Well, the last 10 months has been hectic. The financial crisis has put a dent in many lives and also way of life. Further to that, I must admit it that the excitement of this situation has been like a little acne in the face of Chinese consumers. While domestic market continues to grow, things has not been as bad as it is.

Instead of writing my thoughts early on, I’ve taken a step back to talk to people, absorb the reality of the situation and really begin to see the issue from a consumer point of view. I believe statistics are only good for discussion as the real feeling can only be obtained from observations of daily life.

Here are some examples I have gotten throughout my last 10 months of findings. The opening of a 7th floor Barbie boutique. I never knew Barbie has so much stuffs in there and it’s amazing to just be awed by their product range. At the height of financial crisis, they opened their doors in Shanghai and to my surprise, the place was packed with people and everyone within 100 meters of this store carried the bold and beautiful pinky Barbie signature bag. I was truly stunned by the fact an item of luxury like dolls can be a centre of attraction during times when the whole world is looking at cutback, downtrend, recession as keywords in daily lives. One thing to note is there were a lot of discussions in regards to this store on BBS and BLOGs before it’s opened that has driven its hype.

A very interesting example was when I was having a quick discussion with an associate on why cars are selling so well in China while the rest of the world is literally trying to dump their stock with the most ridiculous offers, his reply almost has me chocked on my food. According to him, “If I can’t buy stocks or bonds because it’s volatile and the apartments price is not going down … what can I do with the money I have ? I change a car to upgrade my life. Simple as that. Just remember Chinese like us has the habit of saving money and pays with cash unlike the western world who lives on credit … this is the reason why we can still survive the financial crisis.”

While the examples I provide might be skewed towards isolated cases because manufacturing for export has definitely taken a bigger hit in China and I will not deny that most of the people I speak to represent the above average middle class income.

Nevertheless, one thought has been consistent - Marketers in China are looking for innovative ways to reach out to consumer. ROI, measurement and delivering results has been topic of discussion I’ve been involved for the last 6 months. And I think it’s great because digital today is seen as a possible outlet to shave marketing yuans but still deliver the business results that marketers so wanted. The pressure is ON to China to perform and EVERY single global brand wants a strong year in China. No doubt I feel for every marketers here are trying to explore all the opportunities and as such, digital has become the conversations of not mere pageviews or unique visitors but how it can be a business driver.

Last Modified : June 21st, 2009 Filed under : Digital Navigate : Previous post /