À la recherche pour l'essence de faire des affaires avec la Chine, Hong Kong parle historiquement un port logique d'appel. Dans ce CIT dynamiquey à une population de plus de 7 millions, nous nous associons à Daniël Ben-Ezra, directeur de médias des médias de Spotz. Décembre 2005, il ont divisé ses cravates et ont visé pour la Chine, armé avec une planète isolée de poche. Quels sont ses résultats jusqu'ici ? Peut-il confirmer les préjudices régnants au sujet du Chinois et des affaires de faire en Chine ? Ou dissipe-t-il une forme de désaccord culturel ?
L'appel d'affaires de la Chine, Hong Kong en particulier, est comme un chiffon rouge au Daniël énergique Ben-Ezra. Ceci l'a déjà mené dans une certaine force d'excursions De asiatique typique ; d'une réunion étape-contrôlée avec une majorité de intimidation de participants, pour nocer les concours potables aux dîners d'affaires. Cependant, selon lui, l'espace de corporation entre Hong Kong et l'Europe n'est pas celui énorme. « Naturellement il y a quelques différences. Les promesses sont plus faciles faites que nous tendons habituellement à faire. Et donc, ils sont de peu de valeur. Ceci pourrait être dû au fait que les Chinois, dans mon expérience, évitent des conflits. En conséquence ils sont rapides pour faire des promesses, même si ils ne comprennent pas vraiment ce que voulez dire vous. »
Hiérarchie
« Si vous comparez la manière européenne de faire des affaires à celle du Chinois, l'importance de la gestion de réseau en Chine est primordiale. D'ailleurs, des décisions sont invariablement prises au dessus de la pyramide. Il y a une hiérarchie forte. Par exemple, c'est une perte de temps parlant aux aides car ils ont peu ou pas d'autorité pour prendre des décisions. Les Chinois sont également très bureaucratiques, ils aiment le de service des joints, des signatures multiples et des copies des formes. »
To put it differently: managing to get in at top level, and not attaching too much value to promises; is that what defines the key to success in Asia? “Of course you should never generalise. To give an impression: even in a relatively small city like Hong Kong, there is a big difference among its inhabitants. Between ‘real’ locals, people born in Kowloon or the New Territories, and Island Chinese. Island Chinese are often American Born Chinese, referred to as ABCs. A local Hong Kong Chinese often speaks poor English, is in general not very assertive and has specific cultural habits. On the contrary, an American Born Chinese is usually very westernized in his take on the world. In addition the inhabitants of Hong Kong, in comparison to the inhabitants of other Chinese cities, are better educated and more sophisticated. Foreigners can easily get by using English in this Metropolis, whereas on the mainland being able to speak a little Chinese generally proves to be of value.”
Trends
Apart from the demographic diversity, there are of course similarities between mainland China and Hong Kong. “The Chinese are equally ambitious and keen to profit from the growth of their super power. The country is developing itself just like the former British colony, to western standards of lifestyle and income. That does not necessarily mean that Europe or the United States of America set the tone. For example Japanese fashion is very trendy and pop stars from South Korea are very popular.”
Essence
When it boils down to how to successfully position yourself between all the other budding trendsetters, Daniël Ben-Ezra is more than emphatic. “The Chinese business culture is hard, ambitious and networking is very important. That demands versatility, determination and an open-minded approach, alongside the willingness to learn and work hard: common sense really. If, on top of that, you are able to communicate clearly, be polite and show respect to others, doors will open, which otherwise would have remained firmly closed. In my opinion, that probably is the key to business success in China!”
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Spotz Media, founded by Daniël Ben-Ezra and three associates, is a communications agency with offices in Hong Kong and Rotterdam (www.spotzmedia.com). The twenty-three year old Daniël Ben-Ezra works in Hong Kong as Media Director. “Spotz Media links Asia and Europe with a diversified staff and wide-ranging experience on both continents. The advantage of this setup is that we can spot trends and new possibilities in one place and apply them in another, with or without slight modifications. As we are smaller than big multinationals in the field, we are often able to offer more personalized services. This regularly leads to unorthodox, successful and effective forms of advertising.”
An example of a successful Spotz Media campaign is one developed for Sol Beer. This brand was recently added to the Carlsberg portfolio, which called for a brand awareness and loyalty campaign. “Teams of models in bikini were despatched to the hottest nightlife venues to shoot Photoflyers (www.photoflyerasia.com). Lucky recipients of these Photoflyers automatically participated in a game to win a trip to Mexico. By text messaging unique codes, participants could find out immediately if they had won. The response rate of the campaign was enormous. To be continued?”
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Printer friendly version of the interview "China demands common sense."
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