MANILA, OCTOBER 1, 2012 – After the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, no one expected Asia will rise up today. No one except a handful of people.
“Before I was reassigned to oversee operations in Asia, someone said, ‘Someday, way way in the future, we’re going to make more revenue in mainland China than in Hong Kong’. People were skeptical,” Lynne Anne Davis, president and senior partner in Asia-Pacific, Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, said, during a lunch interview with adobo magazine last week.
Fast forward to 2012, things are so much different.
In the past 30 years, China has grown significantly that stakeholders, and the whole world in general, are still trying to figure out what to make of it.
As described by David Roth, CEO of EMEA and Asia, there has been a shift from “…China as the world’s factory to China as a brand creator and marketer”. Perceptions of the “Made in China” stamp are also changing as the country is currently home to a number of businesses that have gone global.
China’s brands have seen an “explosion of value”, according to a study by BrandZ. This is due to factors such as a booming and increasingly discerning middle class, product commoditization, efforts to drive homegrown business and heated domestic competition.
An example of this is telecom-equipment vendor Huawei (a Fleishman-Hillard client) which recently slipped past Ericsson and ranked among the world’s top three applicants in 2011, with fellow Chinese firm ZTE taking the top spot.
One point that the whole world should take note of is something BrandAsian CEO Joseph Baladi said, “Within the next 10 years, we are going to transition to a ‘Chinese Century’…relative to an American benchmark. That means we are going to have great Chinese brands, both commercial business Chinese brands as well as cultural brands, because that’s what defined the U.S.”
With China reclaiming its status as a world leader, Fleishman-Hillard developed eight rules for engagement, four of which will be discussed here:
1. Business goals should drive communications
The way a company communicates is a critical factor in its success or failure as a business. It is not simply about “promotion”. Communications must be integral to everything a company does. This is particularly true when a company is entering a new market in a foreign country. Whenever a foreign company seeks to do business in a different country, it begins at a disadvantage and communication is the only way to undo the disadvantage through right communication.
2. Acceptance first, then profit
Like a guest entering a stranger’s house, Chinese companies entering global markets must, in some respects, earn their welcome. It is important that all key stakeholders be identified early in the process. Aside from the customers, employees and investors, other stakeholders to look out for are: government officials at the local, regional and national levels; community leaders; other local business leaders, social service organizations, union leaders, environmental groups, and so on. After all, acceptance is a prerequisite to profit.
3. Communications is more than translation
A company can only have one opportunity to make a first impression and nothing endures like a good (or bad) one. A plan to communicate with the identified stakeholders is in order (i.e. who to talk to, when to talk to hem, what to do, what to say and how to say it). When done correctly, this process will enhance the prospects for success for years to come.
4. Understand the stereotypes
China’s substantial growth has sent shock waves all over the world. Opinions differ and people debate whether this growth is a good or bad thing. Chinese companies will always carry with them all of these stereotypes and should be sensitive to their implications, particularly the negative ones. Although, Chinese companies can reverse the negative perceptions in the way that they behave and communicate.
