A western brand has a natural advantage in the Chinese market, as long as it is competing on quality and authenticity. Here are some industries where western brands in particular enjoy a large advantage over domestic competitors

1. The AdvantageWestern
in Chinese Branding

2. Chinese consumers see western
brands as products of quality
Most Chinese people
continue to associate
Western brands with
quality, and this confers
immediate advantages in
t e r m s o f b r a n d
perceptions, regardless of
how accurate they are.

3. The media message is that only
western Luxury brands make PINK
money in China

4. Organic Food
Education
Medical Technology
Wine
Home Furnishing
Tourism
In reality, the world’s biggest market is
hungry for all manner of western goods and
services. Here are some of the most popular:

5. Organic Food
“Organic regulation of
Chinese foods is a joke.”
- Dr. Axe, 07/13
The Chinese Organic Food Certification Center (COFCC) is supposedly in charge but only certifies about
30% of organic products. The rest are certified through third parties, private firms, individual
inspectors and international firms.
They report that food safety issues in China make organics a profitable market. Consumers are willing
to pay 300% more for organic asparagus, 10 timesmore for organic beef, and generally,
5-10 timesmore for all organic vegetables.
This explains why the Chinese organic market was worth 13.5 billion dollars in 2012, and is growing at
40% per year.

6. Northwest brand cherries from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and
Utah sold 155 tonson Tmall before they were picked.
!
Chinese consumers want the largest, sweetest cherries and they are
willing to pay for them.
!
“They (cost) three times
more per pound in China
than they do in the U.S.”

7. China represents an endless source of students for private high school for
college and university admission departments. According to the Chinese
Ministry of Education, the number of students from China studying abroad
was 450,000 in 2013, representing 15% growth over 2012, easily the
largest international student population in the world.
!
A combination of increasing wealth, as the nation rapidly transitions to a
knowledge-based economy, and the prestige of an overseas education, has
convinced a reported 90%of affluent Chinese parents that sending their
kids to an English-speaking country is worth the investment.
Education

8. Home
Furnishing
“China's furniture consumers
prefer international brands
due to their excellent design
and superior quality.”!
- Sina News, 02/09/13
"China's furniture market is
growing at over 25% average."
- HKTDC Research

9. "Ikea's China stores saw 43
million visits - driving up sales
by 17 percent."
- CCTV, 11/08/13

10. Medical
Technology
China’s health industry is taking off with the
economy, a nation-wide dearth of quality
clinics and health centers being addressed
with a boom in everything from plastic
surgery to veterinary care. Of course, only the
best will do.
Smart global players like Thermo-Fisher and
Hitachi spend copiously for advertising on
massive focused portals instrument.com.cn,
shown below, to drive significant revenue
growth for product lines such as confocal
microscopes and diagnostic testing kits.

12. Wine
After a long age of Socialist austerity, the Chinese
are turning to the finer things in life with a
vengeance. Wine is an upscale purchase that the
growing middle class can afford.
27 percent of wine sales in China last year were
made over the Internet. By contrast, online sales
accounted for only 8 to 10 percent of wines
purchased in Europe and just 2 percent in the
United States.
China is the largest red wine market in the world.
Tmall stores specializing in foreign wines are
proliferating.

14. Tourism
China will be the world’s largest outbound tourist market by the end
of 2015. The age of packaged tours is over, as savvy Chinese consumers
seek specialized, self-directed experiences in virtually every niche.
Tripadvisor has a viral Chinese version, Daodao.com

15. Focused social portals such as Mafengwo are a great way
to promote travel offerings for free, as well as advertise.

16. !
• Western organic, specialty food, home furnishing, travel, medical
technology, and education organizations have a natural advantage with
Chinese consumers.
!
• Whatever your industry, you can build a profitable niche by competing on
quality & authenticity.
!
• The rapidly evolving Chinese Internet is making promotion of your
organization more scalable and cost-effective than ever thought
possible.
Takeaways:

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