Wyeth adopts more cultured approach

Wyeth Nutrition, a unit of Swiss food giant Nestle SA, plans to add a more cultural feel to its brand marketing in China.

In a further sign that food and beverage consumption habits are diversifying across the country, the company is throwing its support behind a range of arts and entertainment promotions, including traditional Irish and European music, art, film and literature.

Qu Feng, president of Wyeth Nutrition China, said increasingly Chinese consumers understand that cultural communication can be an important way of increasing product awareness.

Top of Wyeth Nutrition's bill so far has been the company's sponsoring of two concerts by Irish band The Chieftains, in Beijing and Shanghai, at the end of last year.

The band is considered an icon of traditional Irish music, and has won six Grammys. It was also, famously, the first Western bank invited to play on the Great Wall in the 1980s.

Qu said Ireland - an island nation largely free of pollution with three quarters of its land covered by greenery - is home to exceptional natural sources.

"Wyeth Nutrition wants to present products, for instance, that highlight both innovative technology and the natural advantages of countries such as Ireland.

"We want to share this type of culture with more Chinese people and the Chieftains typify that sentiment."

Paddy Moloney, a founding member of the band, said he was delighted to be back in the country after so many years.

"The relationship between Ireland and China has developed in so many positive ways in the years since, through official cooperation, in business, and with vibrant two-way cultural exchanges, such as this one."

Eager to promote a healthier lifestyle globally, Wyeth Nutrition - which lists premium infant formula among its biggest sellers - has also organized an art exhibition of oil paintings in tribute to breast-feeding mothers, which is currently making a 20-stop tour of Chinese cities.

Ding Lixin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, said as consumer competition intensifies in China, foreign companies such as Wyeth Nutrition will become increasingly creative in the ways they choose to promote their brands, rather than simply selling products.

"Their future challenges lie in whether they can convert their innovation advantages into ways of anticipating fast-changing consumer needs," said Ding.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn