Par Ernie Tadla

Le lancement de Bora était le nouveau lancement de voiture le plus réussi dans l'histoire des véhicules à moteur de la Chine. FAW/VW n'a pas pu les faire assez rapidement.

Les Allemands, excédent blessant immobile n'obtenant pas leur agence de publicité, smarting vraiment parce que DMG n'était pas suivant leur politique globale pour la publicité et modèle et format de vente. Cependant, les ventes étaient phénoménales. VW a loué une société de Hong Kong de recherche de marché de monde-classe pour étudier la raison des résultats étonnants de lancement.

La conclusion : bien que DMG n'ait pas suivi la politique globale de VW, le marché a répondu parce que les Chinois réagissent à quelqu'un qui lance à eux la manière chinoise.

OK, maintenant pour le grand. À un moment où les ventes globales de voiture dans le reste du monde descendaient les tubes, VW a décidé de présenter le golf, le non. 1 voiture de vente sur le monde, vers la Chine, le marché croissant le plus rapide de la voiture du monde. Le marché en Chine connaissait 40%-50% augmentations d'annuaire.

Cette fois, VW et FAW ont demandé DMG pour faire le lancement de golf sans adjudication concurrentielle.

DMG pourrait voir que VW Allemagne a voulu consolider la son publicité et marketing en Chine avec une agence surveillée simple, qu'elle emploierait également pour les 2008 Jeux Olympiques. VW, qui était des Jeux Olympiques commanditaire, était grand temps allant en Chine et DMG voulu dedans en voyage.

It was crucial that the Golf launch be as outstanding as the Bora had been. It was viewed as a stepping-stone in Dan’s grand plan for his international marketing communications empire. In order to do that, he had to:

• maintain the guanxi of the FAW/DMG relationship

• make the Golf the best selling car in China as it was in the rest of the world

• get on the on-ramp for the selection of the single VW supervising agency, which would include DMG overseeing all the other 4A agencies serving FAW/GM business and the other VW cars being marketed in China

• get on the on-ramp for the selection for the contract for the events and PR management for the VW Olympic campaign

Dan needed an automotive executive with international and new model launch experience.

With an international headhunter search team, Dan found his man. He had a solid track record of automotive advertising agency leadership, of successful product launches and was CEO of a leading global 4A agency in North America.

The new man rolled up his sleeves and began producing papers, studies, strategies, marketing plans, etc. He worked hard, diligently, earnestly, and sincerely. He was personable and friendly.

He had also come over with the same set of perceptions and attitudes I had. I spent countless hours working, eating and relaxing with him, encouraging and coaching him to open his mind and accept the Chinese way.

In spite of my efforts, he didn’t change and continued thinking, acting and trying to sell cars like he had done in North America.

The Golf launch flopped.

After five months, he returned to North America.

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.

There are several reasons for the Golf flop. In the time between the Bora and Golf launch, the market had drastically changed.
• Several years of annual doubling of car sales had changed the automotive landscape
• Expansion and additional entry of more global players
• Existing manufacturers greatly expanded product variety and selection
• All the more it was necessary that the lead man be thinking and implementing the Chinese way, not the Western way.

DMG continued on, winning the creative account for VW’s first Chinese brand campaign over O&M, DDB, BBDO, Grey Global and Saatchi & Saatchi. In addition, VW gave DMG a four-year marketing contract for the 2008 Olympics.

So you ask, why, after the Golf flop, did DMG win those two large, prestigious contracts?

Guanxi and face.

If this had happened in North America, the ad agency would have been fired. But the Chinese way is to take the long view. It is normal and accepted that a business relationship goes through phases, but the Chinese focus on the long-term, on strengths, trust and respect.
They had known and worked with DMG for over ten years. They respected and trusted each other.

Ernie Tadla www.odysseychina.net

Next Week: Two Case Histories
• Microsoft in China
• Wal-Mart in China