Outsiders Get Smarter About China's Tastes
SHANGHAI -- You can still get fried chicken and mashed potatoes at the 1,100 KFC outlets in China. But some of the chain's best-selling items here probably never passed through the real Colonel Sanders's lips, like soup made from spinach, egg and tomato.
It's the same at McDonald's, which features red-bean sundaes on the menu. Or in Chinese homes, where couch potatoes watching TV chomp on Frito-Lay chips flavored with lemon.
All that's evidence of the way in which foreign companies are getting smarter about using local tastes to crack the Chinese market.
At the dawn of China's great consumer boom in the late 1990s, Western companies had only the crudest understanding of what consumers wanted. They often took existing Western products and force-fit onto them the little they knew about Chinese tastes. The result were products along the lines of spicy seafood-flavored potato chips.
Testing the 'coolness' of potato chips in a Shanghai flavor lab, one of the many ways Western companies are learning to adapt to Chinese tastes.
Lately, though, Western companies have begun copying what successful native Chinese companies have done all along. Their re-invented fare is beginning to reflect a much deeper understanding of how Chinese shoppers view food, health-care products and other goods.
For example, Chinese emphasize a yin-yang style "balance" in what they eat, turning in the summer to flavors they perceive as "cooling," and then going back to "warming" ones in the winter.
Similarly, while Chinese adults have as much of a sweet tooth as Westerners, it manifests itself in different ways -- less in cold drinks and more in desserts based on Chinese favorites like lychee (a type of fruit) and sweet-bean paste.
"People are finally waking up to the need for insight into Chinese motivations," says Tom Doctoroff, the North Asia managing director of ad agency J. Walter Thompson, part of WPP Group PLC.
These taste makeovers can reassure consumers wary of expensive new brands. Bath products, for instance, increasingly feature traditional herbal ingredients such as shouwu, a kind of black sesame.
Much of this tinkering takes place in a laboratory at the Shanghai office of the world's largest flavoring and scent company, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. of the U.S. An army of sniffing scientists have invented hundreds of the new smells and tastes in test tubes, and then experimented with them on stacks of fresh laundry, toilet bowls, wigs and other items.
With the aid of 80 weekly volunteers paid to wash their hair, record favorite smells and taste experimental snacks under carefully controlled lighting, International Flavor's China consumer-insight director, Lily Chen, explores new flavor and fragrance frontiers, such as traditional remedies like ginseng and soothing lavender.
"It's not just functional. Now Chinese people need emotional benefits, like aromatherapy," she says.
The most successful of the new flavor strategies involve appealing to deep Chinese sentiments about the proper balance of food and the body: hot and cold, yin and yang.
At a Carrefour supermarket in Shanghai, 34-year old Zhao Hongyun stands next to a "One Cool Summer" display of Lay's potato chips, complete with images of umbrellas and a blazing sun.
"I'm addicted to the 'cool lemon' flavor," explains Ms. Zhao. "It's good for summer...they are light and make your mouth fresh."
Ms. Zhao's comments show the success of the strategy that Frito-Lay, a PepsiCo Inc. brand, put in place when it discovered it couldn't move potato chips off Chinese shelves in summertime.
The reason, it discovered, is that Chinese shoppers associate fried foods like potato chips with yang, which, according to traditional Chinese medicine, generates excess body heat in steamy weather.
And so last summer, Lay's introduced the "cool lemon" variety -- which Westerners would probably say tasted like lemon meringue pie.
The package also was redesigned using pastel colors "to highlight the cool feeling," or yin, says PepsiCo China's snacks marketing director Shireesh Joshi. It became Lay's best-selling new product ever in China.
Western companies also have discovered that Chinese tend to avoid non-edible items that smell like they should be eaten. Hence, there is a booming industry in creating non-edible floral flavors, called "florientals."
Procter & Gamble Co. launched a ginseng version of its Rejoice shampoo last year with the message that it would improve hair shine over time, just as ginseng supposedly heals the body with repeated use.
Often, selling in China means product combinations that would be unimaginable in America. H.J. Heinz Co., for instance, wanted to sell an oat-based baby food here. It discovered, though, that "in China, they don't know much about oats," says Anthony Yeung, Heinz's China brand director with Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett ad agency.
But they do know about whitebait, a tiny fish that's a staple for Chinese infants. So Heinz paired it with oats; now, the whitebait fish-oat baby food combo has a starring role in Heinz's lineup.
Sometimes, the best taste is none at all. French makeup giant L'Oréal recently tested flavors for its Maybelline lipstick lines, but found that Chinese women preferred their lips flavorless.
西方商品 中国味道
在中国，你不仅可以啜饮茉莉花茶，品位茉莉花的清香，还可以在众多洗涤用品中触及茉莉花的芬芳。走进超市你就会发现，从联合利华(Unilever)的茉莉冰茶，到高露洁棕榄(Colgate-Palmolive)的茉莉香皂和宝洁(Procter & Gamble, P&G)的佳洁士(Crest)茉莉香型茶爽牙膏，茉莉花暗香涌动，已经无处不在。
通晓消费者喜好的本地品牌日益成长起来，面对不断加剧的市场竞争，英-荷公司联合利华和美国宝洁公司等跨国企业纷纷开始本地化经营。
麦当劳(McDonald's)推出了红豆圣代，亨氏(Heinz)推出银鱼婴儿麦片，百事(PepsiCo Inc., PEP)旗下的菲多利(Frito-Lay)甚至生产了乐事(Lay's)北京烤鸭薯片。
外国公司开始学会利用中国丰富的食品美味来促进销售，他们对中国部分传统产品进行创新，以此吸引新的客户。像香辣蟹和黑芝麻这样的口味已经吊足了中国人的胃口，他们对这种出自外国厂商的别具风味的产品兴趣十足。
广告代理商J. Walter Thompson的北亚董事总经理汤姆?多克托罗夫(Tom Doctoroff)说，人们终于认识到应该去体察中国人的喜好。他指出，中国人早上醒来往往喜欢先喝一碗热乎乎的咸粥，而外国厂商曾大力推广冷冰冰的西式甜麦片，这就难免会以失败告终。他说，在一个世界观完全不同的市场推广产品时，品位的平衡至关重要。
中国品牌制造商早已凭直觉意识到这一点。近年来他们推出种种更适合中国人口味的产品，一次次打退了跨国公司的竞争。
但领先的跨国公司已开始奋勇直追。美国百胜餐饮集团(Yum! Brands Inc., YUM)的肯德基(KFC)在推广炸鸡产品的同时，将40%的食品改成中国口味，并由此将分店发展到了1,100家，成为中国最大的连锁餐饮店。肯德基的口味调整产品包括新推出的“川香辣子鸡”，是一款热辣的川味鸡块，可以搭配肯德基传统的劲爆鸡米花，以及用菠菜鸡蛋西红柿精心烹制的芙蓉鲜蔬汤。
但是像肯德基这样的公司在味道上可不仅仅是“顺其自然”。恰恰相反，他们的产品要在全球最大的调味公司International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF)驻上海办事处的实验室里精雕细琢。这家美国公司的科学家队伍已经创出数百种香味和口味。在80位自愿参加的产品取样员的帮助下，IFF的中国消费者体察部经理Lily Chen每星期五都会在上海实验室发布一种新的味道和香型，例如熏衣草和传统补品人参的香型都是在这里研制诞生的。
这种本土化方式已成为外国公司竞争中国市场的锐利武器。亨氏最初推广婴儿燕麦米粉时就到过这样一个问题，“在中国，他们不知道什么是燕麦。”李奥贝纳广告公司(Leo Burnett)的亨氏中国品牌经理Anthony Yeung如是说。“但他们知道银鱼，这是中国的一种传统婴儿食品。因此，银鱼，还有豌豆和胡萝卜口味都在亨氏产品中扮演了重要角色。”
逐渐地，外国厂商已不仅仅将注意力放在中国传统食物的口味上了。现在，越来越多的中国人开始注重食品选择和体形保持，注重平衡冷热，协调阴阳。外国厂商也相应地使出了其他解数，以迎合他们这些深层次需求。
在上海的家乐福(Carrefour)超市中，赵红云(音译)对身边摆放的乐事薯片“清凉夏季”非常感兴趣。她说，她特别喜欢“清爽柠檬口味”，特别适合夏天，味道清凉，口气清新。
薯片真的能让你口感清凉吗？这当然只不过是乐事不想在夏季遭遇冷落的一个营销策略。
中国顾客通常会把薯片这类油炸食品与“热”联系在一起。从传统中医角度讲，这种油炸食品在炎热的夏季会让人“上火”。2003年中期，乐事推出了清凉柠檬系列，包装袋也换上柔和颜色和蓝天图案，百事中国(PepsiCo China)的休闲食品营销经理希雷?乔希(Shireesh Joshi)说，这主要是为了强调清凉的感觉。这个产品系列是菲多利迄今为止在中国销售最好的一款新产品。今年夏天，它又增加了“清凉黄瓜系列”。
这种本土化策略也引起了消费者对昂贵的新品牌香皂和洗发水的关注。越来越多的洗浴产品开始采用何首乌和人参等中草药配方。
在外国厂商的洗发水中闻到一种熟悉的味道往往会让人感到亲切，也值得购买。为李奥贝纳管理宝洁中国洗发水品牌的琳达?科瓦里克(Linda Kovarik)说，“这种普通的洗发产品在中国销量很大，我们加入一些广为人知的成分，这样就不必作太多的引导工作。”
因此宝洁公司去年推出了飘柔(Rejoice)人参系列，顾客觉得长期使用会让他们的头发更显光泽，就像长期服用人参会强身健体一样。科瓦里克说，如果用了某种有效的中药成分，但客户对它一无所知也不行。
此外，即使是熟悉的香味也要适量使用。例如，中国消费者一般不习惯过于浓烈的甜味。因此联合利华在向中国推广其瓶装立顿(Lipton)茶饮料前减轻了糖份含量，可口可乐(Coca-Cola)也是把健怡可乐(Diet Coke)的味道变为微甜的Coke Light后才实现销售额的迅猛增长。
有时，顾客们不能忍受香皂闻起来有草莓等食品的味道。最近，法国化妆品巨头欧莱雅(L'Oreal)尝试推出了一种带有香味的美宝莲(Maybelline)唇膏，结果却发现中国人更喜欢无味唇膏。
有时候，一种深受喜爱的产品，其味道也未必能被人们接受。中国顾客喜欢芦荟饮料，认为芦荟有助消化。但当IFF的Chen测试各种芦荟香型时，参加测试的消费者实际上更希望它有荔枝的味道。
这种事情经常发生。科瓦里克指出，如果洗发水中的人参香型就是取自人参根部，那它实际上会有泥土的味道。
