Harvard Business Review reveals four key principles for capturing consumers' attention.
"They make it look easy..." Image: Harvard Business Review |
As policy makers nudge the Middle Kingdom from an investment to a consumption-led economic model, the latent spending power of over a billion consumers is sparking the interests of multinational companies.
According to the Harvard Business Review, annual growth of just 5% per year would increase consumer spending more than 60% over the next decade.
HBR also offer some handy tips to reach this massive and increasingly affluent group of consumers.
Firstly, companies will need to segment more precisely. With the advent of Big Data and the ability to profile and track consumers online, digital marketing will need to be increasingly tailored to different age groups, incomes and locations.
To fulfil orders from increasingly efficient digital campaigns, companies will need to extend modern trade channels and distribution networks to ensure that consumers get their products in a timely fashion, irrespective of location. This is especially problematic when many people are not Hukou registered at the city in which they work but have access to the internet through smartphones.
Perhaps one of the biggest tests, HBR continues, is communicating the benefits of unfamiliar products to Chinese consumers in such a way that builds loyalty and sustained demand. For lubes marketers, reaching Chinese consumers with relevant messaging about unfamiliar products will be key. Finally, companies will also need financial services and products to underpin consumer spending.
In summary, part of the key to unlocking Chinese consumers' spending potential is offering them timely solutions in a convenient way. For lubes companies, on-the-go recommendations and comprehensive comparision tools would go a long way to influencing buying decisions for products which are perhaps unfamiliar to a large number of potential purchasers.