BIZCHINA> Center
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BIZCHINA> Center
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'Experienced marketing' rolling into China
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-30 14:13 At a time when consumers are bombarded by hundreds of marketing messages daily and every company wants every penny it spends to work very hard, "experience marketing" is rolling into China. Chinese companies who either had no idea or sniffed at such a marketing tool are rethinking and turning to it to rekindle interest from more discerning consumers and to dominate their foreign counterparts. But what is experience marketing? It is not about telling customers features or benefits of a product, but letting them experience it and get their own "a-ha!" event, experts say. Put it simply, if traditional marketing is the "monologue", then experience marketing is "multidirectional dialogue", through which "customers could find the event relevant to themselves, as they can co-author the event and play some part in it", says David Rich, senior vice-president of Strategic Marketing in US-based George P. Johnson (GPJ), a leading international experience marketing consultancy. China's top PC maker Lenovo is such an example. The only Chinese TOP (the Olympic partnership) sponsor for the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games is said to be gearing up for an important marketing project, a grand experience center. The building is close to completion and will open before the eye-catching event. It is located near Lenovo's headquarters in northern Beijing and is said to have cost Lenovo more than 10 million yuan. A source familiar with the project says the center is like the 1,600-square-meter Beijing Sony Exploration Science, the first of its kind for the Japanese giant in Asia-Pacific region. It was introduced into China in 2000 with an investment of $30 million for the purpose of igniting the Chinese youth's enthusiasm for science, the Japanese electronics company's products and its brand. Lenovo is aiming to do much the same - enforcing its own brand loyalty through an enriching customer experience. The experience center will showcase Lenovo's history, culture and a series of its existing and concept hi-tech products. "Besides products, many interesting stories about Lenovo, such as how the 2008 Olympic torch is designed, will be shown to the public. Visitors will know Lenovo from all dimensions and get a deeper impression about it," says the source, on the condition of anonymity. This is not Lenovo's only experience center, but it is different because it is brand-oriented while the others are sales-driven. In November 2005, Lenovo launched the first, covering 120 square meters in Shanghai Pacific Digital Square. The Shanghai center is divided into five areas - corporate culture and technique, household electronics, individual electronics, goods for commercial use and sales - where visitors could obtain news about Lenovo's latest products and technologies, try them and buy as they like. And in May 2006, its first Beijing experience center was launched in Zhongguancun, the capital's IT hub. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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