The first week back in January heralds a shift back to reality after Christmas, and usually comes with a whole raft of personal New Year’s Resolutions that may or may not be in ruins by March.
According to Statista data, the top three leading priorities for B2C marketers in Spring 2022 ahead of the New Year were engaging new audiences, digital transformation of their business, and ultimately increasing revenue.
We asked the Hot Pot China team to share some of their suggested New Year’s resolutions for businesses considering engaging new audiences in growth markets, in particular those looking at the opportunity of China in 2023. What can businesses do differently with China in 2023 to grow revenues?
What trends should they be aware of? How can they grow in new markets like China and amongst inbound Chinese around the world? Over to the Hot Pot team for their China specific New Year’s resolutions for brands:
Jonathan Travers-Smith, CEO
“Brands should focus on how to engage with modern Chinese consumers in a meaningful and authentic way. Deep insight and listening to local teams on the ground can bring exciting new angles to established brands, as well as cutting through the marketing noise that others have to wade through.
Back in February 2022, luxury designer Moncler showed they knew how to do this through their collaboration with designer Dingyun Zhang. They entrusted a capsule collection to a rising Chinese designer with a strong design aesthetic, generating meaningful localisation in a way that resonates locally. To do this takes great listening skills, cultural empathy and bold creative vision. These are the three areas that many global brands should be looking to strengthen and commit to in 2023.
Paul Hickey, Head of Brand Strategy
“As travel broadens in 2023, brands need to really get to grips with and understand the global context for Chinese consumers. According to Trip.com data, Chinese travel spending is set to increase to $420 Bn by 2025, signifying a strong recovery from Covid 19 lockdowns and lack of international movement.
Increased travel will bring increased touchpoints for luxury brands looking to tap into the Chinese consumer, both domestically across China and also internationally. Brands, in particular those with large and significant Chinese audience segments, need to think about how they ensure that these activations, be they digital platform or offline experiential, are brought to life in the right way”.
Chen Jin, Account Manager
“With China opening up and lifting the travel rules for inbound and outbound travellers, international retailers should be ready to welcome the Chinese travellers again.”
Travel and opening up is evidently a trend that our Hot Potters think should prompt a deliberateness amongst global brands, especially retailers (as Chen mentions) looking to leverage the travelling Chinese consumer, but it is increasingly important to take into account specificity when pursuing a strategy for China too.
Emma Milligan, Head of Client Services
“It's really important more so than ever that clients understand how China fits into their global ecosystem. With travel potentially on the horizon, once again Chinese consumers will view your brand within their global text. This means bringing the tastes & requirements of Chinese consumers upfront to the heart of global marketing and product planning, rather than treating it as its own entity”
Adam Doffman, Marketing Manager
Adam Doffman, Hot Pot’s Marketing Manager, builds on Emma’s theme of taking a tailored, specific approach in China, according to the drivers and barriers for your particular category:
“The scale of China is an overwhelming proposition for many B2C marketers, so much so that their ‘China strategy’ as they perceive it, is oftentimes limited to distribution in retail or on one of the major e-commerce platforms in 1 or 2 megacities like Shanghai or Shenzhen. My suggested resolution for marketers looking at optimising their China strategy in 2023 would be to consider taking an insight-driven approach to less conventionally coveted cities and regions as sources of growth. Sichuan cities like Chengdu, China’s new luxury capital, and Chongqing, which has the 5th highest GDP of all Chinese cities, are great examples to consider”
Yihu He, Account Manager
Yihu He, another superstar account manager at Hot Pot, has an optimistic tone with his resolution, and much like Emma who suggests a particular approach when engaging Chinese audiences in 2023.
“In 2023, brands should be more adventurous when entering the China market. I believe the post-covid China will present even a bigger opportunity for many new consumer brands that understand particular Chinese aesthetics/styles, like Mountaincore or Neo-Chinese styles, and philosophies from China. In the meantime, brands shouldn't be shy to play all kinds of tactics and games when activating campaign ideas. Good creative execution always impress the Chinese people”.
Adam Sandzer, Commercial Director
Whilst clearly there is reason to be cautious as we emerge from a global slump, Adam Sandzer, our Commercial Director, takes a typically upbeat view:
"In 2023, brands should have more optimism and less fear when it comes to China. The opportunity versus rest-of-world remains enormous and will only grow as the market opens up again and starts to 'live with COVID'. Winners just need to be smarter, faster and more adaptable than ever before. I am especially optimistic for brands that contribute to a healthy and active lifestyle - see our blogs on the Great Outdoors and the World Cup for more evidence of this”
Emma Lin, Commercial Manager
“2022 was a special year for China, with Chinese consumers spending more time than ever searching and exploring online. They are no longer afraid to express themselves, and in fact they are eager to demonstrate their personality and style through mix and match. Hence, heading into 2023 when the Chinese border is opening up, apart from applying celebrity/ influencer endorsement, global brands (established and niche) should really understand who their consumers, how they are discovering brands online and offline, and eventually connect with them genuinely by communicating the brand USP and DNA in these platforms”.
Did our marketing and e-commerce resolutions for growing your brand strike a chord? Put our New Year’s Resolution advice into practice, and take your marketing or ecommerce strategy in China to the next level. Get in touch with our team above at Nihao@hotpotchina.com to discuss your 2023 strategy for winning with China.