Thoughtful China Podcast

Throughout the first half of 2013, we asked guests in our studio to share the best advice they’ve been given. This week, we are sharing their responses in a special episode that marks the second anniversary of “Thoughtful China.” Join us in celebrating this milestone by hearing sound advice from prominent business leaders ranging from worldwide chairman to Chinese experts.

E-commerce is a flourishing industry in China. Consumers have embraced the internet’s ability to offer comparison shopping and product research, and marketers are eager to expand operations beyond flagship stores in established markets like Shanghai and Beijing. On this week’s episode of “Thoughtful China,” our experts examine the hurdles facing this market’s e-commerce industry and how to overcome them.

Although foreign media companies have an uneasy relationship with China’s leadership, many have found an enthusiastic welcome from local readers and viewers. This week on “Thoughtful China,” we talk with Tracy Zhang, president of FTChinese.com, the local-language online publication of the Financial Times, about how she’s building a business in China by providing news and analysis for the country’s top businesspeople and decision-makers.

China’s social media industry has been buzzing about WeChat since it launched over two years ago, but marketers remain confused about how to make WeChat work for their brands. Find out how to advertising through this fast-rising platform this week on “Thoughtful China” from four digital marketing experts, JWT’s Eugene Chew, CIC’s Sam Flemming, Nielsen’s Spencer Hung and im2.0’s Chris Tung, who give advertisers the facts they need about China’s latest social media craze.

This week on “Thoughtful China,” Amrita Randhawa, president of Mindshare China, talks about how to evaluate the ROI of media spending, how media agencies should be structured to maintain growth in the future and how to evaluate the effectiveness of social media campaigns.

Global retailers are looking to China to offset lackluster sales in Europe and the U.S., which are still trying to recover from the global financial crisis, but China’s retail market is fragmented and complicated. This week on Thoughtful China, we talk with retail experts about shopper marketing trends in China, find out how local consumers shop and which shopper marketing strategies are the most effective. Find out more on this week’s episode.

Membership in the Nine-Zero Club--U.S. dollar billionaires—in Greater China is now second only to the U.S., an astonishing feat considering how quickly these fortunes were amassed. Who are China’s super-wealthy consumers, where does their wealth come from and how do they spend it? Find out this week on “Thoughtful China” from Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO and chief researcher of Hurun Report.

Microblogs have come to play a pivotal role not only in brand marketing but also in breaking and amplifying crises and scandals. They disseminate news and guide public opinion. This week on Thoughtful China, our guests will share advice about how to handle a crisis in the microblog era, common triggers for PR problems and strategies to avoid them.

“Our whole industry is about the change,” said David Liu, Engine Group’s Chairman & CEO, Asia, this week on “Thoughtful China.” A veteran of Asia’s media industry, Mr. Liu was part of the Aegis Media leadership that helped revolutionize the way media-buying is handled worldwide. Today, he’s leading Engine’s expansion into Asia. Find out more this week on “Thoughtful China.”

China has tens of millions of active social media users. Marketers who want to interact with online communities without spoiling the party are frequently turning to key opinion leaders -- or KOLs -- using platforms like Sina Weibo. Our guests spoke with host Trevor Lai about the best ways to identify, utilize and compensate KOLs to grow brands in China--and which company they think will dominate social media in fast-changing China this year. Get this answer on this week’s episode.

Building western spirits brands in China is costly and complicated. Luring consumers away from local beer, wine and a popular white spirit called baijiu requires expensive education, sampling programs and distribution networks. Find out from Cyril Camus how one of France’s leading spirits brands, Camus, is turning Chinese consumers into cognac fans, this week on “Thoughtful China.”

Marketers are eager to tap Sina Weibo’s popularity, which prompted Sina Corp. to hire ad veteran Ken Hong to develop its social media marketing products and services. Find out more about his strategies and products for turning online fans into your brand’s best friend -- and what he thinks about Tencent’s rival WeChat platform -- this week on “Thoughtful China.”

In this week’s episode of “Thoughtful China,” host Trevor Lai interviews Kinsen Siu, managing director of Lafayette 148 New York, about the challenges facing a Chinese-owned but U.S.-based brand entering the Chinese market. He also speaks with three pioneers in China’s fashion industry, Masha Ma, Ji Chen, and Alton Chow, while Jeffrey S. Buchman, a professor at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, shares advice to local designers about how to build brands in the West. Find out what they had to say about building fashion brands in China in this week’s show.

Despite Dentsu’s deep pockets and a strong desire to expand overseas, strategies that worked for Japan’s largest agency at home didn’t work overseas. Dentsu couldn’t hold on to major Japanese clients in foreign markets and it was unable to acquire major media like TV stations in many foreign countries as it did back home. This week on “Thoughtful China,” we interview Tim Andree, President and CEO of The Dentsu Network, which connects Dentsu’s international operations in 29 countries. He is the driving force behind Dentsu’s latest expansion strategy, a string of savvy acquisitions like Aegis Group, as well as plans to grow existing acquisitions like McGarryBowen into markets like China.

Attitudes towards love, dating and marriage have changed dramatically in China, where young women enjoy freedoms today that would shock their grandmothers. This week on “Thoughtful China,” we examine trends in China’s $80 billion wedding industry by talking with experts like Rebecca Ip at Tiffany & Co., Patrick Behrens at The Peninsula Shanghai, BBH China’s Christine Ng, Ijie.com Editor Jin Tingting and Chinese trend analyst Mary Bergstrom.