Thoughtful China Podcast

Chinese millennials, those born between 1982 and 2003, represent a crossroads between traditional Confucian values and a new passion for information and experience fueled by the internet. This week on “Thoughtful China,” Coca-Cola’s Stephen Drummond, MEC’s Karen Ho, ZenithOptimedia’s Shann Biglione, Labbrand’s Angela Xu and Young & Rubicam’s Shirley Zhou share insights to help you understand this generation of diverse, educated and influential shoppers.

Faced with problems like mass migration to urban areas, worsening pollution, and gridlock traffic, China’s government is changing the way its cities are designed to make them safer, more secure and more livable. Satellite cities connected by mass transit will give way to dense urban environments integrating commercial, residential and retail spaces into one area that is powered by new technologies. This week on “Thoughtful China,” architect and urban planner Paul Doherty explains about how these innovations, such as virtual reality, 3-D technology and greater access to real-time data, will change the way marketers interact with consumers.

In the second episode in an ongoing series sponsored by Weibo, we look at the power of a fan economy in China, and how brands can intentionally develop, invest in and nurture a fan community that drives purchases through lifestyle affinity. By becoming “friends” with customers, marketers can convince them to willingly participate in brand activities. If you’d like to hear more from the speakers in this series, Weibo is hosting a discussion site for this series where viewers can interact with our guests and other industry members. Access this site at http://t.cn/RZWKxkF.

This week on “Thoughtful China,” Min Yoo, China Country Manager for YouGov, quantifies the impact of the Korean pop culture craze happening today in China, sharing data about this phenomenon as well as advice about how brands can leverage Korean culture and celebrities in marketing for Chinese consumers.

China has grown into the world’s manufacturing hub thanks to the successful efforts of original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, but those firms increasingly want to shift their business to become original brand manufacturers, or OBMs, with emphasis on R&D innovations, design, brand marketing and communication activities. This week on “Thoughtful China,” our experts look at the challenges they face in this transition and identify the risks and rewards on both sides.

Korean culture and entertainment have become a driving force in China. This week on “Thoughtful China,” find out what’s behind the Korean pop culture craze in China and look at some examples of how brands are using Korean culture and celebrities in Chinese brand campaigns.

In the first episode in an ongoing series sponsored by Weibo, Ken Hong, Viveca Chan, Michael Lin, JK Shen, and Leon Zhang share insights to help you make the most of your social media budget in 2015. If you’d like to hear more from the speakers in this series, Weibo is hosting a discussion site for this series where viewers can interact with our guests and other industry members. Access this site at http://t.cn/RZWKxkF.

China is now the world’s fifth-largest consumer of wine and fifth-largest producer, but wine lovers in China often have different tastes and motivations compared to western consumers. Hear about Chinese wine trends and how to reach Chinese wine lovers in this week’s episode of “Thoughtful China” from Vince Kobler, CEO of Vince Wines.

In our fourth annual forecast episode, senior executives at Carat, OMG, ZenithOptimedia and JWT share insights about what to expect in 2015 in terms of how much advertisers will spend in China, how budgets will be allocated and what to watch out for this year.

Our year-end special episode features four of China’s leading creative directors, Jimmy Lam, Ng Fan, Andrew Lok and Graham Fink, discussing the top ads produced in Greater China this year. Find out which ads they picked in the final episode of “Thoughtful China” for 2014.

Find out why PepsiCo’s agency partners in China shouldn’t get too comfortable this week on “Thoughtful China.” Richard Lee, CMO for PepsiCo and Tingyi Asahi Beverages in China, says influential content and distribution “now come from anywhere,” including digital media platforms and even consumers, so ad agencies must adopt a brand curation role instead of creative execution.

“Transparency” is no longer just a communications buzzword in this era of full disclosure. This week on “Thoughtful China” as YouGov’s Min Yoo, Country Manager, China, interviews Geoff Beattie, the global head of corporate affairs at Cohn & Wolfe, about how Chinese evaluate transparency and authenticity compared to western consumers and how to build trust with local consumers.

Thoughtful China and Advertising Age organized a sold-out gala on October 21st to celebrate the third class of Ad Age’s Women to Watch China Honors. This week on our show, we’re sharing highlights from that event, where some of China’s most promising female professionals were honored on stage by friends and peers.

This week on “Thoughtful China,” Sam Flemming, founder & CEO, Kantar Media CIC, shares insights with host Min Yoo about how brand owners should integrate China’s pop culture with its internet culture to develop a smart social media strategy. He shares specific examples of successful integrations from companies like Danone, Anta, Mercedes, Toyota and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

China is one of the largest and most active markets for online and mobile gaming, with revenue expected to grow 93% to $2.9 billion in 2014 and reach $7.7 billion by 2018. But little of that revenue is coming from brand owners. Advertisers have been slow to find ways to connect with gamers and there are few examples of good integrations to date. Find out why this week on “Thoughtful China” from Clement Tsang, Patrick Wheeler, Graham Fink, Kevin Gentle and Liam Winston, who will share insights about how advertisers should be looking at online games to engage with China’s massive community of gamers and what’s holding the industry back.