Thoughtful China Podcast

This week on "Thoughtful China," we're sharing a few highlights from the conference Thoughtful China organized with Advertising Age recently in Shanghai, "Market to Watch: Building Brands Beyond Tier One in China." The event brought together some of China's leading marketers and ad agency executives, sharing insights and information about how to connect brands with new consumers during keynote speeches, presentations and panel discussions.

Marketers are eager to complement traditional advertising with online engagement, but finding a partner is a challenge. Many global ad networks were slow to build strong digital media disciplines. That’s changing as the needle continues to move towards earned media and social media engagement. Smart agencies are now embracing digital media, and social media in particular, as the core of a good communications strategy. This week on Thoughtful China, we’ll look at strategies to build a digital discipline with Viveca Chan, chairman and CEO of WE Marketing Group.

This week on “Thoughtful China,” we’re sharing a few highlights from the conference Thoughtful China organized with Advertising Age recently in Shanghai, Market to Watch: Building Brands Beyond Tier One in China. The event brought together some of China’s leading marketers and ad agency executives, sharing insights and information about how to connect brands with new consumers during keynote speeches, presentations and panel discussions.

Thoughtful China” has brought you news and insights about China’s media, marketing and advertising industries over the past 16 months. To celebrate an exciting milestone -- our 50th episode -- this week’s show identifies five important themes we’ve spotted through memorable guests like Rob Campbell, Viveca Chan, Eugene Chew, Charles de Brabant, Tom Doctoroff, Sam Flemming, Pierre Gervois, Seth Grossman, Rupert Hoogewerf, Jessica Kendall, Jean Lin, Greg Paull, Klaus Paur, Chloe Reuter, Jonathan Seliger, Elan Shou, Jeffrey Tan and more. We hope you’ll tune in for our next fifty episodes at www.thoughtfulchina.com.

Online shopping in China is flourishing, with revenue likely to overtake the US by 2015. Tens of millions of Chinese bargain-hunters scour the internet for great deals, while retailers build virtual stores on sites like Alibaba’s Tmall to expand into China’s third and fourth tier markets. This week on “Thoughtful China,” we’ll look at the reasons ecommerce has grown so quickly in China and examine the best KPIs to know if your ecommerce strategy is working.

Marketers are eager to complement traditional advertising with online engagement, but finding a partner is a challenge. Many global ad networks were slow to build strong digital media disciplines. That’s changing as the needle continues to move towards earned media and social media engagement. Smart agencies are now embracing digital media, and social media in particular, as the core of a good communications strategy. This week on Thoughtful China, we’ll look at strategies to build a digital discipline with Viveca Chan, chairman and CEO of WE Marketing Group.

China has 700 million male consumers and they are spending more every year on personal grooming, luxury goods, spirits and cars. This is especially true about young, urban, affluent men who are strongly focused on their career, social success and settling down. This week on Thoughtful China, our guests including P&G’s Alexander Dony, managing director for male grooming brands like Gillette in Greater China, examine the best ways to market products created for Chinese male consumers.

Finding a good media director has become increasingly difficult. Should companies hire a media technician and educate them about branding--or give brand experts a crash course on media buying? Learn more this week on “Thoughtful China,” as we discuss the issue with Alfonso “Pon” de Dios, founder of Telos Media Works and former associate director-media at Procter & Gamble Co. in Greater China.

China’s media regulator, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), recently made it more difficult and more expensive for advertisers to buy their favorite time blocks on Chinese TV channels like CCTV. This week on “Thoughtful China,” our guest speakers look at the impact of those changes on media plans and ad budgets in 2012.

Connecting a brand to a consumer on an emotional level is one of the most powerful forms of advertising. It’s also one of the hardest to produce, and China is no exception. This week on “Thoughtful China,” we’ll find out how Coca-Cola used emotional branding to become the world’s number one brand and examine strategies to form emotional connections with Chinese consumers. We’ll also tell you about the Go Logo China Challenge, a contest that teaches young creatives how emotions can create great brands.

China’s car sales appear to be heading for a speed bump. The government has eliminated tax incentives for small cars, while local authorities have launched initiatives aimed at easing ever-worsening traffic congestion. Beijing, for instance, has raised the bar for vehicles eligible for fuel-saving subsidies. Even so, interest in cars remains high among consumers, keeping ad budgets high, particularly in digital media, where local car buyers conduct online research. Find out more about current car marketing trends this week on “Thoughtful China.”

Microblogs are a key segment to watch in China’s media market, as advertisers shift budgets into social media. Sina Weibo was the early leader, but Tencent’s Weibo is rising fast through aggressive investment. This week on Thoughtful China, we look at Tencent’s expansion beyond its instant-messaging into microblogs and talk with agencies about how they’re using weibo services as ad platforms.