Capitalizing on the sweeping new zeitgeist

By Andrew Moody (China Daily) Updated: 2014-05-19 01:33

The Chinese dream is different from the American and British dreams.CHINA DAILY

These three "dreaming" phases are given a score of 204 out of 300 in China, compared with just 128 in the US and 122 in the UK.

Doreen Wang, deputy managing director of Millward Brown China, the global research consultancy arm of WPP, who worked on the report, says it is important for foreign companies operating in China to recognize the power of the Chinese Dream message.

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"What we observed in our report is that international companies need to leverage the Chinese Dream and integrate it into their marketing strategies since it is one of the most important government messages that has been delivered recently.

"It will have a huge impact over the next decade and any business operating in China needs to be part of it."

According to the WPP report, companies operating in China have to be aware of meeting not just personal dreams of individuals but also aligning their brands with the national dream of becoming a wealthier and more powerful nation.

For 69 percent of the Chinese surveyed, their personal dream is interdependent with the national dream, whereas only 55 percent of American consumers say they are linked to the national dream.

Ben Cavender, an analyst at China Market Research Group in Shanghai, says a lot of brand strategists are actually trying to grasp the Chinese Dream concept.

"They are trying to understand it. This phrase is being tossed around, but everyone has got a slightly different take on what it means."

Cavender says that even if companies don't fully understand the concept, it should be picked up in their market research if it has any deep significance among Chinese consumers.