The Negotiation

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.

For Amanda, who is involved in the client support side, gaining a deeper understanding of their experiences and identifying potential needs for their product is of the utmost importance.  Amanda also generates web analytics reports based on the client's website data that the company has collected.  Amanda talks about the changes in traffic and customer acquisition strategies in recent years, including marketing campaigns. Almost all B2C companies as well as some B2B companies, even in traditional industries, have been expanding and diversifying channels in an effort to broaden their marketing reach using social media campaigns and social media marketing. Amanda also speaks about how a lot of companies have built their own accounts on the popular Chinese social medias. Given the diversification of internet services, the ranking of social media giants in China has changed dramatically. Users moved on to newer platforms such as QQ, Weibo and WeChat in recent years, with the most up-and-coming of them being ByteDance. She goes on to say that people spend less time on search engines because people don't need to search anymore with the invention of machine learning. She then talks about companies in China having a unique relationship with customers and that brand loyalty is key. Building brand loyalty is hard and takes a tremendous amount of time and resources, but once built it is set in stone and hard to lose.  Amanda describes data-driven marketing and operations as the key to success in today's world, and not just in China. Omnichannel aggregation data is integrating into our websites, converting to massive insights. It’s the key to knowing our customers, knowing what they want and how to give it to them and on which platform and at what price. She also mentions that this data and insight is also what drives marketing decisions and direction. Finally, Amanda talks about how marketing and operations will go beyond digital, and how more advanced technology, including AI, VR, et cetera, will benefit people working in the industry in the very near future, with the widespread move to 5G playing a large role in that. She believes that we will enter the age of IoT, the internet of things. And IoE, internet of everything. And even AI IoT, combining AI technologies with IoT.

In this, our first-ever episode, we talk with David Sullivan, Managing Partner at Deo Navillus Global Solutions, about winning and losing in China, and what every brand needs to take care of on the home front before they make the leap into the digital Middle Kingdom. For a Westerner looking to have their product or service embraced in a foreign market such as China, a long period of branding is the first step. For David, it took a big investment in warehousing, sales and marketing staff, social media experts, engaging PR companies and celebrity influencers, and, most importantly, having local employees on board who know how to work the local market.Another consideration is knowing whether to be directly involved in operations in China or to serve a more advisory role, as David did. This choice should take into account who has representation rights and their level of understanding of how to nurture a connection between the brand and the consumer.David also speaks on the rise (and continuing rapid evolution) of e-commerce, or online retail, and making sure you have owners and investors who understand this relatively young economic landscape, because certain investments have to be taken that will not see an ROI for some time. For a Western business to enter the Chinese market, a large amount of trust and openness is required to make the business relationship, and of course, the business itself, work.The topic of registering your trademarks and patents is also brought up as a sometimes-overlooked step for Western businesses entering China. Considering the “trade war” between the current U.S. and Chinese administrations, not securing your IP from the very beginning will create a lot of (expensive) challenges down the road.Finally, David relates his experiences in making personal transactions in China, and his subsequent thoughts on how Alipay-type payment technologies are leading the way in the online retail space.

The host of The Negotiation, Todd Embley, breaks down what the show is all about and what you can expect to learn in this intriguing new podcast series brought to you by WPIC Marketing & Technologies.