2010年2月21日星期日
2010年2月11日星期四
i miss my family... happy chinese new year!
过节啦！过节啦！
偶准备周六早上（大家的周六晚上）爬起来用电脑看春晚！
以前在家看春晚，有点像大背景，没什么感觉，闹哄哄，闹一宿。
后来呢，人在异乡了，感觉就变了，看见那几个主持人都觉得亲切（虽然他们说的都是套话）
最想念的是团圆的气氛，虽然几十年了都是同样的一群面孔（有的可爱的脸再也看不到了）
压岁钱早就不再拿了，团圆饭呢，几年没吃过了，饭桌上，他们肯定会说起我，
也不知道，说起我的时候，老人家会不会又抹泪了。
有的时候电话都不敢打，那边一问“回不回来啊”， 这边一说“不回去啊，这里没春节啊”
那边不是叹气一声就是眼泪哇哇的。
有的人说过节无聊，确实也没什么可做的，可是那些疼过你的人，那些年年吃过的菜，
那些热热闹闹的过年吉祥话，能得到，能吃到，能听到，是种福啊！
现在，你路上看见个人兴高采烈的对人家说：“给您拜年啦！”
那人没准回答你：what the hell
偶准备周六早上（大家的周六晚上）爬起来用电脑看春晚！
以前在家看春晚，有点像大背景，没什么感觉，闹哄哄，闹一宿。
后来呢，人在异乡了，感觉就变了，看见那几个主持人都觉得亲切（虽然他们说的都是套话）
最想念的是团圆的气氛，虽然几十年了都是同样的一群面孔（有的可爱的脸再也看不到了）
压岁钱早就不再拿了，团圆饭呢，几年没吃过了，饭桌上，他们肯定会说起我，
也不知道，说起我的时候，老人家会不会又抹泪了。
有的时候电话都不敢打，那边一问“回不回来啊”， 这边一说“不回去啊，这里没春节啊”
那边不是叹气一声就是眼泪哇哇的。
有的人说过节无聊，确实也没什么可做的，可是那些疼过你的人，那些年年吃过的菜，
那些热热闹闹的过年吉祥话，能得到，能吃到，能听到，是种福啊！
现在，你路上看见个人兴高采烈的对人家说：“给您拜年啦！”
那人没准回答你：what the hell
2010年2月8日星期一
great strategy to hire foreigner play global market.
HONG KONG (AdAgeChina.com) -- China has evolved into the world's factory, but local companies are less successful at building brands, particularly on a global scale. Haier Group is often tipped to be the first. Haier is the largest home appliance brand in China, and the world's biggest by volume. The Qingdao-based company sells in over 160 countries but Asia-Pacific is the main growth engine.
Building a global brand "means investing continually in brand advertising year in and year out, regardless of the current economic cycle," said Philip Carmichael, the company's president, Asia-Pacific, in a speech last month at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong. "It also means playing on the global stage, not just playing on the China stage."
Mr. Carmichael, an American who joined Haier in August 2008, is responsible for marketing, sales and customer service in Asia.
He previously held senior positions at Fusion Systems, Lexmark, Rockwell International Corp. and McDonnell Douglas Corp. He first visited China in the mid-1970s and speaks fluent Mandarin. Below is an edited version of Mr. Carmichael's conversation with Ad Age China Editor Normandy Madden as well as questions posed to Mr. Carmichael during his FCC speech.
Ad Age: What's it like to be an American working for a Chinese company?
Mr. Carmichael: There's an unwritten rule. On Saturdays at the corporate headquarters, you have to work, but you walk the corridors and talk to other executives informally.
The main difference is face-to-face food. Like an overly aggressive mother-in-law, Chinese are obsessed with food. A lot of activity happens over dinner tables talking to somebody. Decisions or agreements made in social settings supercede all other decisions.
Ad Age: How is the operating style of Western companies different from a state-owned business in China like Haier?
Mr. Carmichael: Chinese politics are not run in a top-down Confucian style, it's by consensus. Sitting at that oval table, the highest ranking person cannot unilaterally say "yes" for the entire table. But anybody at that table can say "no" for the entire table. You have to understand that concept if you want to understand how large Chinese companies operate. Chinese look first at relationships, then at what's logical to do, and then what's the law. It's basically backwards to the Western world.
A lot of Chinese companies initially going global have tried cloning this Chinese paradigm to try building businesses in the U.S. and Europe. The results are pretty mixed. You don't get successful in the highly sophisticated and competitive U.S. marketplace by having a Chinese person who's loosely affiliated with someone else in your company running your business in the U.S. You get successful by blending your company's unique value proposition with strong, international A-list management talent. Chinese ethnicity is not really relevant in that equation.
Ad Age: What is Haier's approach?
Mr. Carmichael: One of Haier's unique DNAs is really great world-class after-sales service in China. A call needs to be answered within three rings in Mandarin across the country, and if you're in a city, a service person has to be in your house within three hours, even if it's Sunday. That's the best level of service in China full-stop among any company.
A call came in to our nationwide call center in Sichuan. A customer complained there was dirt in the washing machine after the cycle finished. Haier sent a technician to take a look at it in this small village in Sichuan. The farmer showed him the washing machine located behind the house which had a load of freshly harvested and washed potatoes.
Most companies would react by saying, "This machine is not designed for this purpose." Haier's approach was to say, "This guy probably isn't the only one who's tried to wash potatoes. Is there a way for us to adapt this product to this requirement? Maybe we can make a machine that actually washes potatoes and clothes."
This example happened ten years ago and the machine we came up with still does a great job on potatoes and clothes. Last year, Haier introduced a machine that washes clothes without detergent using electronics. That machine helped us become the No. 1 provider of laundry equipment across the world, not just in China.
Ad Age: Is Haier looking at opportunities to diversify?
Mr. Carmichael: Our particular industry is quite fragmented. We are the world's No. 1 appliance company and we have 5.1% of worldwide share, based on Euromonitor's December [2009] report. The next guy in line is Whirlpool who has 4.7%. In China, we're running overall around 30% and about 40% on high-end products. There's a lot of delta between 5% and 40%, so I think we have a fair piece to go before we think about diversification.
Ad Age: Has China emerged from the global economic slowdown?
Mr. Carmichael: I thought we took a pass on the economic crisis. We did not have a recession in China. We posted year-on-year actual gain in 2009 and I don't think a lot of economies in the world did.
There are around 45 cities in China with over five million people. It's a booming vibrant economy. The countryside continues to be a conservative place but also where people save their money and have money to spend now. Is the export boom over? I don't know, but the consumer and domestic opportunities in China continue to be tremendous.
Ad Age: Do you think Haier's top management in China understand the concept of brands beyond just name recognition?
Mr. Carmichael: Haier has become one of the top recognized brands in China and it has embraced the concept of branding. They know what they don't know [and] they know what made them successful in China will not work overseas. They came from a product manufacturing and technology base. They are changing, but it won't happen overnight. It will take time.
Ad Age: Which ad agencies does Haier work with in Asia-Pacific?
Mr. Carmichael: Agencies are chosen independently by managers in each country, so we work with quite a few in each market for product advertising, corporate advertising and endorsements. ... Should we put it together in one budget to get a better price? Maybe we should have one global agency.
In 2009, the budget I had for branding in Asia-Pacific was double what it was in 2008. That's what helped drive us. Every company in the world in our industry lost market share on a worldwide basis last year except for Haier, because we understand the importance of investing even in the tough times.
We have to be well known to consumers, but how to do that differs. It's usually a woman 25 to 35 who decides which fridge to buy. Is involvement in women's magazines or cooking shows better than running a billboard inside an airport? New media is also important. In our demographic, everyone has cellphones and uses the internet.
Ad Age: For many consumers around the world, "made in China" means melamine and lead paint. How does Haier cope with this image problem?
Mr. Carmichael: Consumers want great quality but they also want kind of a complete peace of mind. When I introduced Haier-brand flat-panel TVs in Malaysia in late 2008, everyone in the industry was giving a six-month warranty on the machine and a one-year warranty on the panel. So Haier offered a two-year warranty on both and we grew about three times the marketplace. The next year, our competitors decided they had to follow us, so we took it a step further. We're offering a three-year all-risk warranty, which means if your dog pulls your LCD screen off the shelf and it breaks or your house is flooded, you're covered for three years. The important message is that because the quality really is there, a one-year warranty and a three-year warranty are the same.
Ad Age: What's the biggest challenge facing Haier in its efforts to build a global brand?
Mr. Carmichael: The real challenge facing Chinese companies going global and becoming a global brand is understanding how to play in the global business field by the global rules of transparency, the speed of technology and international decision-making. It's not about the produces or services per se, it's about how to operate. It will mean a commitment and a willingness, to invest in intangibles like branding for decades. Not one year or two years but decades. It will mean delegating decision making across the globe without being face-to-face with Chinese colleagues over a banquet table.
Ad Age: Where will the first global Chinese brand emerge?
Mr. Carmichael: It will likely come from IT, auto, white goods or cement, which are actually areas where China is already today the largest market in the world, and it will be a company which has the culture to embrace some of these key global concepts.
Building a global brand "means investing continually in brand advertising year in and year out, regardless of the current economic cycle," said Philip Carmichael, the company's president, Asia-Pacific, in a speech last month at the Foreign Correspondents' Club in Hong Kong. "It also means playing on the global stage, not just playing on the China stage."
Mr. Carmichael, an American who joined Haier in August 2008, is responsible for marketing, sales and customer service in Asia.
He previously held senior positions at Fusion Systems, Lexmark, Rockwell International Corp. and McDonnell Douglas Corp. He first visited China in the mid-1970s and speaks fluent Mandarin. Below is an edited version of Mr. Carmichael's conversation with Ad Age China Editor Normandy Madden as well as questions posed to Mr. Carmichael during his FCC speech.
Ad Age: What's it like to be an American working for a Chinese company?
Mr. Carmichael: There's an unwritten rule. On Saturdays at the corporate headquarters, you have to work, but you walk the corridors and talk to other executives informally.
The main difference is face-to-face food. Like an overly aggressive mother-in-law, Chinese are obsessed with food. A lot of activity happens over dinner tables talking to somebody. Decisions or agreements made in social settings supercede all other decisions.
Ad Age: How is the operating style of Western companies different from a state-owned business in China like Haier?
Mr. Carmichael: Chinese politics are not run in a top-down Confucian style, it's by consensus. Sitting at that oval table, the highest ranking person cannot unilaterally say "yes" for the entire table. But anybody at that table can say "no" for the entire table. You have to understand that concept if you want to understand how large Chinese companies operate. Chinese look first at relationships, then at what's logical to do, and then what's the law. It's basically backwards to the Western world.
A lot of Chinese companies initially going global have tried cloning this Chinese paradigm to try building businesses in the U.S. and Europe. The results are pretty mixed. You don't get successful in the highly sophisticated and competitive U.S. marketplace by having a Chinese person who's loosely affiliated with someone else in your company running your business in the U.S. You get successful by blending your company's unique value proposition with strong, international A-list management talent. Chinese ethnicity is not really relevant in that equation.
Ad Age: What is Haier's approach?
Mr. Carmichael: One of Haier's unique DNAs is really great world-class after-sales service in China. A call needs to be answered within three rings in Mandarin across the country, and if you're in a city, a service person has to be in your house within three hours, even if it's Sunday. That's the best level of service in China full-stop among any company.
A call came in to our nationwide call center in Sichuan. A customer complained there was dirt in the washing machine after the cycle finished. Haier sent a technician to take a look at it in this small village in Sichuan. The farmer showed him the washing machine located behind the house which had a load of freshly harvested and washed potatoes.
Most companies would react by saying, "This machine is not designed for this purpose." Haier's approach was to say, "This guy probably isn't the only one who's tried to wash potatoes. Is there a way for us to adapt this product to this requirement? Maybe we can make a machine that actually washes potatoes and clothes."
This example happened ten years ago and the machine we came up with still does a great job on potatoes and clothes. Last year, Haier introduced a machine that washes clothes without detergent using electronics. That machine helped us become the No. 1 provider of laundry equipment across the world, not just in China.
Ad Age: Is Haier looking at opportunities to diversify?
Mr. Carmichael: Our particular industry is quite fragmented. We are the world's No. 1 appliance company and we have 5.1% of worldwide share, based on Euromonitor's December [2009] report. The next guy in line is Whirlpool who has 4.7%. In China, we're running overall around 30% and about 40% on high-end products. There's a lot of delta between 5% and 40%, so I think we have a fair piece to go before we think about diversification.
Ad Age: Has China emerged from the global economic slowdown?
Mr. Carmichael: I thought we took a pass on the economic crisis. We did not have a recession in China. We posted year-on-year actual gain in 2009 and I don't think a lot of economies in the world did.
There are around 45 cities in China with over five million people. It's a booming vibrant economy. The countryside continues to be a conservative place but also where people save their money and have money to spend now. Is the export boom over? I don't know, but the consumer and domestic opportunities in China continue to be tremendous.
Ad Age: Do you think Haier's top management in China understand the concept of brands beyond just name recognition?
Mr. Carmichael: Haier has become one of the top recognized brands in China and it has embraced the concept of branding. They know what they don't know [and] they know what made them successful in China will not work overseas. They came from a product manufacturing and technology base. They are changing, but it won't happen overnight. It will take time.
Ad Age: Which ad agencies does Haier work with in Asia-Pacific?
Mr. Carmichael: Agencies are chosen independently by managers in each country, so we work with quite a few in each market for product advertising, corporate advertising and endorsements. ... Should we put it together in one budget to get a better price? Maybe we should have one global agency.
In 2009, the budget I had for branding in Asia-Pacific was double what it was in 2008. That's what helped drive us. Every company in the world in our industry lost market share on a worldwide basis last year except for Haier, because we understand the importance of investing even in the tough times.
We have to be well known to consumers, but how to do that differs. It's usually a woman 25 to 35 who decides which fridge to buy. Is involvement in women's magazines or cooking shows better than running a billboard inside an airport? New media is also important. In our demographic, everyone has cellphones and uses the internet.
Ad Age: For many consumers around the world, "made in China" means melamine and lead paint. How does Haier cope with this image problem?
Mr. Carmichael: Consumers want great quality but they also want kind of a complete peace of mind. When I introduced Haier-brand flat-panel TVs in Malaysia in late 2008, everyone in the industry was giving a six-month warranty on the machine and a one-year warranty on the panel. So Haier offered a two-year warranty on both and we grew about three times the marketplace. The next year, our competitors decided they had to follow us, so we took it a step further. We're offering a three-year all-risk warranty, which means if your dog pulls your LCD screen off the shelf and it breaks or your house is flooded, you're covered for three years. The important message is that because the quality really is there, a one-year warranty and a three-year warranty are the same.
Ad Age: What's the biggest challenge facing Haier in its efforts to build a global brand?
Mr. Carmichael: The real challenge facing Chinese companies going global and becoming a global brand is understanding how to play in the global business field by the global rules of transparency, the speed of technology and international decision-making. It's not about the produces or services per se, it's about how to operate. It will mean a commitment and a willingness, to invest in intangibles like branding for decades. Not one year or two years but decades. It will mean delegating decision making across the globe without being face-to-face with Chinese colleagues over a banquet table.
Ad Age: Where will the first global Chinese brand emerge?
Mr. Carmichael: It will likely come from IT, auto, white goods or cement, which are actually areas where China is already today the largest market in the world, and it will be a company which has the culture to embrace some of these key global concepts.
2010年1月24日星期日
summary of 72&Sunny research project
72andsunny is a modern full-service design and advertising company with offices in LA and Amsterdam. Founded in 2004, they are dedicated to unleashing creativity across all platforms and solving tough business problems with massively integrated ideas. They work with clients defining culture today including Nike, Disscovery Channel, Quiksilver, The CW, G4 channel, and Bugaboo.
Their main strength is they're run by very, very, very smart, experienced, fearless people who want to do crazy shit and make noise.
John Boiler: Creative Director/ Prior to co-founding, he was at Wieden and Kennedy for 11 years, including a 5 years stint as Executive Creative Director and Managing Partner of W+K/Amsterdam which he helped grow from 40 employees to 185.
Glenn Cole: Creative Director/ Prior to co-founding, he was Creative Director at W+K/Amsterdam where he led the launch of the Audi A2 and all advertising for Nike's European business. He helped Nike grow from the #5 soccer brand in the world to #1 in 2002.
Secondly, they're born digital. Everyone they hire has digital experience or wants to learn. It's the future.
Third, everyone is super nice. That goes a long way for morale, relationships with clients, and putting up with lots of 80-hour weeks.
Their perceived strategy is to make work that's not boring. To do the kind of stuff they as human beings would find fun and interesting. If they are not enjoying it, then the public won't enjoy it either. And then they are screwed.
I really like what they did for the Discovery Channel ("I Love The World") and Nike Football ("Take it to The Next Level")
Their main strength is they're run by very, very, very smart, experienced, fearless people who want to do crazy shit and make noise.
John Boiler: Creative Director/ Prior to co-founding, he was at Wieden and Kennedy for 11 years, including a 5 years stint as Executive Creative Director and Managing Partner of W+K/Amsterdam which he helped grow from 40 employees to 185.
Glenn Cole: Creative Director/ Prior to co-founding, he was Creative Director at W+K/Amsterdam where he led the launch of the Audi A2 and all advertising for Nike's European business. He helped Nike grow from the #5 soccer brand in the world to #1 in 2002.
Secondly, they're born digital. Everyone they hire has digital experience or wants to learn. It's the future.
Third, everyone is super nice. That goes a long way for morale, relationships with clients, and putting up with lots of 80-hour weeks.
Their perceived strategy is to make work that's not boring. To do the kind of stuff they as human beings would find fun and interesting. If they are not enjoying it, then the public won't enjoy it either. And then they are screwed.
I really like what they did for the Discovery Channel ("I Love The World") and Nike Football ("Take it to The Next Level")
2010年1月21日星期四
Five Mobile Trends for 2010 from adage
Advertising is not what it was ten years ago. The past decade has seen the advent of social computing and mobile technology, two forces that changed the game forever. What will the future hold? On our respective blogs, MobileBehavior and Organic, have been tracking developments in mobile that will affect advertising in 2010 and beyond. From point-of-sale to out-of-home, here are the top five ways we see the device formerly known as a phone changing the game this year.
1. Mobile will completely revolutionize the way local advertisers can connect with potential customers.
While online display advertising has been incredibly effective for many companies, it hasn't offered all that much value to small, independently owned businesses. For one, the web is good at scale, not so good at precision. It's difficult for mom-and-pops to reach the relatively small audiences that might reasonably be expected to patronize their stores.
A number of new location-based services are beginning to provide attractive alternatives for such small-scale advertisers. Foursquare, for one, allows small business to target offers based on a user's actual proximity to their location. These offers can deliver heightened relevance by appealing to a player's status, nearby friends, or demonstrated preferences. A similar service, Gowalla, has experimented with branded badges and actual prizes that users can win if they check in at a location. Google is also catering more to local businesses by making their Place pages more mobile-friendly. Advertisers can now create Place pages that are accessible through Google Maps, attach mobile coupons, and even include QR code stickers in their window that lead you to these pages.
These examples are really only scratching the surface of what's possible for local businesses through mobile. Expect to see more mom-and-pops jump on these platforms in 2010.
2. Growth in adoption of mobile shopping applications will continue to alter in-store consumer behavior, increasing the significance of mobile in point of sale decisions making.
There are a number of mobile applications and tools emerging that consumers can use to make their shopping trips more efficient, productive, and fun. First, there are mobile price comparison apps such as ShopSavvy, Red Laser, Amazon Mobile. These allow shoppers to compare prices at a given location against nearby competitors and online properties -- an incredibly powerful proposition. There are also crowdsourcing tools like Fashism and BazaarVoice's MobileVoice that help shoppers get outside opinions and feedback before purchasing. These types of apps are prime territory for marketers looking to inject a brand into a target audience's psyche at a critical juncture in their decision making process.
Then there are, of course, mobile coupons, which are finally getting some traction. Zavers, Yowza, mobiQpons and Cellfire are actively signing up small businesses, and it's only a matter of time before big box stores get on board. Add increased consumer adoption, POS redemption infrastructure and a social dynamic and the appeal to marketers will be greater than ever.
All of the above will provide inroads for more effective CRM, specifically, loyalty programs. Consumers checking their phone just before they buy something will create opportunity to deliver more effective personalized messaging derived from prior purchase decisions.
3. Brands and agencies will continue to build branded apps, but will also have more attractive display media options, thanks to Google.
In 2009, we saw a number of brands scramble to check mobile off their lists by creating apps. But now that the marketplace is crowded, many will take a step back and look at media-buying options instead. Google recognizes this; it's why they recently acquired AdMob, i.e., to get a corner on all that in-app content. Google will also build up their network of native app content by making development and deployment of ad-supported apps on their Android platform much easier than it currently is on the iPhone. This is all with the aim of more effectively extending it's AdSense platform to mobile.
Yes, you may say that consumers are obviously keen on micropayments for mobile content. They did, after all, spend $6.2 billion on apps this year, according to Gartner. But consumers are even more fond of free, and in 2010 one way Google will challenge the iPhone is by creating a competitive alternative business model for developers. And where good apps are, consumers go and dollars follow.
Most major carriers and handset manufacturers have multiple Android devices slated for 2010 launch dates, so expect Android's user-base to catch up to the iPhone's by the end of 2010. The web-based Android app store is a hurdle to the experience and doesn't come close to the experience of the iTunes' desktop app. If Google can fix this, then developers may start putting Android first on their product roadmaps.
4. Advertising's outdoor real estate is fast becoming another connected channel capable of delivering high-fidelity digital experiences as unique, varied and measurable as more well-established mediums.
Outdoor advertising has traditionally been very difficult to measure. People move past signs through various modes of conveyance at varying rates of speed making it difficult to know who actually notices a given media unit. Add line of sight and dwell time, and the problem is further compounded.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) signage is changing all this, and mobile is becoming the key to true measurement and engagement. Using their handsets, once-passive viewers can actually interact with an ad now. For example, Toyota released an iPhone app that let users to draw on the Thompson-Reuters screen in Times Square. Nike's "Chalkbot" allowed cycling fans to have a robot stencil messages of support for Tour de France riders on the pavement via SMS or Twitter. Vans' "Be Here" allowed its users to submit video, photo, or text messages from any of the brand's online properties to be displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square.
In all of the previous examples, mobile served as the glue or connective tissue between outdoor and the web. Indeed, the real potential of DOOH is to blend the digital with the physical world in public spaces. It will also eventually allow advertisers to customize once-mass ads to specific individuals based on data that their phone can reveal about them.
5. Consumers have new power to express their opinions through social technologies from anywhere, anytime. Smart marketers will do all they can to encourage and act on this real-time feedback.
While the crowds may not always be wise, they sure are vocal, and mobile devices are their microphones. In unprecedented numbers, consumers are using mobile-enabled publishing platforms, mainly Twitter, to instantly share their thoughts about products, services and brands.
The best companies have started closing this loop by listening to and acting on consumer's feedback. Some are even creating dedicated apps and services to collect it. Taxihack is a service for commenting live on NYC taxi drivers. SeeClickFix and CitySourced both give users mobile applications for reporting things like potholes and graffiti while out on the town. AT&T recently used a similar tactic with an iPhone app, Mark the Spot, which crowdsources areas of weak reception.
Much of the power seen in these mobile applications is through context attached to consumer feedback. Universal Theatres relies on a SMS response system to test out trailers and gauge audience response during screenings. This in the moment feedback makes for a much more accurate representation of viewers true opinions.
Whether brands carve out a dedicated mobile channel or simply rely on Twitter customer service, we'll see more embracing the feedback loop. The challenge going forward will be an internal one, setting up efficient systems to make sure consumer feedback can be acted on and implemented once it's heard.
1. Mobile will completely revolutionize the way local advertisers can connect with potential customers.
While online display advertising has been incredibly effective for many companies, it hasn't offered all that much value to small, independently owned businesses. For one, the web is good at scale, not so good at precision. It's difficult for mom-and-pops to reach the relatively small audiences that might reasonably be expected to patronize their stores.
A number of new location-based services are beginning to provide attractive alternatives for such small-scale advertisers. Foursquare, for one, allows small business to target offers based on a user's actual proximity to their location. These offers can deliver heightened relevance by appealing to a player's status, nearby friends, or demonstrated preferences. A similar service, Gowalla, has experimented with branded badges and actual prizes that users can win if they check in at a location. Google is also catering more to local businesses by making their Place pages more mobile-friendly. Advertisers can now create Place pages that are accessible through Google Maps, attach mobile coupons, and even include QR code stickers in their window that lead you to these pages.
These examples are really only scratching the surface of what's possible for local businesses through mobile. Expect to see more mom-and-pops jump on these platforms in 2010.
2. Growth in adoption of mobile shopping applications will continue to alter in-store consumer behavior, increasing the significance of mobile in point of sale decisions making.
There are a number of mobile applications and tools emerging that consumers can use to make their shopping trips more efficient, productive, and fun. First, there are mobile price comparison apps such as ShopSavvy, Red Laser, Amazon Mobile. These allow shoppers to compare prices at a given location against nearby competitors and online properties -- an incredibly powerful proposition. There are also crowdsourcing tools like Fashism and BazaarVoice's MobileVoice that help shoppers get outside opinions and feedback before purchasing. These types of apps are prime territory for marketers looking to inject a brand into a target audience's psyche at a critical juncture in their decision making process.
Then there are, of course, mobile coupons, which are finally getting some traction. Zavers, Yowza, mobiQpons and Cellfire are actively signing up small businesses, and it's only a matter of time before big box stores get on board. Add increased consumer adoption, POS redemption infrastructure and a social dynamic and the appeal to marketers will be greater than ever.
All of the above will provide inroads for more effective CRM, specifically, loyalty programs. Consumers checking their phone just before they buy something will create opportunity to deliver more effective personalized messaging derived from prior purchase decisions.
3. Brands and agencies will continue to build branded apps, but will also have more attractive display media options, thanks to Google.
In 2009, we saw a number of brands scramble to check mobile off their lists by creating apps. But now that the marketplace is crowded, many will take a step back and look at media-buying options instead. Google recognizes this; it's why they recently acquired AdMob, i.e., to get a corner on all that in-app content. Google will also build up their network of native app content by making development and deployment of ad-supported apps on their Android platform much easier than it currently is on the iPhone. This is all with the aim of more effectively extending it's AdSense platform to mobile.
Yes, you may say that consumers are obviously keen on micropayments for mobile content. They did, after all, spend $6.2 billion on apps this year, according to Gartner. But consumers are even more fond of free, and in 2010 one way Google will challenge the iPhone is by creating a competitive alternative business model for developers. And where good apps are, consumers go and dollars follow.
Most major carriers and handset manufacturers have multiple Android devices slated for 2010 launch dates, so expect Android's user-base to catch up to the iPhone's by the end of 2010. The web-based Android app store is a hurdle to the experience and doesn't come close to the experience of the iTunes' desktop app. If Google can fix this, then developers may start putting Android first on their product roadmaps.
4. Advertising's outdoor real estate is fast becoming another connected channel capable of delivering high-fidelity digital experiences as unique, varied and measurable as more well-established mediums.
Outdoor advertising has traditionally been very difficult to measure. People move past signs through various modes of conveyance at varying rates of speed making it difficult to know who actually notices a given media unit. Add line of sight and dwell time, and the problem is further compounded.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) signage is changing all this, and mobile is becoming the key to true measurement and engagement. Using their handsets, once-passive viewers can actually interact with an ad now. For example, Toyota released an iPhone app that let users to draw on the Thompson-Reuters screen in Times Square. Nike's "Chalkbot" allowed cycling fans to have a robot stencil messages of support for Tour de France riders on the pavement via SMS or Twitter. Vans' "Be Here" allowed its users to submit video, photo, or text messages from any of the brand's online properties to be displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square.
In all of the previous examples, mobile served as the glue or connective tissue between outdoor and the web. Indeed, the real potential of DOOH is to blend the digital with the physical world in public spaces. It will also eventually allow advertisers to customize once-mass ads to specific individuals based on data that their phone can reveal about them.
5. Consumers have new power to express their opinions through social technologies from anywhere, anytime. Smart marketers will do all they can to encourage and act on this real-time feedback.
While the crowds may not always be wise, they sure are vocal, and mobile devices are their microphones. In unprecedented numbers, consumers are using mobile-enabled publishing platforms, mainly Twitter, to instantly share their thoughts about products, services and brands.
The best companies have started closing this loop by listening to and acting on consumer's feedback. Some are even creating dedicated apps and services to collect it. Taxihack is a service for commenting live on NYC taxi drivers. SeeClickFix and CitySourced both give users mobile applications for reporting things like potholes and graffiti while out on the town. AT&T recently used a similar tactic with an iPhone app, Mark the Spot, which crowdsources areas of weak reception.
Much of the power seen in these mobile applications is through context attached to consumer feedback. Universal Theatres relies on a SMS response system to test out trailers and gauge audience response during screenings. This in the moment feedback makes for a much more accurate representation of viewers true opinions.
Whether brands carve out a dedicated mobile channel or simply rely on Twitter customer service, we'll see more embracing the feedback loop. The challenge going forward will be an internal one, setting up efficient systems to make sure consumer feedback can be acted on and implemented once it's heard.
from adage Li Ning Has Sporting Chance at Becoming a Global Brand
Li Ning, a sportswear brand most consumers around the world have never heard of, is a leading contender to become China's first truly global brand.
Li Ning has sponsorship deals with four NBA players, including Shaquille O'Neal.
Thanks to the company's impressive 2009 growth in sales, market share and marketing, Li Ning Co. is Ad Age China's first Marketer of the Year. The company was founded by Li Ning, China's greatest Olympic athlete, and opened its first U.S. store this month.
"We've come back strong," said Beijing-based Fang ShihWei, Li Ning's chief marketing officer for China.
During the first half of 2009, Li Ning's revenue grew 32.4% to $593.4 million over the same period the previous year, according to interim results released in August 2009.
Li Ning, a Beijing-based company founded in 1990, is a smart marketer. It has caught up to -- and possibly surpassed -- Adidas, the longtime No. 2 sportswear brand in China.
Now it's closing the gap with market leader Nike at home while working hard to expand overseas.
"Li Ning has taken amazing strides as a local marketer. They are one of the few that truly believe in brand-building, and their business results are really unbelievable, amazing year-on-year growth," said Greg Paull, a principal at R3, a Beijing-based consultancy that tracks the performance of brands in China.
Never heard of Li Ning?
Li Ning ads often feature international athletes like Ethiopian runner Ambesse Tolossa, who promoted a line of lightweight running shoes called ZhuFeng ('Chasing the wind') in 2007.
Viewers of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing saw the company's namesake and founder, a national hero who won three gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, light the torch that kicked off the games. (Inside China, marketers called his lap toward the torch a brilliant ambush, as Adidas, not Li Ning, was an official Olympic sponsor.)
That moment of glory also kicked off Li Ning's ambitious five-year plan to become both China's No. 1 sportswear marketer and a global brand by 2013.
"It's a young company, energetic, eager to learn and willing to make changes," said Chen WeiWei, Shanghai-based chairman-CEO of Leo Burnett Group Shanghai, Li Ning's main ad agency.
Concept store in Portland
Li Ning is even making bold moves on Nike's home turf. In early January 2010, Li Ning put a stake in the ground in the U.S. with a concept store in Portland, Ore., less than a mile from Niketown. Two weeks later, Adidas shuttered a Portland store three blocks away.
Two years ago, Li Ning opened a high-tech design center in Portland to tap into that city's sportswear expertise.
"We have 26 employees in Nike's backyard," Mr. Fang said with a hearty laugh. "The innovation center keeps up with trends and helps us stay connected to the outside world. We rotate our staff between Beijing and Portland."
Last year, Li Ning opened its first store outside Greater China in Singapore. It also has a store in Hong Kong specializing in badminton equipment.
The company also has distribution in a few other markets including Spain, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Vietnam, and plans to launch this year in Norway.
Li Ning is catching up to rivals Adidas and Nike.
A brand to watch
Li Ning has surprised China's sportswear industry with six years of solid growth selling sports footwear, apparel and accessories, competing against global giants Nike and Adidas with their war chests of marketing dollars and expertise in China.
"Li Ning is the Chinese brand to watch," said P.T. Black, a partner at Omnicom-owned Jigsaw, a youth marketing consultancy in Shanghai. "They have done a damned good job picking up the slack when Nike and Adidas pulled back [in 2009]."
Unsurprisingly, ad spending in China's athletic apparel category dropped in 2009 from an all-time high during the 2008 Olympic year.
Nike and Adidas slashed spending by 75% and 65%, respectively, said Jed Meyer, Nielsen's managing director, media services, Greater China in Shanghai. "By comparison, Li Ning cut spending less, only 37% [to $37.6 million]."
Li Ning has taken on two of the world's best marketers and prospered. Tracking data suggests Li Ning controlled 14.2% of China's sportswear market at the end of 2009, trailing Nike's 16.7% share, but slightly ahead of Adidas' 13.9%.
The Li Ning brand, sold in the company's 7,000 stores in China, accounts for the bulk of the company's sales.
Products are priced slightly below western brands, but created with western design expertise and marketed with endorsements from sports celebrities like the NBA's Baron Davis and Shaquille O'Neal.
One of the latest athletes to partner with Li Ning is Russian pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva.
The company's portfolio includes other brands appealing to affluent urban trendsetters in Shanghai and middle-class teens in rural cities, where incomes remain low.
Li Ning formed a 20-year alliance with Italian sportswear company Lotto Sport in August 2008, giving the Chinese company exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell Lotto products in the mainland.
A Li Ning mass-market sportswear clothing and accessories brand called Z-do sells in supermarkets and hypermarkets such as Walmart.
Li Ning hired Interpublic's McCann Erickson, Beijing, to oversee creative for Lotto in China. WPP's Bates Asia network handles advertising for Li Ning overseas. Media planning and buying is done by Publicis-owned Starcom Mediavest.
The company's business "has more than doubled in two years. Key for them has been world-class marketing, above and below the line," Mr. Paull said.
Brand revamp in late 2010
While Li Ning's market share has increased in China, the company is concerned about future growth. A new look for the brand and retail stores will be unveiled later this year.
Fang ShihWei is Li Ning's chief marketing officer for China.
"The young generation is still talking about Nike. They think Li Ning is not a brand that belongs to them, it's for their parents. That's not something we like to see," Mr. Fang said. "We want to rejuvenate this brand to give it a fresh look for all consumers."
In the last two years, Li Ning has hired a new senior management team, mostly young, bright, energetic executives in their 30s trained by western agencies or advertisers in China and overseas. Even Li Ning's CEO, Zhang Zhiyong, is just 41.
Mr. Fang, for example, is a Taiwan native who worked at Leo Burnett, Taipei. Abel Wu, who took over as general manager of the Lotto brand in China two years ago, joined Li Ning in 2004. Before that, he spent nine years at Procter & Gamble Co. overseeing brands like Pampers, Crest, Olay, Whisper and Zest for China's largest advertiser.
Unusually for a Chinese company, Li Ning also employs a handful of foreigners from countries like the U.S., Germany and Singapore at its corporate headquarters, a stylish, sprawling campus of low-rise buildings connected by pathways that resemble a running track.
Overseas sales
While updating its image at home, Li Ning is pushing to get its products into overseas markets.
"Our biggest challenge is convincing major distributors because of our newcomer status. When we approach them, they all have major questions for us: How will you build your brand in our market? What marketing resources will you put in this market?" Mr. Fang said.
In new markets, Li Ning sponsors local athletes and teams, and builds events around sports like badminton, table tennis and basketball.
That strategy works in Asia and could succeed in Asian communities in the West, where table tennis and badminton are popular. But it may be a tough sell to American and European consumers.
Logo and slogan
Li Ning has two other problems in the West. To many foreign consumers, its logo looks very similar to Nike's Swoosh.
The Chinese company says its logo was designed in a contest in 1990, and is meant to resemble both the letter "L" and a patriotic red flag.
Li Ning's logo -- too close to the Nike Swoosh?
Also, Li Ning's slogan "Anything is possible" is very similar to Adidas' tagline, "Impossible is nothing." (The Chinese company is often accused of copying, but Li Ning's tagline was created first.)
As Li Ning makes bigger moves overseas, it will have to deal with these issues to build a brand from the ground up.
"Figuring out how to differentiate ourselves from our competition keeps me awake at night," Mr. Fang admitted. And that's not just Nike and Adidas, but also other Chinese brands like Anta that also are expanding quickly.
"This market is overloaded with competition, and it's too expensive," he said. "There's a lot of pressure."
Li Ning has sponsorship deals with four NBA players, including Shaquille O'Neal.
Thanks to the company's impressive 2009 growth in sales, market share and marketing, Li Ning Co. is Ad Age China's first Marketer of the Year. The company was founded by Li Ning, China's greatest Olympic athlete, and opened its first U.S. store this month.
"We've come back strong," said Beijing-based Fang ShihWei, Li Ning's chief marketing officer for China.
During the first half of 2009, Li Ning's revenue grew 32.4% to $593.4 million over the same period the previous year, according to interim results released in August 2009.
Li Ning, a Beijing-based company founded in 1990, is a smart marketer. It has caught up to -- and possibly surpassed -- Adidas, the longtime No. 2 sportswear brand in China.
Now it's closing the gap with market leader Nike at home while working hard to expand overseas.
"Li Ning has taken amazing strides as a local marketer. They are one of the few that truly believe in brand-building, and their business results are really unbelievable, amazing year-on-year growth," said Greg Paull, a principal at R3, a Beijing-based consultancy that tracks the performance of brands in China.
Never heard of Li Ning?
Li Ning ads often feature international athletes like Ethiopian runner Ambesse Tolossa, who promoted a line of lightweight running shoes called ZhuFeng ('Chasing the wind') in 2007.
Viewers of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing saw the company's namesake and founder, a national hero who won three gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, light the torch that kicked off the games. (Inside China, marketers called his lap toward the torch a brilliant ambush, as Adidas, not Li Ning, was an official Olympic sponsor.)
That moment of glory also kicked off Li Ning's ambitious five-year plan to become both China's No. 1 sportswear marketer and a global brand by 2013.
"It's a young company, energetic, eager to learn and willing to make changes," said Chen WeiWei, Shanghai-based chairman-CEO of Leo Burnett Group Shanghai, Li Ning's main ad agency.
Concept store in Portland
Li Ning is even making bold moves on Nike's home turf. In early January 2010, Li Ning put a stake in the ground in the U.S. with a concept store in Portland, Ore., less than a mile from Niketown. Two weeks later, Adidas shuttered a Portland store three blocks away.
Two years ago, Li Ning opened a high-tech design center in Portland to tap into that city's sportswear expertise.
"We have 26 employees in Nike's backyard," Mr. Fang said with a hearty laugh. "The innovation center keeps up with trends and helps us stay connected to the outside world. We rotate our staff between Beijing and Portland."
Last year, Li Ning opened its first store outside Greater China in Singapore. It also has a store in Hong Kong specializing in badminton equipment.
The company also has distribution in a few other markets including Spain, the Netherlands, Malaysia and Vietnam, and plans to launch this year in Norway.
Li Ning is catching up to rivals Adidas and Nike.
A brand to watch
Li Ning has surprised China's sportswear industry with six years of solid growth selling sports footwear, apparel and accessories, competing against global giants Nike and Adidas with their war chests of marketing dollars and expertise in China.
"Li Ning is the Chinese brand to watch," said P.T. Black, a partner at Omnicom-owned Jigsaw, a youth marketing consultancy in Shanghai. "They have done a damned good job picking up the slack when Nike and Adidas pulled back [in 2009]."
Unsurprisingly, ad spending in China's athletic apparel category dropped in 2009 from an all-time high during the 2008 Olympic year.
Nike and Adidas slashed spending by 75% and 65%, respectively, said Jed Meyer, Nielsen's managing director, media services, Greater China in Shanghai. "By comparison, Li Ning cut spending less, only 37% [to $37.6 million]."
Li Ning has taken on two of the world's best marketers and prospered. Tracking data suggests Li Ning controlled 14.2% of China's sportswear market at the end of 2009, trailing Nike's 16.7% share, but slightly ahead of Adidas' 13.9%.
The Li Ning brand, sold in the company's 7,000 stores in China, accounts for the bulk of the company's sales.
Products are priced slightly below western brands, but created with western design expertise and marketed with endorsements from sports celebrities like the NBA's Baron Davis and Shaquille O'Neal.
One of the latest athletes to partner with Li Ning is Russian pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva.
The company's portfolio includes other brands appealing to affluent urban trendsetters in Shanghai and middle-class teens in rural cities, where incomes remain low.
Li Ning formed a 20-year alliance with Italian sportswear company Lotto Sport in August 2008, giving the Chinese company exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and sell Lotto products in the mainland.
A Li Ning mass-market sportswear clothing and accessories brand called Z-do sells in supermarkets and hypermarkets such as Walmart.
Li Ning hired Interpublic's McCann Erickson, Beijing, to oversee creative for Lotto in China. WPP's Bates Asia network handles advertising for Li Ning overseas. Media planning and buying is done by Publicis-owned Starcom Mediavest.
The company's business "has more than doubled in two years. Key for them has been world-class marketing, above and below the line," Mr. Paull said.
Brand revamp in late 2010
While Li Ning's market share has increased in China, the company is concerned about future growth. A new look for the brand and retail stores will be unveiled later this year.
Fang ShihWei is Li Ning's chief marketing officer for China.
"The young generation is still talking about Nike. They think Li Ning is not a brand that belongs to them, it's for their parents. That's not something we like to see," Mr. Fang said. "We want to rejuvenate this brand to give it a fresh look for all consumers."
In the last two years, Li Ning has hired a new senior management team, mostly young, bright, energetic executives in their 30s trained by western agencies or advertisers in China and overseas. Even Li Ning's CEO, Zhang Zhiyong, is just 41.
Mr. Fang, for example, is a Taiwan native who worked at Leo Burnett, Taipei. Abel Wu, who took over as general manager of the Lotto brand in China two years ago, joined Li Ning in 2004. Before that, he spent nine years at Procter & Gamble Co. overseeing brands like Pampers, Crest, Olay, Whisper and Zest for China's largest advertiser.
Unusually for a Chinese company, Li Ning also employs a handful of foreigners from countries like the U.S., Germany and Singapore at its corporate headquarters, a stylish, sprawling campus of low-rise buildings connected by pathways that resemble a running track.
Overseas sales
While updating its image at home, Li Ning is pushing to get its products into overseas markets.
"Our biggest challenge is convincing major distributors because of our newcomer status. When we approach them, they all have major questions for us: How will you build your brand in our market? What marketing resources will you put in this market?" Mr. Fang said.
In new markets, Li Ning sponsors local athletes and teams, and builds events around sports like badminton, table tennis and basketball.
That strategy works in Asia and could succeed in Asian communities in the West, where table tennis and badminton are popular. But it may be a tough sell to American and European consumers.
Logo and slogan
Li Ning has two other problems in the West. To many foreign consumers, its logo looks very similar to Nike's Swoosh.
The Chinese company says its logo was designed in a contest in 1990, and is meant to resemble both the letter "L" and a patriotic red flag.
Li Ning's logo -- too close to the Nike Swoosh?
Also, Li Ning's slogan "Anything is possible" is very similar to Adidas' tagline, "Impossible is nothing." (The Chinese company is often accused of copying, but Li Ning's tagline was created first.)
As Li Ning makes bigger moves overseas, it will have to deal with these issues to build a brand from the ground up.
"Figuring out how to differentiate ourselves from our competition keeps me awake at night," Mr. Fang admitted. And that's not just Nike and Adidas, but also other Chinese brands like Anta that also are expanding quickly.
"This market is overloaded with competition, and it's too expensive," he said. "There's a lot of pressure."
news update
BEIJING — China said on Thursday that its economy rose by 10.7 percent in fourth quarter compared with a year ago, as the country continued to surge forward even as many other nations are still trying to punch through the global recession. That was up from a revised growth rate of 9.1 percent in the third quarter.
Over the whole year, the Chinese gross domestic product grew 8.7 percent, surpassing the 8 percent growth-rate benchmark that Chinese leaders assert is necessary to maintain social stability. If China keeps up that growth rate, it will very likely replace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy by the end of this year.
The National Bureau of Statistics also announced on Thursday that industrial production in December increased by 18.5 percent and retail sales rose by 17.5 percent. The December consumer price index grew by 1.9 percent and producer price index by 1.7 percent. The numbers were generally in line with earlier predictions.
Chinese officials are clearly worried about inflation and bubbles, especially in real estate, but the latest economic statistics will no doubt drive the triumphant tone of recent official pronouncements on the Chinese economy.
Much of that commentary has emphasized the contrast between China’s relatively successful weathering of the global recession and the severe downturn that still afflicts Western economies, including the United States.
A front-page signed editorial on Jan. 5 in the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, praised the party for its far-sighted economic policies and lauded the Chinese economic model.
“When the financial crisis forced the neoliberal economic system into a dead end, the shortcomings of the capitalist system were exposed for all to see,” the editorial said. “But a China that was pushed to a crossroads proved its ‘national capabilities’ in taking on a crisis by answering with the advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.”
Economic numbers released on Thursday also showed China’s export industry was still responsible for much of its growth. Some Chinese economists have said China must restructure its economy so that it begins to rely more on domestic consumption and less on exports, which are greatly affected by the overall health of the world economy.
Chinese officials remain concerned about inflation, excessive bank lending and loan defaults. In recent weeks, they have acted on several fronts to address those issues.
On Jan. 7, the central bank raised a key interest rate, the first time it had done so in nearly five months. Five days later, regulators ordered state-owned banks to set aside a larger share of their deposits as reserves against failed loans. Investors and analysts had not expected such a move until the second quarter of this year.
On Wednesday, Bank of China ordered its credit officials to halt any new renminbi loans in an attempt to curb overheated fast lending growth in the first few weeks of this month.
Economists said China would move to further tighten bank lending to confront inflationary fears and swelling asset bubbles.
“The first half of 2010 is likely to be characterized by gradual policy tightening, chiefly through administrative measures,” Jing Ulrich, director of the China equities and commodities division of J. P. Morgan in Hong Kong, wrote in a report on Thursday. “Concerns about capital inflows and the health of the export sector will limit the scope for interest rate tightening, but we do expect to see a moderation in new bank loans and the use of reserve requirements to manage the volume of money supply.”
Other countries, especially the United States, have also said the artificially low value of the renminbi gives China an unfair advantage in exports, and governments will most likely press China much harder this year to strengthen its currency.
Over the whole year, the Chinese gross domestic product grew 8.7 percent, surpassing the 8 percent growth-rate benchmark that Chinese leaders assert is necessary to maintain social stability. If China keeps up that growth rate, it will very likely replace Japan as the world’s second-largest economy by the end of this year.
The National Bureau of Statistics also announced on Thursday that industrial production in December increased by 18.5 percent and retail sales rose by 17.5 percent. The December consumer price index grew by 1.9 percent and producer price index by 1.7 percent. The numbers were generally in line with earlier predictions.
Chinese officials are clearly worried about inflation and bubbles, especially in real estate, but the latest economic statistics will no doubt drive the triumphant tone of recent official pronouncements on the Chinese economy.
Much of that commentary has emphasized the contrast between China’s relatively successful weathering of the global recession and the severe downturn that still afflicts Western economies, including the United States.
A front-page signed editorial on Jan. 5 in the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, praised the party for its far-sighted economic policies and lauded the Chinese economic model.
“When the financial crisis forced the neoliberal economic system into a dead end, the shortcomings of the capitalist system were exposed for all to see,” the editorial said. “But a China that was pushed to a crossroads proved its ‘national capabilities’ in taking on a crisis by answering with the advantage of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.”
Economic numbers released on Thursday also showed China’s export industry was still responsible for much of its growth. Some Chinese economists have said China must restructure its economy so that it begins to rely more on domestic consumption and less on exports, which are greatly affected by the overall health of the world economy.
Chinese officials remain concerned about inflation, excessive bank lending and loan defaults. In recent weeks, they have acted on several fronts to address those issues.
On Jan. 7, the central bank raised a key interest rate, the first time it had done so in nearly five months. Five days later, regulators ordered state-owned banks to set aside a larger share of their deposits as reserves against failed loans. Investors and analysts had not expected such a move until the second quarter of this year.
On Wednesday, Bank of China ordered its credit officials to halt any new renminbi loans in an attempt to curb overheated fast lending growth in the first few weeks of this month.
Economists said China would move to further tighten bank lending to confront inflationary fears and swelling asset bubbles.
“The first half of 2010 is likely to be characterized by gradual policy tightening, chiefly through administrative measures,” Jing Ulrich, director of the China equities and commodities division of J. P. Morgan in Hong Kong, wrote in a report on Thursday. “Concerns about capital inflows and the health of the export sector will limit the scope for interest rate tightening, but we do expect to see a moderation in new bank loans and the use of reserve requirements to manage the volume of money supply.”
Other countries, especially the United States, have also said the artificially low value of the renminbi gives China an unfair advantage in exports, and governments will most likely press China much harder this year to strengthen its currency.
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