China Speakers Bureau: June 2009

Organizing CSR-mart 2009 - Rupert Hoogewerf

CHONGQING, CHINA - JUNE 16: Rupert Hoogewerf ...

Rupert Hoogewerf by Getty Images via Daylife

Today the Hurun Report from Rupert Hoogewerf and Ammado organized the first CSR-mart in Shanghai, both organization announced in a press release. Hurun or Rupert Hoogewerf was one of the people giving an opening speech.

"The Wenchuan Earthquake has been a turning point for CSR in China," says Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO of Hurun Report. "Brands realise now the value of a good CSR programme, not because it is a nice thing to do, but because it is good for their business."

Senior decision makers from 56 companies, charities and social ventures participated in the event. During the day each participant was given up to twelve 20 minute meetings, giving them the opportunity to discuss partnership opportunities, share experiences and identify possible synergies. Participants included Baidu, Wal-mart, HSBC, Citibank, Tiffany, Clearworld Energy, WWF, Amity Foundation, Narada Foundation, Roots & Shoots, Surmang / Amara, FCA.

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Rupert Hoogewerf is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your conference, do get in touch.

Chinese brands take off at home - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf by Getty Images via Daylife

Soft drink Wanglaoji from Guangdong tops the fourth Hurun list of Most Valuable Brands with an estimated USD 540 million of value, writes CCTV on their website. List composer Rupert Hoogewerf, who expanded the list from 50 to 100 Chinese brands, sees that branding is taking off in China, competing with foreign brands on their own territory.

"Homegrown Chinese brands are beginning to take on a life of their own, despite their lack of international recognition," said Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO of Hurun Report. "It is becoming harder for international brands to make waves in China," he said.

Some industries are doing better than others on the list, writes CCTV:

Financial services, tobacco and alcohol are the most valuable industries for homegrown Chinese brands. China Mobile tops the brands list for the third year running with a brand value of $29.3 billion, followed by four financial service brands, ICBC, CCB, Bank of China and China Life.

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Rupert Hoogewerf is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you want him at your conference, do get in touch.

Open letter to net nanny and CCTV - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

Annoyed by yet another effort to block parts of the internet - this time including Google - Beijing-based internet entrepreneur Jeremy Goldkorn wrote on his website Danwei to net nanny, name for the collective Chinese efforts to censor the internet, and the country's leading TV channel CCTV.
After spelling out what he likes about China:

You are making Chinese people look like children on the world stage.

You are bringing shame to the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese Communist Party.

Whoever made this decision, you have lost face for the Chinese people.

Sending our June 2009 newsletter

Microsoft advertises China Business Day, sprin...

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We have just launched our June 2009 newsletter including details about Zhang Lijia's trips to Europe and the US. Also an overview of the waves our speakers made in the mainstream media in the past four weeks. You can read the China Speakers Bureau newsletter also here.

China's rich did not change life style - Rupert Hoogewerf

Rupert Hoogewerf

China has avoided most of the credit crunch and its rich has not dramatically changed their life style, says Rupert Hoogewerf, author of the Hurun report and tracking China's rich for over a decade in an interview. His research shows that life has remained the same for 82 percent of the people on his list.
Hoogewerf's profile of China's rich:

The average mainland Chinese millionaire is 39 years old. The average mainlander with $10 million is 43, and the average mainlander with $100 million is 49. This makes China's richest 10 to 15 years younger than their Western counterparts. They have a special affinity for international luxury brands, especially European brands. If a Chinese person has built a successful business, the first thing they reward themselves with is a luxury watch, then a luxury car; after that comes all the rest.

What does this mean for brands targeting China?

Luxury brands looking to break into the China market need to have a good partner. If you try coming in on your own in the retail industry, it is very hard to make things happen. You also need to be sure of your brand positioning and pricing; many brands arriving in China sell more expensively than back home.

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Rupert Hoogewerf is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him at your conference, do get in touch.

China: No longer a big story - Paul French

Paul French by Fantake via Flickr

Danwei's Jeremy Goldkorn sits down with the author Paul French to discuss his latest book on foreign correspondents in China, Through the Looking Glass: China's Foreign Journalists from Opium Wars to Mao. Why did he stop in 1950, is one of the obvious questions. Because China is not longer a big story, compared to those times, explains Paul French. "Trade conflicts are a bit different than the Opium Wars."

Danwei Interview with Paul French from danwei on Vimeo.

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Image by Fantake via Flickr

Both Paul French and Jeremy Goldkorn are speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having one of them - or both - at your conference, please get in touch.

Life is much more free now - Zhang Lijia

Celebrity author Zhang Lijia joined recently in Perth, Australia a BBC-show and explained how her life and change had changed. "Life is much freer now."

Celebrity author to visit United States - Zhang Lijia

Image by Fantake via Flickr

Celebrity author Zhang Lijia is mostly based in Beijing, but this year she has a busy travelling schedule. After a trip to Switzerland (June 23-July 13), she will be visiting also the Netherlands, Belgium and London (19-25 July). In September, October and November she will be staying in the US to participate in an international writing program at the University of Iowa, funded by the US department of state, for a small selection of very promising authors.
Recently she has been interviewed for a BBC documentary that will be available soon.
Zhang Lijia organized in May 1989 as a worker demonstration in her city Nanjing, taught herself English, studied in the UK and is now fast becoming an established author. Her book "Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China is currently being translated in a wide range of languages.
Her longer stay in the US makes it easier for her American fans and readers to meet with her. If you are interested in inviting her, do get in touch with the China Speakers Bureau.

Twitter helps - Marc van der Chijs

Marc van der Chijs by Fantake via Flickr

How should companies deal with new media like twitter? Twitter supremo Marc van der Chijs of the Spil Games in China taught Dutch airline KLM last month for free how to do that. The Dutch Daily Het Parool (here in a translations from the Dutch)used the incident to educate its corporate readers.

After Marc van der Chijs, for the Dutch game company Spil Games in China is, earlier this month his frustration on an infernal booking with airline KLM of twitterde away, something remarkable happened. KLM began Van der Chijs' twitter account to follow.

Remarkable still was that Van der Chijs suddenly the next KLM flight unsolicited been proved against economy to business class.''Coincidence? twitterde it then,''probably not.''He has been invited for an interview with a KLM representative.

The KLM was already experimenting with Twitter, but the exchange with Van der Chijs shows how they both created a win-win situation.

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Marc van der Chijs is a successful entrepreneur, based in Shanghai and a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in hearing his views at your conference, do get in touch.

Most-sought speakers for June 2009

Kaiser Kuo by Fantake via Flickr

How do I get into the picture? Every month after publishing our monthly top-10 most-sought speakers some of the few hundred who did not make it to the list wonder themselves what they can do to improve their ranking. There is only one advice we can give them: beat the drum. Make sure that people notice you. We as a speakers' bureau can help the process in getting assignments and dealing with them, but we can only support professional speakers, we cannot make them.
That does not always mean you need to get into the mainstream media, as our fastest climber of this week Warren Liu at the 7th position shows. He wrote a bestselling book on KFC in China and that in itself can push a career. But getting into the mainstream media helps, as our number one Shaun Rein shows. He started this month a commentary in Forbes, after having been a regular contributer to CNBC and Business Week. Kaiser Kuo just checked in from a World Economic Forum activity in Seoul this week, while Zhang Lijia is preparing her next month's trip to Europe to promote her book "Socialism is Great". Paul French published this

William Bao Bean by Fantake via Flickr

month his new book on foreign correspondents in China.
Sam Flemming just arrived in London for a set of public engagements and Arthur Kroeber had some great contribution in his weblog at the Financial Times. See, that really helps. Then, the list for June 2009 (between bracket the rank for May.). More links to our speakers in the media, you find in our speakers corner.

Shaun Rein (1)
Kaiser Kuo (5)
Zhang Lijia (2)
William Bao Bean (6)
Paul French (10)
Arthur Kroeber (4)
Warren Liu (-)
Victor Shih (3)
Sam Flemming (4)
Janet Carmosky (-)
Janet Carmosky by Fantake via Flickr

Why most M&A deals end up badly - Shaun Rein

The Las Vegas Strip World of Coca-Cola museum ...

Image via Wikipedia

Seventy percent of the M&A deals end up badly for the shareholders, research from his Shanghai company CMR group has shown, writes Shaun Rein today in Forbes.

Too often companies put together matches that look great on paper but are fraught with management and structural problems that end up turning them into busts. Sometimes, of course, acquisitions can be great. Clorox's purchase of Burt's Bees has been very beneficial, giving the buyer a strong new product line positioned outside of its traditional areas. But such experiences are the exception, not the rule.

Differences in cultures are often underestimate, Rein says, also when they come from the same countries, like the Bank of America's purchase of Merrill Lynch shows. But when the differences grow, so does potential trouble. Sometimes organic growth is better than acquisition, like in the case of Coca Cola and Huiyuan:

Coke obviously knows how to develop new products and market them effectively. It did so with the Chinese launch of Coke Zero. Rather than pursuing Huiyuan and wasting valuable time, Coke should have been aggressively expanding the presence of its Minute Maid brand. Instead it left the door open for PepsiCo's ( PEP - news - people ) Tropicana, which has come on strong in the last year. Pursuing a merger or acquisition too often wastes too many resources all allocated the wrong way. Companies lose time they will never recover.

Commercial Shaun Rein is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you want to share his ins

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

ights, please let us know.

Marketing in the digital universe - Tom Doctoroff

Tom Doctoroff by Fantake via Flickr

Marketing guru Tom Doctoroff will give members and other visitors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai a lively introduction into digital marketing and the way to reach China's youngsters. From the invitation:

Chinese youth are intoxicated by a new digital universe. However, their relationship with all things digital is dramatically different from their Western counterparts. Chinese youth maintain a more functional relationship with technologies like the web and their mobile phones while Western youth maintain a deep emotional engagement with the technologies they use. The shape of the Chinese digital universe reflects not only new outlets for "release" and "self-expression" but eternal Chinese cultural imperatives rooted in an individual's relationship with society and craving for acknowledgement.

AmCham Shanghai invites you to attend a lively, case study-filled presentation on the science of digital media featuring Tom Doctoroff, Area Director of North Asia and CEO of JWT Greater China, on June 24 at the Four Seasons Hotel. Doctoroff will discuss why only a few brands today have started to harness the emotional power of the digital universe, and will take you on a journey through the world of new media and uncover means of deepening bonds with young Chinese who are pulled between a polarized desire to "fit in" and "stand out."

You can RSVP for the meeting here.

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Tom Doctoroff is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you need him at your meeting or conference, do let us know.

Profit China's music industry stops at ringtones - William Bao Bean

William Bao Bean by Fantake via Flickr

The global music industry hopes to tap into the revenue streams in Asia, writes the Hollywood Reporter, But VC William Bao Bean does not give them a lot of hope to make a buck in China as the country has no tradition of paying for the usage of music products. The Hollywood Reporter:

While the Chinese music market appears to be vast, one speaker estimated that nearly 100% of online consumption is unlicensed. William Bao Bean, partner at the Softbank China & India fund, described a China market financially dominated by caller ringback tones -- the music clips that mobile subscribers use to entertain their callers before they pick up. That market, in turn, is dominated by China Mobile and a handful of wireless service providers, with very little revenue trickling back to music labels and artists, though 3G services and new competition from rival carriers could improve the outlook for service providers.

"Paid download and streaming models will die in China, if they haven't already done so," Bao Bean said, though he also pointed to the curiosity of an enduring physical disc market in China. That he explained by suggesting China's car-driving population is not yet used to plugging in MP3 players.

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William Bao Bean is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him at your event, do get in touch.

Zhang Lijia to visit Amsterdam

Zhang Lijia by Fantake via Flickr

The famous Chinese journalist and author Zhang Lijia will visit Belgium and the Netherlands (especially Amsterdam) for a short visit. Her groundbreaking book ""Socialism Is Great!": A Worker's Memoir of the New China has just appeared in Dutch. She will be in Amsterdam from 14 till 17 June July and if you are interested in meeting her, do get in touch with the Europe office of the China Speakers Bureau.

Correction: made a nasty mistake, its July not June

State has to loosen ties on economy - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber by Fantake via Flickr

Only by loosening the ties for private companies, who are in an disadvantaged position compared to state-owned enterprises, China can keep an economic growth of annually 8 percent, Arthur Kroeber explains in The Telegraph from the UK.

Faced with a decline in export demand for the foreseeable future, China must take difficult steps to create a new, private-sector dynamism in its still heavily state-controlled economy, concluded Arthur Kroeber of the Beijing-based Dragonomics consultancy.

“If China wants to maintain its 8pc GDP growth there needs to be a replacement found for the productivity growth that has been lost in the export sector.

“Ultimately what this will require is a deregulation of the service sector and significant reform in a financial sector that is set up to reward capital expenditure and heavy industry but does not serve the private sector or private enterprise at all well.

But China's state powers might be unwilling to do just that, Kroeber goes on to explain, although he remains optimistic in the long run.

“The problem is that control of the financial sector is central to maintaining the current political order in China. Reform will take power away from the state and put it in the hands of the private sector actors and that leaves the state with less and less control,” he said.

On a pessimistic view the Chinese state would be unwilling to sacrifice political power for economic efficiency gains, Mr Kroeber added, with long-term negative consequences for China’s emergence as a world economic power.

However optimists - a camp in which Mr Kroeber included himself - would point to the story of the last 30 years of economic reform in China and say it showed China’s communist leaders had, time again, showed they were willing to cede direct control over more and more parts of the Chinese economy.

Commercial Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you are interested in debating his viewpoints, do let us know.

Moving into food and cooking in China - Jeremy Goldkorn

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

Beijing-based media tycoon Jeremy Goldkorn is expanding his empire into what is indisputable the most important subject in China: food and cooking. In a bilingual video blog In Kitchen Yo he starts off with something that seems rather easy. An omelette.

In this first episode, I am your host Jeremy Goldkorn, learning how to cook Hebei style spring omelettes with Mrs Yang of Chenjiapu village, in Hebei not too far from Beijing.

(I found the video almost impossible to view, but in China it might be easier.)

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Jeremy Goldkorn is also a speaker at the China Speakes Bureau. If you want to break eggs with him, or need him otherwise at your conference, do let us know.

Why the Chinese might like a Hummer - Shaun Rein

Team HUMMER stock-class H3 driven by Rod Hall....

Image via Wikipedia

When a Chinese company who never build a car bought the Hummer from GM, one of the largest problems of the Detroit car giant, many predicted huge problems. But Shaun Rein tells Forbes he sees also some positive sides on the deal. The assumption is that the Hummer will be sold on the Chinese market.

The "Chinese are not as environmentally conscious as American consumers so Hummer does not face the same consumer backlash," said Shaun Rein, head of China Market Research Group. Hummer sales started sliding in the U.S. several years ago on criticism of gas-guzzling engines. Meanwhile, pump prices are state-regulated in China and kept more stable, and average drives in China are not as long in the U.S., so gas costs may be lower, Rein added.

Limits on emissions are high on the political agenda, partly depending on where in China you are. SUV's that are permitted in Shanghai, are not allowed in Beijing.

More comments by Shaun Rein on GM in Forbes here.

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

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Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your conference or other meeting, do let us know.

Using twitter for Zhao Ziyang's memoires - Jeremy Goldkorn

Zhao Ziyang speaks on 19 May 1989. Behind him,...

Zhao, together with Wen Jiabao via Wikipedia

China's internet users might have overstepped the vague line of what is permitted on the internet, by using twitter and its Chinese equivalents to exchange a banned book, says internet guru Jeremy Goldkorn today in Forbes.

"The Internet is currently rather creaky here, with all the usual filtering tools turned up to top level, but Chinese netizens were openly trading the PDF (digital edition) of the banned Zhao Ziyang's memoirs through Twitter and its Chinese clones until yesterday, when Twitter was blocked," said Jeremy Goldkorn, publisher and editor of Danwei Media.

While the authority of the internet censors is challenged very often, reviving the memory of disposed party secretary Zhao Ziyang was indeed a daring step. China's censor have been rather successful in removing the erstwhile very popular party leader from its history books and collective memory over the past two decades. Zhao opposed the usage of violence against the demonstrating students in Beijing in 1989.

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Jeremy Goldkorn is also a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in hearing his views, do get in touch.

Jeremy Goldkorn by Fantake via Flickr

Shanghai moving fast on Worldexpo2010 - Shaun Rein

Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

Shanghai might be better prepared to deal with its Worldexpo2010 compared to what happened with the Beijing Olympics, although Shaun Rein at CNBC is not without worries.
The city is pumping the equivalent of 45 billion US dollar into the city, but unlike Beijing, Shanghai is targeting the infrastructure, like subways, that will improve the city in the long run. Rein: "Shanghai is now spending more on its subway system than New York. It is moving very fast".
Because of the global financial crisis, sponsorship from outside China is weak and the disappointing results for the Beijing Olympic sponsors have made it additional hard for Shanghai to get money in. The US might actually not even have a pavilion at the site.
The business community is also concerned that anti-terrorism measures might limit access to visas or might actually bring again the economy to a halt, like during the Beijing Olympics, hurting many financial interests.
More at CNBC.
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Shaun Rein is a speakers at the China Speakers Bureau. When you need him at your conference or meeting, do let us know.

Sino-American G2? Not any time soon - Arthur Kroeber

Arthur Kroeber by Fantake via Flickr

While China and the US are edging towards each other, the emergences of a new world order, excluding some of the old and upcoming new forces, is a distant prospect at best, writes Arthur Kroeber in todays Financial Times.

It is perfectly accurate to note that the US and China have a uniquely symbiotic relationship, that they will soon be the two largest national economies, and that many important global problems such as climate change cannot be solved without them.

Yet none of these facts implies a Sino-American world order is a viable or a desirable outcome. Logic and evidence suggest the opposite.

Both declining forces, like Europe and Japan, and other upcoming new economies like Brazil and India will be playing a role in the near future:

More important, a G2 construct does not obviously serve US or Chinese interests. In spite of its growth, China remains far weaker than the US in economic, political and military power. Its interest lies in not being a permanent junior partner in a global duumvirate but in working to build multilateral arrangements that will constrain US power.

More at the Financial Times.

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Arthur Kroeber is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. If you need him at your conference or meeting, do get in touch.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Organizing CSR-mart 2009 - Rupert Hoogewerf

Friday, June 26, 2009

Chinese brands take off at home - Rupert Hoogewerf

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Open letter to net nanny and CCTV - Jeremy Goldkorn

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sending our June 2009 newsletter

Monday, June 22, 2009

China's rich did not change life style - Rupert Hoogewerf

China: No longer a big story - Paul French

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Life is much more free now - Zhang Lijia

Friday, June 19, 2009

Celebrity author to visit United States - Zhang Lijia

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Twitter helps - Marc van der Chijs

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Most-sought speakers for June 2009

Why most M&A deals end up badly - Shaun Rein

Friday, June 12, 2009

Marketing in the digital universe - Tom Doctoroff

Profit China's music industry stops at ringtones - William Bao Bean

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Zhang Lijia to visit Amsterdam

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

State has to loosen ties on economy - Arthur Kroeber

Moving into food and cooking in China - Jeremy Goldkorn

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Why the Chinese might like a Hummer - Shaun Rein

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Using twitter for Zhao Ziyang's memoires - Jeremy Goldkorn

Shanghai moving fast on Worldexpo2010 - Shaun Rein

Monday, June 1, 2009

Sino-American G2? Not any time soon - Arthur Kroeber

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