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 Local players catching up Experience marketing first appeared in the US around 1999. Chinese companies, which seemed initially ignorant of the concept didn't consider trying it until they were inspired by the foreign companies' success stories in China. "Experience marketing is especially important for China right now, as more international companies are focusing on China, which makes the competition fiercer than ever. There are more marketing messages than before, so how to differentiate them from others is significant," says Rich. Lenovo is among the first few domestic followers but its initiatives come after its rivals. In early November 2004, Hewlett Packard opened its first experience center in Beijing, also the first in Asia, and in August 2006, Dell launched its first experience center in Chongqing. But experience marketing concerns far more than experience centers. It can be implemented online, in-store, and through various events, says Rich. Lenovo is a major client for GPJ in China, and the experience center is the most recent project that GPJ has worked on. Others include designs for Lenovo's sponsorship of worldwide sporting events such as Formula One and the China Open and international trade fairs. Driving sales is the biggest benefit from the partnership. In 1998, IBM signed a contract with GPJ, which lasted until this year. During the past 10 years, "GPJ has helped the company save $75 million in marketing," claims Rich. Lenovo is not alone. Inspur, a Chinese leading computing solutions provider, announced in late 2006 that it would open 100 experience centers around China. Experience marketing is not limited to the IT industry. Tsingtao Beer, a leading Chinese beer manufacturer, opened a beer museum in its headquarters in August 2007, the first in China in the brewing industry. Corporate executives from Tsingtao say this year's marketing program will revolve around "experience". But there are still relatively few domestic players joining who are "experienced". "It is true, which can be shown in our client portfolio. Most of our clients are multinationals," Rich says. Fortunately, the local companies are "showing increasing interest in it, and the more we tried to communicate with them, the more acceptable they are to the idea". The reasons are various. One is not everyone is a right fit when it comes to experience marketing and only those that are "already established or gaining certain brand awareness are qualified candidates", says Rich. And another concern is money. Many PR or ad agencies in China claim they can design experience marketing programs. But the result is often something different, though Chinese companies prefer them because the cost is less. Including Lenovo. It did not employ GPJ even when the IBM PC acquisition deal was signed in 2005 although GPJ had been IBM's partner. The initial rejection was due to the "higher fees compared with our domestic counterparts", says a person from GPJ on condition of anonymity. But half a year later, Lenovo eventually turned to GPJ for help. "Why? Quality speaks volumes. The cooperation has been nice," the source says. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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