Chinese companies overseas must be more marketing savvy

XIAOMI, China's smartphone brand, launched an online promotion"1 Flash Sale" in the United Kingdom on Nov 8, claiming that a total of 10 smartphones are available at 1 each in the UK market. Although the company later explained that the system randomly selected 10 people from the thousands who clicked the "buy" button almost simultaneously, people felt this was a scam because what they saw was always the "out of stock" sign. The 21st Century Business Herald comments:

Despite Xiaomi's explanation, it is justified for the consumers in the UK to criticize the company for the promotion about which it made a great whoop and a holler in advance.

Xiaomi should reflect on how the promotion finally became a public relations crisis on social media. The other Chinese companies operating overseas should also draw a lesson from the case that has negatively affected Xiaomi's brand image and creditability.