Shaun Zügel ist der Gründer und der geschäftsführende Geschäftsführer der China Marktforschung-Gruppe (CMR), www.researchcmr.com. Er ist weit in den Zeitungen weltweit einschließlich BusinessWeek, der Harvard Geschäft Bericht, Forbes, Dow Jones' MarketWatch, TheStreet.com, Tageszeitung Geschäft des Investors, Finanzierung Asien, Wall Street Journal und Barron' S. veröffentlicht worden, geschrieben worden ungefähr und veranschlagen worden. Über seiner Dekade in China, hat er Hunderte Vermögen 500, SMEs unterstützt und spekulative Fonde stellen fest, wie man gut die wachsenden Gelegenheiten in China nutzt.

China Erfolg-Geschichten fragten ihn was Sie über das Tun des Geschäfts in China kennen müssen, besonders nach, wie man Ihre Produkte vermarktet.

Was ist die China Marktforschung-Gruppe?
Wir helfen Firmen, intelligentere Entscheidungen in China zu treffen, indem wir ihnen helfen, Strategien für Expansion zu entwickeln. Wir arbeiten mit Vermögen 500 Firmen und die SMEs, die ihnen helfen, erhalten umfassende Marktinformation und ihnen verklagbare Einzelteile und Strategien für Wachstum in China dann geben. Unsere Hauptkonkurrenten würden McKinsey sein, oder Bain zwar bringen uns wir als Prämie zu ihnen in Position. Der Hauptunterschied ist der wir leiten unsere eigene Forschung - uns nicht outsource, oder Kaufdaten wie die meisten Strategie Beratungsunternehmen - und wir die, Strategien dann auch zu entwickeln. Ich denke, daß es wichtig ist, daß die sich entwickelnden Strategien der Leute die auch sein sollten, welche die Forschung tun.

Das andere 50% unseres Einkommens kommt von helfenden spekulativen Fonden und private Billigkeit Unternehmen analysieren spezifische Firmen, indem sie Primärforschung leiten.

Was ist Ihr Verhältnis zu China?
I first arrived in China in 1997 and have been active here in a number of roles. Before starting CMR, I was the Chief of Research for the venture capital firm Inter-Asia Venture Management. I also served as the Country Head for the software company WebCT, before we sold it to Blackboard for $180 mil. USD. Furthermore I completed my graduate studies at Harvard on China’s economy, so I was here as a graduate student too conducting research.

In what way are Chinese markets different from western markets?
The Chinese markets are changing much quicker – both with regulations and with consumer consumption patterns than the US markets which are much more mature. In the US, consumers have been purchasing the same products for generations and can identify with certain brands. For instance, people buy Tiffany’s for weddings or use Tide to clean clothes in the US. In China, brands are just entering the market and have not built up their long-term brand positioning.

This leaves great opportunities for MNCs as China’s emerging 250 million strong middle class make it a major revenue generator for MNCs. China can no longer be seen as a cheap place to source – it now needs to factor into the growth plans for MNCs to actually sell into China.

In China, you can see advertisements with non-Chinese people in it, how does this affect the sales of the product or the brand in this type of advertisement?

Many MNCs have failed when they hire models or spokespeople that Chinese cannot relate to. You can have non-Chinese people in an ad, but the model must be someone that Chinese consumers can associate with or want to be like.

Clarins has done a terrible job in China by trying to sell male grooming products by having metrosexual and ethnically diverse models. The typical Chinese male just cannot associate with that image, so their sales have not been great here. On the opposite side is Biotherm by L’Oreal which has done a great job of utilizing Korean movie actors to position their male grooming products. Chinese view these stars as the epitome of masculinity.

What are the most common mistakes made by international companies in product marketing in China?
Too many companies take a short-sighted strategy when expanding in China and become too opportunistic and reactive when positioning their brands, rather than shaping the markets for the long-term. For instance, Buick originally positioned itself as a high-end car in China for business tycoons, that was on par with, or more expensive than, some BMWs and Mercedes. They sold well, but then noticed that the middle class wanted to buy cars too, so they watered down their brand and started selling cheap $10,000 USD cars under the same Buick label.

They confused the marketplace. No one knows what Buick stands for anymore and they will have a hard time going forward. Buick did not understand what their brand stood for and did not segment China’s consumer base well.

Are most marketing mistakes made by international companies made out of ignorance or a feeling of superiority, or something else?
A lot of MNCs fail, especially global #1 brands, because they are so successful outside of China they try to replicate what works in other developing regions. This is what happened to eBay – they did not listen to their local managers enough who advised to keep their global brand but also localize it enough. Companies need to keep their heritage but tweak it enough for local conditions.

What also happens is many companies simply do not hire the right talent to populate their China teams. They need to have people with China experience and track records and delegate to them enough authority to be flexible in certain situations. YUM brands is a great example of a fabulously run company in China. Their Pizza Hut chains made tons of money because they were able to localize their product. While low-brow in the US, Pizza Hut is upper-middle class in China.

How important are brands for Chinese people?
You are seeing Chinese becoming more and more brand loyal when brands fit their needs. Consumers are getting a lot more sophisticated too. Even just 5 years ago, Chinese consumers would buy the most expensive item like a Gucci bag just because it was the most expensive which they equated with quality. Now, we are seeing consumers starting to buy items to differentiate themselves from others and find they are more willing to consume to express their uniqueness.

Try to take away QQ – an instant messaging and online game provider – from a Chinese youth and you will see a very loyal and angry consumer.

A final word of advice for our readers?
Bottom-line is that you need to hire the right people for your China team and empower them to make decisions. China is changing so fast that you need to get people who understand how to react to the changes and take advantage of them. Of course, it does not hurt to get good market research.