中国公司正意识到品牌可以获利
WITH an increasingly sophisticated[老练的/精明的] and wealthy customer base, Chinese consumer-goods makers are starting to pay attention to brand-building. The smartest are moving beyond simple product ads to marketing an entire lifestyle. In an echo of Nike"s famous “Just do it” campaign, Li-Ning, the largest producer in China"s sportswear market, has just launched an advertising blitz[闪电战] under the mottos “Goodbye” and “Anything is possible”. Costing 15m yuan ($1.8m), eight times the company"s usual ad spend, it taps into the Chinese belief that they can safely wave goodbye to their hard lives of the past, and that the future is filled with unlimited opportunities.
在精明、富有的顾客群体日益增长的时候,中国的消费品制造商开始关注品牌建设。最聪明的方法就是从简单的产品广告转变为营销整个生活方式。李宁,中国运动服市场中最大的制造商,刚刚把一个广告词是“再见”和“一切皆有可能”的广告闪电投入市场,作为对Nike著名的“只管去做”活动的一个回音。此广告耗资1500万元(合180万美元),是该公司通常广告花费的8倍。它向中国人灌输一种信念,那就是他们确实可以向以往的艰难生活告别了,而未来正充满了无尽的机会。
One of those opportunities, if you ask Wilson Xu, Li-Ning"s marketing manager, is a new-found freedom to seek a more balanced[和谐] life. Putting it plainly, consumers should stop chasing academic and commercial success and get out more often to participate in more sport. Only around 15% of Chinese mainlanders aged 15-35 actively play a sport, compared with 50% in America. “Most Chinese people believe that success is about academic achievement and making money. They don''t care about their health,” says Mr Xu.
李宁的市场经理Wilson Xu说,机会之一就是新的寻求更和谐生活的自由。明白点说就是,消费者应该停止追逐学术和商业的成功,转而更多地走向户外参加更多的体育运动。在中国大陆15-35岁之间的人只有15%左右积极参与一项体育运动,而美国则有50%。“大多数中国人认为成功就是学术成就和赚钱。他们不关心自己的健康。”徐先生说。
The sophisticated ads, which feature ordinary people overcoming failure (one shows a boy who smiles despite hurting his hand skateboarding; another a girl kick-boxing and then a shot of her bandaged knuckles[关节]), are supposed to puncture the self-consciousness that keeps many Chinese on the sidelines unless they are already good at a given activity, says Kelvin Cheng, managing director of Leo Burnett Beijing, the agency behind the campaign. Mr Cheng says that the style is a new way of advertising for Chinese companies, which usually sell on price alone.
北京Leo Burnett 公司的常务董事,这项商业活动背后的代理,Kelvin Cheng说,特写普通人战胜失败的巧妙的广告(一个广告表现了一个男孩尽管手被溜冰板弄伤仍旧微笑,另一个是一个女孩在搏击,然后是她的一个缠着绷带的关节的特写),这些广告被期望用来打破人们的自我意识。这种自我意识让很多中国人只是旁观,除非他们已经在特定的活动上有所成绩。Cheng 先生说这种风格对惯常以价格取胜的中国公司来说是一种新的方式。
Of course, appealing to a new fad for spiritual well-being and for sports ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is also a good way to get modern Chinese consumers to part with their money. After years of focusing on cheap prices, Li-Ning, like many Chinese companies, has spent the past two years learning that branding pays. The company is investing around 10% of its 1 billion yuan revenues in marketing, compared with 5% two years ago, and the proportion is due to grow.
当然,吸引人们追求精神上的康乐和2008北京奥运会前运动这种新时尚也是让中国时髦的消费者掏钱的一种好方法。李宁,在多年集中精力于低价战略后,像很多中国公司一样,最近两年开始学到品牌是有价值的。该公司把它10亿元销售收入的10%左右做为投资,而在两年前是5%,这个比例还会增长。
That investment, which includes hiring a foreign ad agency, has enabled Li-Ning to hold on to its leadership despite the encroachment of foreign firms. Li-Ning leads both America"s Nike, which has about 800m yuan in sales in mainland China, and Germany"s Adidas. The prospect of the Olympics is helping to expand the market by more than 25% a year. Mr Xu reckons the new branding campaign should enable Li-Ning to double the retail prices of its most expensive products (shoes) to around 1,000 yuan in a few years, roughly what Nike"s most expensive shoes cost now.
那项投资,包含雇佣一个外籍广告代理,让李宁在外国企业的入侵之势下仍能保持领导地位。李宁超过了每年在中国大陆销售额达到8亿元的美国的Nike和德国的Adidas。奥运会将有助于每年扩大市场25%。Xu 先生估计新的品牌竞争会让李宁最贵的产品(鞋子)的零售价格在几年内翻番,达到1000元左右,这大约是Nike现在最贵的鞋子的价格。
Will Chinese consumers continue to choose a home-grown brand over a glamorous foreign one such as Nike, which uses sports celebrities with global appeal to endorse its products? As China gains in self-confidence, they might. And Li-Ning understands the danger of relying too much on celebrities. Its founder was Li Ning, who won three gold medals for gymnastics in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, but is now regarded as a bit passé by younger consumers. Mr Li"s days as a sporting hero may be over, but his brand may yet bring more glory.
中国消费者会继续选择本土品牌,而不选择像Nike--依靠全世界吸引的体育名气来证明它的产品--那样的外国魅力品牌吗?像中国赢得自信一样,他们也许会。而且李宁也意识到太过依赖名气的危险。它的创建人是李宁,他曾在1984年洛杉矶奥运会上赢得3枚体操金牌,但是现在却被年轻一点的消费者认为是有一点过时。李先生作为一个体育英雄的时代也许已经过去,但是它的品牌却可以带来更多的荣誉。