ARTICLE
IN FINANSAVISEN
THE CHINESE ARE COMING
OCTOBER 19, 2006
The potential in the Chinese market is enormous.
The secret of success for western companies is to understand
the culture.
There is no magic in succeeding in China
according to Managing partner Lindsay Esler in the Deacons firm.
Recently Esler and his colleague Cynthia
Chung were in Norway, and they eagerly spoke about the Chinese
market.
"With over 1.3 billion people - China
offers huge possibilities", says Esler.
"But with opportunities follows challenges, and it is not
necessarily easy to familiarize yourself with the Chinese culture
and legislation."
"There are over 1,200 laws that regulate
intellectual property rights. This is quite sensational, when
the laws in this field are barely 20 years old", says Esler.
Old man brand
The question is how the western companies
shall take on such a challenge. Many confine themselves to just
registering the logo and the original name, which quickly can
prove to be a mistake.
"It is very important to adapt to the
Chinese norms", says Esler.
Because even though the western culture long
ago entered Asia, it is an undeniable fact that most Asians
neither understand nor use the Roman alphabet.
The result is that the Chinese associate
western trade marks with symbols and pictures - which can give
strange and unfortunate effects.
"The trade mark Quaker is often referred
to as the "old man brand", while Ralph Lauren is associated
with a horse", says Esler.
Polite by nature
So what does "Chinese norms" actually
imply? Esler says that the Chinese by nature are kind and polite,
and that they have a very long memory.
"I come from New Zealand, and the Chinese
still remember quite well that New Zealand played an active
role in China's negotiations regarding WTO membership. The culture
is generous; if you give something, you will always get something
in return", he says.
Furthermore he recommends that you obtain
a business contact. This to both give information regarding
local legislation, but also because the Chinese solve their
problems through negotiations and dialogue.
"You rarely get anywhere by quoting
laws", he underlines.
Continent
In size, China is in itself a continent with
31 provinces, 650 cities and 48,000 districts. Six different
dialects are spoken, and even though these are so different
that they can not be understood, China has one joint written
language.
"Therefore you should always register
a brand name with Chinese characters in addition to the original
logo", says Esler and refers to Coca-Cola as an example
of a company that has understood the value of this.
