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What Are Global Brands Doing Well Compared To ChineseManufacturers?

If Chinese manufacturers are interested in how to become a brand there will be many questions to answer.

What are global brands doing well that we're not?

What do we need to do to compete globally?

How do we become more 'international?'

Answer these questions, and you will know how to elevate yourselves from being merely 'another Chinesemanufacturer,' to being a well-known global brand.

Keep reading as Oxygen 2.0 lays out some of the key differences between what Chinese manufacturers andcompanies do to get sales and build their brand in comparison with global brands...

What Is The Global Image Of Chinese Manufacturers?

China is well-known for being a place to get 'cheap' products and goods.

Cheap is compelling for those who are looking for a bargain product at the lowest price possible, but there are manythings that it isn't:

Quality

Desirable

Reputable

Toothbrushes are cheap. Toilet paper is cheap. A kitchen cutting board is cheap.

We need all of these items, but do we get excited about them? No.

If we consider globally branded products like the Apple iPhone, Beats headphones, or Nike trainers, these aresomething that customers will pay a premium for.

They're all made in China, but they escape from the general feeling that they're cheap and lack quality as they havean established global brand.

Many manufacturers in China are also making OEM products because bigger brands are looking for low costcomponents to build their own products with.

But what happens if they don't renew their contract or find a new supplier?

It's also common for manufacturers and companies in China to market very passively, having a cursory presence on,say, Alibaba, but just waiting for new customers to find and come to them. Sending a mass EDM is also a standardmarketing practice, despite many emails going straight into spam folders worldwide. Despite these being inefficient,perhaps many local companies in China just don't have the know-how or expertise to go out there and find newoverseas customers in any other way!

Break Free

So being simply known as a manufacturer of cheap products, or being bound to other brands as just a supplier isn'tgoing to help you become a global brand.

There's simply too much a stake to risk staying like that.

Cheap goods aren't desirable, and so can be quickly forgotten or done without.

OEM manufacturers are expendable, especially if another cheaper option comes along.

Marketing passively won't cut it either:

You need to wait for business to find you

Many foreign customers won't use or find you on Alibaba

Purchased email lists can be trash

Most emails don't get delivered or read

Clearly things need to change in order to start becoming known outside of China.

What Do Global Brands Do That Chinese Manufacturers Aren't?

When learning how to become a brand that's recognised on a global scale Chinese companies can find themselves ata number of disadvantages.

Some of these drawbacks hold them back from becoming well-known internationally just as China isn't extremelywell-known as a place to visit in the international community (for business it is of course, but how many foreign people

visit Asia on holiday specifically to go to China?).

So if you want to play with the big boys, what should you be doing too?

1. Market In English

It may be that until now your company has had no need to speak or create any material in English.

Perhaps you set up an Alibaba page and have some sales staff who can speak a little and type English emails, but isthis limited ability really enough to help you to build bridges with the west and give foreign customers great servicethat will surprise and delight them?

Well-known Western brands create a lot of content in English, such as videos, blogs, podcasts, infographics, andmore. By spreading the word about themselves in English like this on the internet over time they build up their brand.

2. Market To Your Target Customers

You've heard the saying: "Jack of all trades, master of none" ? Don't be that guy.

The best-known brands globally are usually well-known for being very good at one thing - for instance, consider:

HP (Computers)

Ford (Cars)

Timberland (Footwear)

Nike (Sports Footwear)

Actually, all of these brands will create many different kinds of products, but they know what their ideal customer islooking for and markets to them accordingly playing to their strengths; specifically focussing on what they specialisein.

Consider Nike if you will. A huge banner of LeBron James wearing the latest $200 basketball boots is the 'Hollywoodpromotion' that many of their target customers will feel attracted by, and this makes sense as Nike is well-known forworking with the most excellent athletes on the planet.

Sports nuts who love awesome athletes and the newest shoe designs will be attracted, and they'll also be likely tospend the required amount on those expensive trainers. Therefore we see that Nike plays to its strengths, in this casebeing the place to go for elite sports shoes and clothing.

3. Focus On Your USPs

In the same way that established globally recognised brands will focus their marketing on their target customers' painpoints, they'll also lean on their USPs (unique selling points).

What makes you unique?

Perhaps you offer more for less? Maybe your products are made from a material that gives them special propertiesnot shared by those of your competitors? Perhaps you are licensed in a certain market?

Tell the world! Even if you simply manufacture smaller components or products, if someone, somewhere, needs them,then there will be a unique quality to yours that you can use to publicise your burgeoning brand.

4. Push The Envelope

Industry leading brands don't settle. They innovate.

Are you doing anything new to attract more customers, or just producing the same thing year after year.

If your business dictates that you don't need to change your products then that's fine, but you must find some way toinnovate, even if it's in the way that your marketing and operating.

5. Be Consistent

If you're producing products consistency is the key to repeat business.

McDonalds triumph because you can go to any of their restaurants on the planet and have the same meal with thesame quality.

This is exactly what foreign clients will expect from your products, no excuses.

6. Leverage The Internet

The great thing about today's marketing for manufacturers in China looking to become a brand abroad is that you canuse the internet to do for a very small investment, what it would have cost thousands of dollars to do using advertising,print, radio, TV, etc just a decade or so ago.

So even though you're in China, as long as you have the skills in place to market online to the West in English, youcan build yourself as a brand and get recognised by people many thousands of miles away.

You'll need to start marketing yourself on:

Facebook

Google +

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Twitter

and more...

But this ties in to the speaking in English part, because this is the English internet and anything you post there shouldalso be in English to appeal to the foreign audience.

The good thing is that, other than your time, it doesn't need to cost much, or anything! You may decide to spend

money on advertising later, such as on Facebook, but initially you can start making a name for yourself in theseplaces for free!

Are You Ready To Learn How To Become A Brand?

If becoming a well-known brand abroad is the future of your business, where do you start?

Well, a good starting point would be mastering the ability to create great English content about your products,manufacturing operations, or company and share it online.

This 'low-hanging fruit' is accessible, even in China, as all you really need is an internet connection, the ability tospeak English, and some ideas about what your ideal customers abroad would like to know about you in order to feelthat dealing with you would help solve their problems. Do this well, and over time you'll grow into a recognisablebrand overseas.

This is easier said than done.

Manufacturers in China for instance, may be well used to having an Alibaba page and sending out prospective EDMs,but this is quite a passive way of marketing to foreigners. Basically it's like throwing mud at a wall and seeing whatsticks.

Creating high quality content in English on your website and socially is in a different ballpark, and the social networksalso may not be familiar as they're not widely known in China (despite being crucial for finding new foreigncustomers).

So where do you turn for help?

If you're starting out on your journey to becoming a recognised brand in the West you'll need to do a lot of thingsdifferently, but do you have the necessary time, experience, and staff to succeed with this project?

Oxygen 2.0 is a bilingual Chinese and English-speaking marketing team who have decades of experience in helpingChinese manufacturers become brands and market themselves to the West effectively.

Click below to request a FREE website, branding, and marketing assessment where we will examine yourcurrent situation and offer free advice which your business can use to improve its sales abroad:

Posted by Adrian Leighton on Mon 30 Mar, 2015

Adrian has been in China for 7 years! He is experienced in all things inbound marketing, social media,blogging, and SEO. When at play he enjoys weight-training, reading, watching TV shows with his wife,and baking!

Topics: chinese manufacturers