How to Win Customers’ Hearts with Chinese Localization?

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There are many ways to win your customers’ hearts in China. Demographics, consumer behavior, and culture play an important role when we apply localization.

For example, wealth and status are drivers of consumption among the “fuerdai” or the affluent millennials.

Talk to them in their language and know the culture, you win their hearts. But sometimes, marketers talk to their ego for the bucks.

Language fills the gap between companies and customers. And when companies add a cultural touch – localization and combining internet strategies – in marketing, brand awareness and loyalty follow.

And then sales and profits, too.

Here are three smart ways on how global companies do it:

 

  1. Porsche: “Your VIP Day” via WeChat Marketing Program

While most western companies dabble on how to optimize Facebook and Google ads and punchy creative videos, Porsche capitalized on “fuerdais” ostentatious display of status via WeChat.

Who better to promote the brand than the customer, right?

Customers that booked in on a specific date for their service can use the WeChat to book a free luxury treat. And the clincher is, they shared the experience with friends and followers.

Beyond the luxury treat and the money spent, the thought of letting all their friends know they owned a Porsche is what matters most.

 

  1. SK-II: “She Finally Goes to the Marriage Corner”

If the above-mentioned case study targets the ego, SK-II launched a campaign and touched the hearts of women in China, specifically, the “leftover women.”

In China, when a woman is still unmarried once over 25 years old, they’re stigmatized as the “leftover women,” and pressured to get married.

SK-II was clever to stay relevant by being culturally sensitive with this hot topic in the society and turn it into an inspiring video.

Women shared and spoke their experiences in the video, which attracted over 1.2 million views on Youku within a day.

Although the film seems irrelevant to what SK-II is selling, their smart marketing won the hearts of women, regardless of status or age.

 

  1. NFL: Livestream, Games and More on Super Bowl

Weibo is the homegrown equivalent of Twitter.

The value is higher than Twitter by market capitalization. NFL, to reach out to their Chinese audience, partnered with Sina Weibo and started streaming live games, including Super Bowl.

Sina Webi Sports head, Zhang Zhe, said, “We are glad to launch this strategic partnership with the NFL. We look forward to helping the NFL grow their Chinese market and explore more commercial opportunities, while also providing our Weibo users with a better opportunity to watch and quickly share LIVE games and highlights.”

The partnership gave NFL more than 1.5 million viewers online. It proves that the convergence of social media and sports shapes digital consumption.

 

 

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