Competitive Landscape in China
Over the past few months, we have engaged in a number of great discussions on China’s digital marketing trends with leading experts.
Here we talked with China eCommerce Strategist and Partner at Kung Fu Data, James Eron.
How would you characterize the competitive landscape in China?
As competition in China has continued to intensify, there have been a lot of brands turning to ‘price competition.’ Trying to win on price is a dangerous to move - especially in China - where someone can always do it cheaper. Given this context, brands need to have solid strategies. Too many brands right now are ‘just winging it’ and have not done in depth reviews on where they are at, where they need to go.A large part of a winning strategy needs to include a close look at what a brand’s consumers (and consumers per category) are actually doing, where they are buying. There should be little reason for guesswork, given how much existing data there is per category.
How are specialist and DTC brands in China doing?
Everything is becoming long-tail in China. Chinese consumers - especially in hobby and passion areas - are actively looking for the expert brands in each category. DTC brands have also ridden this wave with highly informed Chinese consumers. DTC brands have packaged their offerings as products + content + service, in order to create value above and beyond a one-time product purchase.New marketing tactics are being used to connect with Chinese consumers of DTC and specialist brands. Global brands need to build authority in their categories (globally first) and find channels to connect with global Chinese travelers …and then, later, scale up a domestic effort inside China.
