The 8th annual Hurun 'Best of the Best' Awards ranks 2011's Top Ten Gifts for the Chinese Luxury Consumer 2012 "based on the choices of 503 Chinese millionaires interviewed face to face" and the Most Valuable Luxury Brands in the World "ranked by the dollar value of the brands."

But the findings of the luxury brand study from China's chronicle of the luxury market and "rapid changes amongst China’s high net worth individuals" is being rejected… by some of the very brands listed.Continue reading...

One of China's most popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Fantasy Westward Journey (梦幻西游 Mèng Huàn Xī Yóu) has a unique new ad out suggesting… a whole new Bin Laden conspiracy.Continue reading...

It appears homegrown China sportswear brand Li-Ning's ambitious great brand leap forward has failed. After summoning the willpower to expand its reach outside China, and engage in direct global battle with Nike, Li-Ning has again slipped back to offering competitively-priced products for a sensible athletics market.

The stumble leads the Financial Times to ask if there is a "bamboo ceiling that stops Chinese brands from becoming truly competitive even in their own market?" Yes, and that ceiling is China itself.Continue reading...

"Watching the Bird's Nest start to erupt was almost scary. The entire floor of National Stadium was filled with 2,008 drummers, all in silver robes trimmed in crimson. What did they portend? And would anyone still be able to hear after they were finished?"

That was the observation from Washington Post columnist Thomas Boswell about the opening ceremonies to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It seems such xenophobic fears turn out to have an upside. It seems the kind of brand loyalty and excitement American companies can only dream about from their own US consumers, Chinese customers posses in droves.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, Apple opened the first of its wildly popular retail meccas in Hong Kong. The opening caused a minor "riot," fueled in part by the 300-some new Apple store staff who were whipped into a frothy lather just before the doors were opened (top). Apple, formerly criticized for idling (somewhat) its China strategy, appears to be stomping on the accelerator.Continue reading...

Announced today at the World Economic Forum's Summer Davos conference in Dalian, China, Interbrand has released the top 50 brands making its 2011 Best China Brands ranking.

"Chinese brands area accumulating strength at home to actively prepare for future development overseas," commented Interbrand Global CEO Jez Frampton on the fourth annual ranking of the Chinese market. "We are already experiencing Chinese brands around the world, and will likely see one of the 2011 Best China Brands among the top 100 Best Global Brands in the near future."

China Mobile maintains top spot this year, while social media giant Tencent breaks into the top 10 for the first time, debuting at #7 following a 76% increase in its brand value in the past 12 months.

The financial services industry remains prominent this year, representing 19 of the top 50 brands (including seven of the top 10 positions).

Brands in the IT services were another fast-growing sector, showing an industry-wide 68% increase in brand value since the 2010 ranking, while fashion-forward apparel brands also broke through.

The sector showing the biggest decrease in brand value: China's food and beverage industry, which suffered a 25% in brand value in the past 12 months due to food safety issues.

Click here to read the 2011 Best China Brands report.

When it comes to China, they all look the same. Celebrity endorsements, that is.

That's the findings of a new report from Millward Brown with Ogilvy China, titled "Middle Kingdom’s Celebrities-to-be: Faceless People and Unsung Heroes – Imperatives for Celebrity Advertising in China."

It seems that the celebrity endorsement has become so popular in China that overlapping shilling is causing mass confusion.Continue reading...

China auto dealers are approaching slumping sales with aggressive marketing tactics. How aggressive? Well, at one VW China (大众汽车) showroom in the oil town of Daqing, in northern Heilongjiang province, dealers pulled out all the stops, and clothing, to attract buyer eyeballs.Continue reading...

We've already looked at how Nike is localizing "Just Do It"  for the China market with its 用运动 "Yong Yundong" "Use Sport" campaign. Now Adidas is punching the China market in the face, or at least offering Chinese the opportunity to get a few punches in using its own "yundong" tagline.

On the Shanghai subway platforms, Chinese commuters are encountering giant Adidas-branded punching bags which tell them they waste 1,824 minutes a year waiting for the train… so why not relieve some stress and take a punch? The invite might be quite attractive to riders of the packed Shanghai Metro system, which averages 5.2 million riders per day and set a one-day record of 7.5 million on October 22, 2010. It's certainly not as if the metro is punch-free anyway.Continue reading...