Jacob and Joseph Cooke | Big Data in China and Branding Through Experience not Presence

Jacob and Joseph talk us through the beginnings of WPIC and how operations are handled between their original office in Vancouver and their current head office in Beijing. They discuss how company branding changes as the dynamic between the target market and the business itself evolves. In this case, WPIC started out as an SEO service by the Cooke brothers and evolved to become a full-service technology and marketing organization.

Brands are looking to China to “move the growth needle”, according to Joseph. More companies today seek partnership opportunities that allow for more direct sales of products and services in order to preserve as much margin as possible. Considering how large the Chinese market is, there is still a lot of untapped opportunity in the country.

The Cooke brothers also address fears of Chinese companies “copying” or creating “fakes” of a company’s products. Joseph says that, while this issue dissuades many from entering the Chinese market, “some people look at it as a compliment and an indicator that there's clearly demand [if it’s] worth doing the faking.” He says the solution can be broken down into two steps: creating visibility and taking action. With WPIC’s data-gathering software, Discripto, for example, Jacob and Joseph can pinpoint every single case of copyright infringement and, from there, take the necessary steps to get rid of blatant duplication and fakers.