Chinese Brands Dominate Ads In Local Market
Homegrown brands are dominating the Chinese advertising market, heavily outspending foreign consumer-goods giants on television and print ads, according to Nielsen Media Research Inc.
In terms of advertising spending in China, eight of the top-10 brands were Chinese last year, part of a trend that began five years ago when local companies began to pour more money into marketing and promotion. Olay, a Procter & Gamble skin-care brand, topped the list of ad spending in China, with a total of about 1.6 billion yuan ($193.3 million). The other foreign brand on the list, P&G's Rejoice shampoo, came in at No. 10.
The rest of the list, however, belongs to Chinese brands, such as Naobaijin, of Qingdao Jiante Biology Investment Holding Co. Ltd., on which 1.5 billion yuan were spent last year, according to the survey.
China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd., the country's main cellular-phone operator, came in at No. 5, with expenditures of 1.3 billion yuan.
The survey doesn't include other forms of advertising, such as point-of-sale promotions or outdoor billboards, nor does it account for discounts that advertisers routinely receive from media owners.
"Many of the foreign companies are far more focused in their advertising. A lot of their successes are kept kind of quiet," says Mark Kennedy, Hong Kong-based director of marketing for brand consultant Landor Associates. But he noted that many local brands are doing well because they have much more extensive distribution networks than foreign firms. Many are spending heavily because they "are trying to turn that distribution dominance into brand dominance."
The heavy spending by Chinese companies also has implications for international advertising agencies, which have piled into China to take advantage of its fast-growing consumer market. Most international ad firms still have more foreign clients than local ones in China.
China's total ad market is valued at more than $10 billion, according to Nielsen, and its figures for the first eight months of this year show growth of 35% more than the same period a year earlier.
本土品牌主导中国广告市场
据尼尔森媒体研究公司(Nielsen Media Research Inc.)称，本土品牌正在主导中国广告市场，他们在电视和平面媒体上的广告投入支出远远超过国外消费品巨头。
就在中国市场的广告支出而言，中国品牌在前10名中占据8席。5年前该趋势逐渐显现，当时本土公司开始对营销和推广投入巨资。宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co., PG, 又名:宝硷公司)旗下护肤品牌之一玉兰油(Olay)，排在中国市场广告支出榜首位，共投入人民币16亿元（1.933亿美元）。排行榜的另一外资品牌为宝洁公司的飘柔(Rejoice)洗发水，排名第10位。
然而根据该调查，排行榜中的其他品牌都是中国品牌，诸如青岛健特生物投资控股有限公司(Qingdao Jiante Biology Investment Holding Co. Ltd.)的脑白金，该品牌去年广告支出为人民币15亿元。国内主要移动电话运营商中国移动(香港)有限公司(China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd., CHL, 简称：中国移动)以人民币13亿元的广告支出排在第5位。
该调查没有包括诸如售点促销和户外广告牌等其他形式的广告投放，也没有考虑广告客户按常规从媒体公司获得的折扣。品牌咨询公司Landor Associates驻香港市场总监Mark Kennedy表示，许多国外公司的广告投放更为集中。他们的许多成功都来源于对细分市场的专注。但是，他指出许多当地品牌运营良好是因为相对于国外公司而言他们拥有更为广泛的分销网络。国内品牌在广告上投入巨资是因为他们试图将自己的产品由分销主导转为品牌主导。
中国公司的大量广告支出也影响了国际广告公司，他们涌入中国以期在中国快速发展的消费市场中分得一杯羹。大多数国际广告公司的国际客户依然多于中国本土客户，这意味著他们还未能从一些当地公司挥金如土的广告投入中占据完全优势。根据尼尔森媒体研究称，上次外资品牌称霸中国电视和平面媒体市场是在1998年期间。
据尼尔森称，整个中国广告市场价值逾100亿美元，今年前8个月该市场较上年同期增长35%。
