From data to culture: How international brands try to break code at Chinese Chinese consumer

Beijing – The economic slowdown of China will not discourage US and European brands from reworking its strategies to addressing Chinese shoppers.

Instead, the attraction of the second world consumer market in the world forces society to adapt to the growing competition of local brands.

In case of Kraft HeinzGaining more people in China to buy ketchup this year also meant hiring a local agency that would help the catchy campaign that releases metro columns to mimic ketchup bottles and promote spices as a fresh twist on popular food: fried eggs and tomatoes.

It is a difficult market to solve, even for the marketing company Good Idea Growth Network (GGN) based in Shanghai. The agency witnessed at least five different waves of consumer trends in its 14 -year history, founder of Stepha Liu, said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. “The game is constantly changing.”

GGN, however, is successful even after the rejection of the acquisition offered from the British advertising giant WP, Liu said that about half of its customers are foreign brands.

While Kraft Heinz is not yet finished with his campaign in China Ketchup, the company showed net revenues in the second quarter of the emerging markets 4.2% a year ago, which helped balance the decline in North America.

WPP explored the potential acquisition of GNO, but according to the person who is familiar with the discussions, it ended far in this process.

Kraft Heinz has now not understood to ask for how.

It is clear from Starbucks to Lululemon’s success in China that the correct combination of localization is necessary.

“Among the international brands in China, the winners often donate more than 40% of marketing income, especially content and marketing on the platform, while ittero -based product -based products,” said Jacob Cooke, co -founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies.

This year the Cooke said that Under tingling He created products under 100 yuan ($ 14) to attract buyers’ mass online while using live broadcasts with dedicated users to build fitness communities and selling more premium products offline.

In the last few years, the enemies-in-owned Douyin has been the power of electronic trading Scecerebrids and companies have begun to use an application for live sales during the pandemic. And according to the numbers, it is only a small question that jumping into the world of Xiaohongshu and Douyin is worth it.

The adaptation to this new ecosystem of social trade has been the biggest challenge for brands over the last two years, Liu GGN said. “Foreign brands will think,” Isn’t that just tiktok? “”

She warned that successful requires a complex strategy that may include a change in everything from how the team is structured on the types of products sold. However, the payout is significant.

“In half a year it can help you sell more than you sold (Alibaba“S) TMALL in two years,” Liu said.

In addition to social media, the critical factor of strategies of many companies is access to hordes of what consumers are buying in China.

Chinese platforms for electronic trade, included Alibaba’s TMALL, share much more data about what is popular than Amazon.com He says WPIC’s COOKE. In China, “People generally know what their competitors sell and what they sell for.”

With these Granulalar data, the Chinese Make -up brand Perfect Diera was able to succeed by identifying market bread and creating a lipstick focused on this lower prices segment, Cooke said. He noted that these were under the pressure of foreign brands to also create products specific to China, a big shift in the last five years.

Electronic trading platforms in China also often show harsh data on how many orders have been placed on the product, while third -party companies like syntons have offered considerable product lovers and other free online sales information.

In case of AppleStart iPhone 17 to seven. 19; The platform focused on the electronics and the first minute pre -orders of the iPhone 17 series surpasses the first day before the form of last year’s iPhone 16 series.

Apple’s story also emphasizes how it is possible to regain local interest, even though it loses its share in domestic competition. Some customers in Beijing said CNBC that they like the new cosmic orange from the iPhone and that more locals intended to buy their first iPhone this year about new attractive features such as larger internal storage.

The Chinese factories quickly jumped on the trend and released the iPhone cases with a similar orange shade before 17 models were out.

“The winning brands are those founded by local research centers and product teams in the group,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder Chozan, Chinese marketing counseling. “This allows them to find out trends in time, develop products adapted to local needs and to issue them in months, not years. This is a significant departure from the past, where a global product has often been simply introduced on the Chinese market.”

Even with the right data and platforms of social media, cultural integration is becoming increasingly important, especially because Chinese brands find success in using the country’s own history.

“The signs move above the superficial nod to Chinese culture,” Dudarenok said. She unloaded the Jade Carving Masters party while Burberry joined with bamboo artists.

And in spite of the sale of the decinal on the Chinese luxury market Lvmh This summer, he opened an engaging ship in Shanghai-Serris to create many local buzzes.

Unlike the LVMH luggage trade on Manhattan, renting in Shanghai is connected to the history of the Chinese city as the port of an entry for international travelers to Asia about a century ago.

The new shop also captures the roots of the European brand in hand-created travel suitcases-what is in contrast to the inability of Chinese brands to offer the same emotional attraction, Joe Ngai, chairman of Great China in McKinsey, pointed out in LinkedIn.

“As Chinese customers grow in their trust and desire for local elements,” he said, “Creating more crossole between West and East is one of the unique opportunities for multinational companies in China.”

– Eunice Yoon CNBC contributed to this report.