending habits of consumers in developed countries.

About 41% of younger consumers in this new class are inclined to pay a premium for the best products, compared to 31% of older consumers.

According to McKinsey, the proportion of urban households able to afford cars and small luxuries will rise six-fold in the next decade and account for 57% of the total population by 2020.

It also estimated that the largest 225 cities in China will contribute 27% to global economic growth between 2013 and 2025.

The consumer trend in China’s first-tier cities is quite different from other cities in the country. People in the country’s largest cities typically spend more. For example, they are spending 35% more on dining out than people in second-tier cities, and 50% more than residents of third-tier cities.

Sources:

VALUE2020

McKinsey, URL: http://www.mckinseychina.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/McKinsey-2012-Annual-Chinese-Consumer-Report.pdf

Loyalty Management in China – Internet & Luxury Industries

In a crowded marketplace where firms compete for the same customers, it’s become hard to stand out. Consumer definitions of value and loyalty are different according to the location and period. Strategists ask marketers to develop loyalty management building profitable relationships with all customers and a higher attention towards best customers.

Loyalty Management in China is not a mature market contrary to the United States and Europe.

China, the country in the middle of the world, is a potentially lucrative and so far largely untapped resource of consumer data, one of the most valuable commodities in the marketing world.

The market is not very developed but it’s evolving rapidly. First, consumers are testing products and services. Next, a firm should be active to retain the new clients. Loyalty is going to be something that will rapidly become very visible.

Loyalty Management in China – Internet Industry

The strategy of the Internet industry is to take advantage of a high-growth area with a potential huge user base.

Once it has access to a base of consumer data, a company like Tencent, Baidu, Amazon China can use it anonymously to sell analytics about purchasing behaviour to other businesses.

Loyalty Management in China – Luxury Industry

The strategy of the Luxury industry is to establish a footprint before competitors. After developing very quickly in Tiers 1, and Tier 2 cities, luxury brands are running to smaller cities.

In the luxury industry, brand customers who use social networks like WeChat can be targeted for private sales – events that are made for them based on purchasing behaviour. If a customer receives an offer from Hermès for example, and then uses the invitation, that Hermès store pays a commission on sales to Tencent (WeChat owner)  and also covers the special arrangements on the offer, for the privilege of getting that consumer into its store. For this kind of customer, offer another luxury experience like a free glass of Champagne or testing other luxury products are a must.

Conclusion

Data is the new oil. As the Chinese market develops, the data accumulation and analytical insights that you collect can be very useful for your strategy of loyalty management and value creation in the long term.

Working with WeChat, One to One Communication Tool

To start, click on the picture below:

Potential CRM database for brands

e-Payment and e-Commerce tool

Still an unanswered question: how does Tencent manage the database?

More about Marketing potential of WeChat

Top 10 Most Valuable Social Media Brands in the World 2013: three of them are Chinese

QZone, second largest social network in the world (ranked according to userbase), is #4 brand.

Famous American brands are at the top 3: #1 Facebook with $34 billion,  #2 Youtube with $27 B , #3 Twitter with $24 B.

Next brand in the list could surprise some people. With $10 billion, it is not SinaWeibo but TencentWeibo.

Next year we can expect the brand “WeChat” to enter the top 30 most valuable brands

Read on more on top Chinese social media sharing activity

Source: Manuel P.Nappo, Anna Jakrlin, HWZ,  URL: http://www.fh-hwz.ch/display.cfm/id/101937/disp_type/display/filename/The%20Most%20Valuable%20Social%20Media%20Brands%202013.pdf

Social Media WeChat: Most of the World Population Now Targeted

Below is the Trend in Current Targeted Countries for e-Marketing: Sharp Acceleration to Get Adoption Before Facebook Messenger.