The Plight of Made in China

The Lack of Branding

Celebrity Talk

“Why is the product quality the same as overseas, but consumer perception so poor? Because our country’s level of manufacturing and development does not reach a high level of credit with foreign consumers.” –Huang 2019

WARC Report

-Causal Factors
1. Chinese firms did not have the long and deep history of brand strategy and brand management
2. The absence of a competitive context for most of the top Chinese companies, such as China Mobile or Bank of China, which were or had been owned by the state.
3. Most top managers in China are not trained in marketing and are more focused on operations, costs, and delivering functional benefits.
-Misunderstanding
Chinese marketers believe that the uniqueness of Chinese culture gives Chinese brands an overseas competitive advantage and that foreign consumers are interested in branded communications celebrating the growth of the Chinese economy.

Thoery Guidance

Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association).
“Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand” (Kotler & Keller, 2015)
According to Marion (2022),branding can be achieved through:
1. Brand definition: purpose, values, promise

2. Brand positioning statement

3. Brand identity: name, tone of voice, visual identity design (which includes the logo design, color palette, typographies…)

4. Advertising and communications: TV, radio, magazines, outdoor ads, website, mobile apps…

5. Sponsoring and partnerships

6. Product and packaging design

7. In-store experience

8. Workspace experience and management style

9. Customer service

10. Pricing strategy

Reference

1. China lacks brand instincts(2013), WARC[Website], Available at:https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/china-lacks-brand-instincts/31503 (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
2. Branding(2023), American Marketing Association[Webiste], Avaiable at: https://www.ama.org/topics/branding/page/41/ (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
   Holistic Marketing: A Broad, Integrated Perspective to Marketing
3. Management(Kevin Lane Keller & Philip Kotler 2006), Does Marketing Need Reform?: Fresh Perspectives on the Future[E-book] Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315705118-48/holistic-marketing-broad-integrated-perspective-marketing-management-kevin-lane-keller-philip-kotler (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
4. What is branding? (Marion 2022), The Branding Journal[Website], Available at: https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2015/10/what-is-branding-definition/ (Accessed on 4th May 2023)