So Many People, So Hard to Reach
Companies feel they have no choice: They have to be in China. But it isn't easy.
Some companies are looking beyond television to plug their products to China's billions of consumers.
Prompting the move are the growing cost of already pricey television advertising and, perhaps more important for marketers, a shift in some Chinese consumers' TV viewing habits.
THE JOURNAL REPORT
See the complete Leadership report.Younger audiences are increasingly spending less time watching TV and more time surfing the Web, playing online games and using cellphones. So to tap into that trend, companies like Coca-Cola Co. and Motorola Inc. are adjusting some of their marketing to target those users with a variety of online and cellphone ads and promotions, such as tie-ins with online games. And it doesn't hurt that such advertising costs much less than traditional print and TV spots.
Even advertisers sticking with TV are trying to use cheaper means to get their products seen on the tube, including product placements and sponsorship of talent shows.
A marketing plan in China traditionally features television, print and outdoor advertising. For a large company, such a plan covering China's three major cities -- Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou -- runs close to $4 million per year, estimates Tom Doctoroff, chief executive of Greater China for New York-based ad agency JWT. A nationwide campaign costs three times as much. U.S. consumer-products giant Procter & Gamble Co. paid $41 million last year to buy prime-time TV ad slots alone.
Censorship also can weigh on a marketer's bottom line. China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television has been known to yank ads that are perceived to inflame cultural or national sensibilities. That means money spent on creating the commercial is totally wasted. And often, more money is then spent on making a replacement ad. In 2004, the agency banned a TV commercial from Nike Inc. that featured U.S. basketball star LeBron James defeating a kung fu master.
Can't Stay Away
Despite these high costs, many companies believe they can't afford to not be in China, with its growing economy and burgeoning middle class.
Indeed, according to a report this year from New York-based Nielsen Media Research, China's mainland is now the third-biggest advertising market in the world, after the U.S. and Japan, posting 2% growth last year to nearly 316 billion yuan ($39.5 billion). TV ad spending alone jumped 25% in 2005 to an estimated $30 billion, according to Nielsen.
But companies are starting to see a shift in TV viewing habits, at least with younger audiences. China's economy is affording more of its citizens the kinds of devices long used by American and European consumers. Biggest among these are computers and cellphones. China already has the world's second-largest online population, behind the U.S. Growing use of PCs and other devices in China for news and entertainment means people are spending less time watching TV. In fact, professionals in their 20s and 30s -- the demographic that advertisers covet -- are just as likely to spend time in front of a computer as in front of a TV set.
And it's that shift that's making advertising to online and cellphone audiences the most viable new option for companies looking to get more for their advertising buck.
The Internet is still a nascent market for advertisers, with only about 1% of ad spending in China spent on online promotions and ads, according to industry estimates. But that will grow as more companies like Motorola move some of their marketing efforts online.
Building a Brand Online
Earlier this month, Motorola launched an ad campaign to publicize Motomusic, a China-only Web site that sells music downloads and ring tones for Motorola cellphones. The site will function as a promotional tool to build the Motorola brand in the future -- a much less costly alternative to relying largely on TV advertising.
Ian Thomson-Banks, Motorola's marketing chief, says Motomusic is similar to Apple Inc.'s iTunes online music service -- but without the iPod -- and will hopefully help reposition the Motorola brand as "desirable and attractive" in terms of style in the world's largest mobile-handset market. Schaumburg, Ill.-based Motorola says its market share in China has dwindled to 21% from 50% in the past five years.
Mr. Thomson-Banks says digital media marketing in China is about 20% to 40% cheaper than the cost of advertising in print and television. Not only is advertising in China's traditional media costly, he says, "we see double-digit increases every year."
Other companies also are banking on the one-two punch of reaching a target audience at a lower cost. Coca-Cola and Adidas AG, for instance, are drawing on the popularity of online games in China among younger consumers.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola has placed in thousands of Internet cafes posters that feature an ad for the beverage company's products and the popular online game "World of Warcraft."
Coca-Cola spokeswoman Zhai Mei says the company is diversifying into Internet ads and online games in order to reach Chinese youth. "Undoubtedly, as a new and rapidly developing medium, the Internet will provide us with lots of chances and possibilities of creative activities," says Ms. Zhai, adding that "an online community is a long-term development plan for us in the next few years."
Adidas, meanwhile, hired graphic-design firm Dream Cortex to design an online game for the Asian market, to leverage the German athletic-shoe maker's sponsorship of this year's FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. Consumers can obtain free software from the Adidas Web site or a CD-ROM from Adidas stores throughout Asia. After downloading the software, users create a virtual soccer player who can play soccer-related games, pop into the Adidas online shop to buy sports clothes and chat on message boards with other users.
Early on, the top player in the game is from China, logging some 250 hours in the three weeks since the game was launched in mid-May, says Napoleon Biggs, managing director of Dream Cortex, a division of Hong Kong-based Outblaze Ltd.
Adidas declined to comment about its Internet moves.
Even companies spending on traditional media like television are trying to stretch their marketing dollars through branded content, product placement and co-sponsorships.
Cincinnati-based P&G, for example, is sponsoring reality TV shows following the huge success of last year's "Super Girl," a contest similar to the popular U.S. talent show "American Idol." P&G has invested close to $1 million to make the Gillette Vector razor brand the sponsor of a singing contest. The company also is co-sponsoring a dance competition to promote the Whisper brand of sanitary pads and a talent show to promote its Olay skin-care line.
Despite all these efforts, industry executives say brand loyalty is still low in China because consumers are cost-conscious and easily swayed by price changes. In China, dominant brands typically only enjoy a single-digit market share, compared with double-digit figures in other markets, says Rattan Malli, media planner at JWT.
In China, "strong brands are not the norm," says Millette Tsai, an analyst at AC Nielsen.
What's more, brand recognition in China doesn't always translate into sales, largely because of copyright piracy. Microsoft Corp., for example, is one of the most recognizable brands in China, according to numerous consumer surveys -- but some 90% of software used in China is pirated, according to U.S. government estimates.
Chinese consumers are familiar with high-end brands like North Face, Tods and Tiffany primarily through pirated items sold in China's marketplaces. That prompted high-end retailer Tiffany & Co., in May, to launch a Chinese Web site, even though none of the products featured are available for sale online in China.
Instead, the site posts warnings telling visitors that authentic merchandise can only be purchased in China at Tiffany stores. Rong Wei, store manager in Tiffany's only outlet in Shanghai, says the Web site is "to remind people only products from Tiffany's stores are authentic. We hope to expand the market in China."
Ms. Rong adds that "there are so many pirated Tiffany products out there in China. A lot of people come [in] to have cleaning services with their fake items....They thought [they were] real."
西方企业瞄准中国网民
一些公司开始寻求通过电视媒体以外的途径来向中国十几亿的消费者宣传自己的产品。
价格不菲的电视广告费用仍在不断上涨是促进这个变化的原因之一。对于商家来说，更重要的原因是一些中国消费者看电视的习惯发生了变化。
现在，年轻人看电视的时间越来越少，浏览网页、玩网络游戏以及使用手机的时间不断增加。为了融入这种趋势，可口可乐(Coca-Cola Co.)以及摩托罗拉(Motorola Inc.)等公司调整了针对这部分消费者的市场策略，推出形式多样的网络和手机广告以及促销活动，比如与网络游戏捆绑出现的广告等。另外，此类市场营销形式的费用大大低于传统的平面广告以及电视广告费用，对公司来说有利无害。
即使是坚持使用电视媒体的广告商也在尝试更实惠的方法，比如在一些选秀节目中摆放自己的产品或者担任节目的赞助商等。
传统上来讲，面向中国的市场营销计划通常包括电视广告、平面广告以及户外广告。总部设在纽约的广告公司智威汤逊(JWT)的大中华地区首席执行长唐锐涛(Tom Doctoroff)估计，大公司的营销计划通常会覆盖北京、上海以及广州三大城市，整个计划每年的费用近400万美元。全国性营销计划的费用则会达到这个数字的三倍。美国消费者商品巨头宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co., 又名：宝硷公司)去年为了购买电视广告黄金时段就花费了4,100万美元。
审查制度同样会影响商家的盈亏。众所周知，中国国家广播电影电视总局(China's State Administration for Radio, Film and Television)会禁止它认为可能激起文化或国家敏感情绪的广告播出。这意味著拍摄广的费用付之东流，而且可能还要投入更多的钱拍摄一部替代广告。在2004年，中国国家广播电影电视总局就禁播了耐克公司(Nike Inc.)的一则电视广告，美国篮球明星莱夫龙?詹姆斯(LeBron James)在广告片中打败了一位武术大师。
尽管市场营销费用较高，但是考虑到中国经济的不断增长及其中产阶层的崛起，很多公司认为它们必须在中国占有一席之地。
事实上，根据尼尔森媒体研究公司(Nielsen Media Research)今年的一份报告，中国大陆现在已经成为位居美国和日本之后的全球第三大广告市场。去年中国广告业增长2%，至将近人民币3,160亿元（合396亿美元）。在2005年，仅电视广告支出一项就增加了25%，至300亿美元左右。
但是，各家公司开始意识到中国消费者看电视习惯的变化，至少在年轻观众中是这样的。中国经济的发展使民众能够获得长期以来美国和欧洲消费者使用的各类设施，其中最大的一类就是电脑和手机。中国的网民数量现已排在美国之后位居全球第二。在中国，人们越来越多地使用个人电脑以及其他设施来获取新闻以及进行娱乐。这也就意味著人们观看电视的时间在不断减少。事实上，20至30多岁的职业人群──广告商觊觎的目标人群──在电脑前和电视前消磨时间的可能性不相上下。
正是上述变化促使广告商转向网络以及手机用户。网络和手机广告也成为寻求广告支出效用最大化的公司们最可能成功的新选择。
根据行业估测，互联网对商家来说仍然是一个崭新的市场，在中国广告总费用中仅有1%用于网上促销以及网络广告。但是随著摩托罗拉等更多公司不断推进网络市场营销的努力，这个比例会不断上升。
本月早些时候，摩托罗拉为推广其付费音乐下载以及手机铃声网站MotoMusic进行了一系列广告活动。这个网站只面向中国市场，并将充当增强摩托罗拉品牌的一个宣传工具。这也是一个成本相对较低的改变主要依赖于电视广告现状的新选择。
摩托罗拉市场营销主管伊恩?查普曼?班克斯(Ian Chapman-Banks)称，MotoMusic与苹果公司(Apple Inc.)的iTunes网上音乐服务类似，只不过它们没有iPod类的设施。令人充满希望的是，这个网站将有助于摩托罗拉在这个全球最大的手机市场上从风格上重新定位为值得拥有的迷人品牌。摩托罗拉称，在过去的五年中，它的中国市场占有率从50%下滑至21%。
查普曼?班克斯说，在中国，数字媒体市场营销费用比平面媒体以及电视媒体上的广告费用低约20%至40%。他还说，中国传统媒体广告费用不但很高，“而且每年还在以超过10%的速度上涨。”
其他公司也寄希望于这种以较低成本辐射到目标群体的“连环拳”策略。比如，可口可乐以及阿迪达斯(Adidas AG)利用在中国年轻消费者中流行的网络游戏来推广产品。
可口可乐在数千家网吧中张贴了以公司产品和备受欢迎的网络游戏《魔兽世界》(World of Warcraft)为内容的广告海报。
可口可乐发言人翟梅说，公司对互联网广告以及网络游戏进行了多样化投资以接触更多的中国年轻人。“毫无疑问，作为快速发展的全新媒介，互联网将为我们提供大量组织各种创新活动的机会和可能。”翟梅补充说，“建立一个网络社区是我们在接下来几年的长期发展计划。”
与此同时，德国运动鞋公司阿迪达斯雇佣动漫设计公司Dream Cortex专门为亚洲市场设计一款网络游戏，以充分利用今年赞助FIFA世界杯(World Cup)足球赛所产生的积极影响。消费者可以从阿迪达斯官方网站免费下载软件，或者从全亚洲任何一家阿迪达斯商店获得一张CD来下载。下载软件之后，用户可以创造一名虚拟足球运动员来玩各种与足球相关的游戏、在阿迪达斯网上商店购买运动服装以及在留言版区与其他用户聊天。
Dream Cortex的执行董事拿破仑?比格斯(Napoleon Biggs)说，目前最棒的一个玩家来自中国。自网站5月中旬推出的三周以来，他的登录时间已经超过了250个小时。Dream Cortex是总部设在香港的网炫(Outblaze Ltd.)的分公司。
阿迪达斯拒绝就它在互联网宣传方面所采取的措施发表评论。
那些仍然在电视等传统媒体支付大量营销费用的公司也在努力实现支出效用最大化，包括购买节目冠名权、在现场摆放产品以及联合赞助等。
以宝洁为例。继去年在《超级女生》（与美国流行选秀节目《美国偶像》(American Idol)类似的一个竞赛节目）获得巨大成功后，它现在赞助了多个真人秀电视节目，还投资近100万美元使剃须刀品牌吉列威锋(Gillette Vector)成为一个歌唱比赛的赞助品牌。另外，该公司还联合赞助了一个舞蹈比赛来推广卫生巾品牌护舒宝(Whisper)，同时还赞助了一个才艺表演节目以推广玉兰油(Olay)护肤系列产品。
行业高层管理人员说，虽然商家倾注了大量努力，但是中国的品牌忠诚度还比较低，因为中国消费者对价格比较敏感，价格变化很容易改变消费者的品牌取向。智威汤逊的媒体策划师拉坦?马利(Ratan Malli)说，在中国，市场主导品牌的占有率通常都低于10%。这与其他市场两位数的比例形成鲜明对比。
AC尼尔森(ACNielsen)的分析师Millette Tsai说，在中国，强劲的品牌并不多见。
另外，在中国，品牌认知度并不能带来更多销量。这个问题主要归咎于盗版。比如，大量消费者调查显示，微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)是中国最具认知度的品牌之一，但是据美国政府估测，中国使用的软件中约有90%是盗版的。
中国消费者对于North Face、Tods以及Tiffany等高端品牌都非常熟悉，而他们了解这些品牌的主要途径是中国市场上销售的仿冒品。这种现实状况迫使高端零售商Tiffany & Co.今年年初推出了中文网站，不过网站上所展示的商品都无法在中国网购。
Tiffany中文网站上贴出了告示提醒网站访客：在中国，只有从Tiffany专卖店内购买的产品才是真货。上海唯一一家Tiffany专卖店的经理荣薇（音）说，网站是为了提醒人们只有Tiffany专卖店里的产品才是真的。我们希望在中国扩大市场。
荣薇还补充说，中国现在有很多Tiffany的仿冒品。很多人拿著假冒产品来店里要求享受清洗服务……他们认为（这些仿冒品）是真的。
Mei Fong
