Not everything important in Canada this week is happening in Vancouver. So we take this break from the exciting 2010 Winter Olympics to report on something even more vital to the nation's well being: its fisheries industry. Canada's flailing fisheries industry – a staple of the country's sagging east coast economy – is now looking to China to provide a much-needed financial boost.

In the wake of falling lobster prices and an upcoming seal meat ban in Europe, the Canadian government is considering earmarking CDN $6 million in federal bailout money to promote lobster and seal to the Chinese market. This comes at a time when food safety concerns in China have Chinese consumers willing to spend more for quality food and peace of mind.Continue reading...

What happens when the producers of knock-off products become so adept at manufacturing that they become, well, legitimate?

The Financial Times reports this is exactly what is happening in the knock-off cell phone industry – in China, unsurprisingly. In fact, “bandit” phone makers are becoming increasingly worried about customer satisfaction, quality, and how their imitation brands are perceived.

“We are legitimate handset makers now. We are building our own brand,” explains Jin Hongxiang, president of SOP, the parent company of “bandit” electronics brand Xinghuabao. “Chinese handsets have a very bad reputation in export markets. We are expanding upstream to have more control over the quality of our components.”Continue reading...

China has pulled the smash hit Avatar from screens around the country while the film was at its peak of popularity. The move came just two weeks after the film was released, when there were still long lines for tickets to showings that sold out almost as soon as they went on sale.

Speculation abounds as to why China's film authorities nixed this flick – and the reasons provide a valuable example for anyone planning a product or marketing launch in the nation of 1.3 billion people.Continue reading...

Detroit production may be in the doldrums, but GM is riding high on the streets of China’s major cities. According to Russell Flannery in Forbes.com:

"Auto sales for GM and its joint venture partners in China climbed by 66.9% last year to a record 1.8 million vehicles, GM announced. Led by sales of its Buick, Chevrolet and Wuling models, the company boasted a 13.4% share of China's auto market, up by 1.3 percentage points from last year and also a record for the company."

China’s hunger for driving on the open road is a boon for international car manufacturers as worldwide sales continue to suffer from the effects of the global financial crisis. But this presents a marketing challenge for GM and other brands that hope to cash in on China’s car boom.Continue reading...

Beijing-based Internet search engine Baidu has not only run Google out of town, but it is also taking the plunge into the online video market. The company plans to launch a subsidiary company that will run a website hosting free, high-quality licensed television shows, movies, and other video content. While no tentative launch date has been announced, it is known that the future site will run on ads, following a similar structure to the American Hulu.com. Given China's relaxed attitude towards intellectual property laws and the many already-existing file sharing services that host a plethora of both licensed and unlicensed video content, the question that comes to most people’s minds is “why?” Continue reading...

Google shocked the world this morning with its threat to pull out of China after an investigation revealed that malicious cyber attacks originating from the country were targeting Chinese human-rights activists' Gmail accounts.

According to official releases and Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond’s blog post, the move was made because the attacks violate the company’s “do no evil” motto—an example of Google’s altruistic brand trumping corporate greed.

And yet, while the decision certainly aligns with Google’s brand message, its decision to pull out of China isn’t as simple as it first appears.  It is in fact, a brilliant spin on a tough decision that would have taken place at some point in the future anyway.Continue reading...

China's online gaming community is an untapped advertising and branding goldmine -- the country boasts the largest number of gamers in the world. Yet, despite the millions of online gamers in China, brand owners have not been able to successfully exploit the full potential of this lucrative demographic, reports Media Asia.

Though aloof, this market is not inaccessible. InGameAd Interactive, for example, implemented a marketing campaign for condom maker Jissbon by utilizing a discreet but deliberate approach to Chinese gamers. Jissbon condoms were packaged with an online game and sold at stores around Shanghai. The pairing quelled any social stigma or anxiety people might feel regarding the outright purchase of condoms. Says Steven Hu, CEO of InGameAd Interactive:

"Buyers could say to themselves, ‘Hey, I’m buying this gaming disc'... This [strategy] helped the brand achieve a huge differentiation in consumers’ eyes, and sales nearly doubled during the campaign.”Continue reading...

Mercedes-Benz recently paid $75 million for the rights to feature its moniker on a new, 18,000-seat arena in Shanghai for the next decade, reports the New York Times.

Of course, in Western countries and other markets such as Japan, sports venues donning corporate names is a common sight. But not in China, notes The Times, where buildings are more likely to bear utilitarian names sans corporate additions.Continue reading...

When it comes to cosmetics in China, the proof is in the packaging.

Domestic Chinese companies are increasing their prices to compete with foreign brands, but are not upgrading their products -- just beautifying the packaging. The beauty business is booming in China's urban centers, where cosmetics are considered an affordable luxury item by both male and female white collar workers.

Luxury brands such as L'Oreal, Chanel, Clinique, and Shiseido have effectively billed themselves as passports to beauty for millions of young urbanites with money to spend and a taste for fashion. The market has traditionally been dominated by foreign brands. However, now Chinese companies are catching on to the power of packaging. Yutaka Matsui, executive vice president of Inoac Packaging, told Plastics News:

"One year ago a lot of Chinese companies came to my booth and said ‘We like the packaging but it is too expensive. (But now) they see the foreign brands selling for a lot more in China… (and) they want to sell for higher prices. One easy thing is more gorgeous packaging.”Continue reading...

No Chinese television station reaches more people than China Central Television (CCTV). From the far western mountains, to the humid southern provinces, to the rich eastern seaboard, every Zhou, Li, and Wang with a television watches CCTV.

CCTV’s annual ad auction serves as a "broad barometer of the Chinese economy and an indicator of the health of the country's consumer sector," reports the Wall Street Journal. CCTV’s recent auction saw ad sales soar 18.5% above last year's tally. The first bid went to liquor producer Sichuan Lang Jiu for a cool 33.3 million yuan (just over $4.8 million) for a slot in a program linked to the World Cup.Continue reading...

A five-part Global Post investigation charges big-name brands like Apple and Microsoft with sourcing from exploitative factories in Asia guilty of human rights and work safety offenses. But do consumers even care?

Sweatshop scandals make for eye-catching headlines, but seem to have little impact on a company's image or bottom line. Consumers are able to compartmentalize their own priorities the far-off needs of strangers.Continue reading...

Chinese consumers just can't get enough of American brands, according to CBS News. But as a resident of China, I disagree.

Certainly many brands, especially luxury brands, are relying on China to bolster sales numbers amidst dismal international earnings. But where is there actual evidence that Chinese consumers are specifically choosing American brands over others?

There are more Benzes on Beijing streets than Buicks, more Gucci sales than Coach, and hip kids are just as likely to be wearing Japanese designer BAPE hoodies as Nike kicks. China has a thirst for brands, period.

Where the brand comes from isn't as relevant as its reputation, and in this sense, the Chinese market is a very international one. There's no denying that certain American brands are doing a very brisk business here. Cosmetics giant Mary Kay is good example of the possibilities of branding hitting the bullseye.Continue reading...

Walt Disney Co. execs hope to cast a spell over China, but they're going to have to use more than just fairy dust to do it. The Chinese government recently cleared the American cultural giant to build a theme park in China's richest city, the first foray for Disney onto the Chinese mainland.

Though getting permission to build in Shanghai is a step forward, it doesn't guarantee a happy ending for Mickey and crew. Shanghai Daily reports that Disney's biggest competitiors aren't exactly worried about potential competition:

"We are (sic) born here and grew up here, and we know what the Chinese people want," said Ren Kelei, president of Happy Valley, the newest and biggest of Shanghai's theme parks.Continue reading...

Yahoo is learning, the hard way, that marriages of convenience are often more difficult than they first appear. Earlier this month the company made a telling announcement: its global “It’s You” campaign would skip China completely.

Why? Because Yahoo China isn’t run by Yahoo. It’s run by the Chinese Alibaba Group (AG), a deal Yahoo struck to get into the Chinese market by giving Alibaba full control over Yahoo China, in exchange for a $1 billion, 39% investment in AG.

So Yahoo has no real control over its brand in China, and this is proving dangerous. The China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center put Yahoo on its list of sites featuring “vulgar content,” blaming a user-generated section of the site.Continue reading...

Chinese Internet search engine giant Baidu is updating its image with a slick new TV and online ad that portrays the company as the key for users to unlock their future potential. The first corporate ad for Baidu since 2005, the 48-second spot follows the launch last August of the company’s Kuangjisuan, or box computing search platform.

What’s most notable is not that Baidu wants to update its corporate image -- or that it waited five years to do so -- it’s how it’s doing it. The ad depicts users finding a bright future with the click of a button on its search engine, using images that have a dreamy, artistic quality.

Selling images of personal aspirations rather than the product itself is a marketing tactic so well-established overseas that it’s seen as strange when it isn’t employed. But for China’s nascent advertising industry, rushing to catch up to international standards, this type of corporate branding is still a new and underused tool.Continue reading...