As rumors swirl that Google will pull up its Google.cn stakes in China by the end of March, it’s far from the end of the line for the company here. Google is still confident about the expansion of many of its other products, with Google CFO Patrick Pichette commenting that he expected sales of Android, the company’s handset platform, to “flourish.”

China Unicom, one of the country’s largest telecom service providers, has already agreed to sell Android handsets, according to Mike Harvey in The Times Online.Continue reading...

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...

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...

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...

The Chinese government is finally acknowledging that the phrase "Made in China" has regained many of its one-time negative connotations. Many Chinese brands have earned their poor perception: Consumers in the US and elsewhere have heard alarming reports of Chinese-made products scandalized by poor quality and deadly oversights. These have included everyday products like pet food, toys, and milk. and the bad publicity has done nothing but damage to the country's image.

So China has launched a new television ad campaign. Seen first in Asia, the campaign is now airing in the US, and features products with the "Made in China" label -- with an international twist. Each "Made in China" example highlights Chinese manufacturers' collaboration with other countries. For example, MP3 players are shown with the phrase, "Made in China with software from Silicon Valley." Clothing carries the label "Made in China with French designers."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...

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...

Sotheby’s and Christie’s Hong Kong auction houses are enjoying roaring sales in art, expensive jewelry and fine wines. Luxury companies that pander to the super-wealthy, such as yacht and custom-made luxury car makers, are also experiencing increases in sales in China.

The New York Times notes that China's rich are splashing the cash despite the recession:

In December 2008, when the credit squeeze set off by the collapse of Lehman Brothers was at its most severe, Christie’s raised $33.5 million at its jewelry sale in Hong Kong, more than at any of the other jewelry auctions it held elsewhere that season.

China’s wealthy have cash to burn, and want others to know it. For a wealthy Chinese buyer, a product's quality matters less than how much it cost.Continue reading...

Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who knows you.

Google, in an attempt to win over one billion Chinese customers, has weathered accusations of spreading everything from rumors to smut, and even agreed to block access to sensitive sites. However, the “don't be evil” brand is losing to its main competitor in China, Baidu Inc.

Why? Because the average Chinese person doesn’t know what Google is. Observes the LA Times's David Pierson: 

Google, a leader in innovation, may be the search engine of choice for China's elite. But two-thirds of the country's 340 million Internet users are young and not college-educated. Many of them are drawn to Baidu's easy access on its home page to pirated songs and online message forums, neither of which are quite so easy to find with Google.

Though Google may have fallen behind in China's search game, it can still succeed in other categories, like wireless. Linking up with China Mobile Ltd, China’s largest service provider, to sell handsets with Google Android operating systems is a prudent move.Continue reading...