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the current global market environment poses great challenges to all companies. how can chinese brands better "go global"? how can international giants do a good job of "localization"? on september 14, at the "2024 third global brand economy conference" held at the 2024 china international fair for trade in services, representatives from leading companies in the automotive, jewelry, beauty, skin care, and software industries expressed their opinions on the topic of "brands and global development" and launched a collision of ideas.

chinese brands accelerate their “going global”

marketing guru al ries once said, "you make money with your brand, not with your product." the essence of chinese companies' participation in global competition is that their own brand influence has been greatly enhanced. in recent years, chinese auto brands have gone abroad and into the world. in the field of new energy, china has been ranked first in global sales for 9 consecutive years, successfully transforming from made in china to created in china.

a beijing business daily reporter learned at the 2024 services trade fair that hongqi, a subsidiary of china faw group, has launched five global products and will launch at least 12 new products in the future. at next month's paris motor show, two new energy models of hongqi will officially enter the european market.

in terms of global product layout, liu hongtao, general manager of china faw group hongqi overseas sales company, said that since entering the european market in september 2021, hongqi's annual overseas sales have maintained an annual growth rate of more than 100%, and the brand's international influence is continuing to increase. "at present, hongqi has covered 28 countries and regions around the world, with a total of 128 stores, basically achieving coverage of core markets. in the next five years, hongqi will accelerate the implementation of the 100 million plan, that is, to deploy in more than 100 countries, open more than 1,000 hongqi image stores, and have more than 10,000 terminal service personnel."

another chinese automaker, geely group, has an earlier overseas layout and has formed a "combination punch" of multiple brands and multiple markets. in the first half of 2024, geely auto group's overseas sales reached 197,400 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 67%, which is twice the export volume of china's automobiles. yang xueliang, senior vice president of geely holding group, said, "in the process of globalization, a very important experience is to adhere to independent research and development, and also be good at collaborative innovation. geely group has comprehensively promoted the globalization of the entire industrial chain through international cooperation methods such as technology licensing, r&d cooperation, talent support, and localized operations, including comprehensive collaborative development with volvo, which has laid a solid foundation for geely's global development; joined hands with mercedes-benz to jointly promote the electrification transformation of the smart brand; established a joint venture with renault group to develop efficient and energy-saving hybrid powertrain technologies and products for the global market; and developed in collaboration with proton motors, strengthening strategic collaboration through the all-round introduction of capital technology and talents."

chinese companies also have a place in the global jewelry industry. as a 95-year-old brand, chow tai fook group chief brand officer chen yibang shared two experiences in the process of internationalization, "first, we need to identify target consumers. for example, in the early stages of developing the singapore and malaysian markets, more than half of our revenue came from tourists, especially those from the mainland. secondly, after we have a consumer base, we gradually develop the local market, while facing the challenges of excellent local jewelry brands. our strategy is to use local connections to sell products in a fully compliant and correct way of doing business. therefore, it is very important to have the assistance of local people in the process of going overseas."

zhang yubo, general manager of china national jewelry import & export co., ltd., said that last year the entire jewelry industry exceeded 800 billion yuan in market size, achieving a 14% growth. in terms of import and export, the four words "chinese jewelry" have become core competitiveness, but in the future chinese companies will need to continue to build brand influence and create innovation capabilities around personalized needs. "everyone is looking for personalized products, especially jewelry. everyone has the need to wear and give gifts. with thousands of people and thousands of faces, companies need to explore the social and emotional attributes behind the products."

international giants are good at "local management"

at the paris olympics, french brands such as hermès, lv, and chaumet showed their prowess and left a deep impression on people. this year marks the 27th year that the french brand l'oreal has entered the chinese market. under the market impact of local beauty brands, it is crucial for foreign brands to learn how to "localize" well.

"in the initial stage, l'oréal introduced the concept of international beauty on the basis of fully understanding and respecting local culture, thus taking root in china, laying a solid foundation for long-term development, and promoting the beautiful encounter between chinese and foreign cultures." lan zhenzhen, president of public affairs of l'oréal north asia and china, said, "this year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between china and france. l'oréal paris has launched a series of cultural exchange activities with beauty as the bond. in april, l'oréal paris and jingdezhen longzhu pavilion jointly launched a special commemorative gift box for the 60th anniversary and jointly initiated the series of activities of 'heart-to-heart for a family, and word-of-mouth for a lifetime'. we hope to further become a bond for cultural exchange and mutual learning, promote the continuous expansion of the 'beauty' ecosystem, and open up a new pattern for the development of the beauty industry."

another skincare brand dedicated to anti-aging is swiss rebeauté, which has been established for nearly 40 years and has sold its products in more than 30 countries around the world. sun yahong, president of swiss rebeauté china, believes that as an international high-end skincare brand, the most important thing is the product itself. "rebeauté has always devoted all its energy to product research and development. it is one of the few brands in the world that integrates research and development, production and sales. we do not require an upper limit on the research and development funds for the laboratory. scientists do not need to worry about time and funds, but only need to focus all their efforts on the product. at the same time, rebeauté has very high requirements for environmental protection. its products are green and sustainable as the primary goal. both the outer packaging and the inner packaging use degradable ingredients, and it has obtained the 5a green production enterprise qualification in switzerland."

at the same time, sun yahong also mentioned that it is very important to provide a panoramic product experience and service. at present, ruiyan has cooperated with about 30 high-end hotels around the world, such as st. regis, mandarin oriental and shangri-la. in the ruiyan hotel suite at mandarin oriental, consumers can enjoy the afternoon tea provided by ruiyan and receive ruiyan's care to spend a wonderful day. in retail stores, consumers can experience the products while enjoying the value-added services provided by ruiyan. the conversion rate of this experience is very high. nearly 40% of consumers buy ruiyan's products after enjoying the services.

as the world's largest computer software provider, shang rong, vice president of operations, communications and public affairs of microsoft's asia pacific r&d group, provided another idea for internationalization: "the path that international brands took in china in the early days was a process of 'acclimatization', that is, understanding the chinese market through localization. chinese companies have many opportunities to integrate into the global market, but building a brand is not a one-day job. in addition to products and services, what is more important is the brand's philosophy, mission, vision and values."

brand trust is key

the influence of a brand is linked to trust. according to the 2024 edelman trust barometer china report, edelman interviewed respondents from 28 countries around the world and conducted surveys on four types of institutions: businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations, and media. the report pointed out that this year china continued to lead in overall trust (79), ranking first among all the countries surveyed.

building brand trust is not a one-day job. yang xueliang believes that the key lies in improving modern governance capabilities and adhering to global compliance. on the one hand, we must practice the global corporate culture of "respect, adaptation, tolerance and integration"; on the other hand, we must build a three-tier governance structure of "shareholders' meeting, board of directors, and management." "geely continues to strengthen the construction of a modern corporate governance system, respect the laws, regulations and cultural values ​​of countries around the world, and collaborate and share with global partners on the premise of global compliance, participate in global market competition, and support cultural integration in all regions where geely invests and develops."

xing houyuan, former director of the china service outsourcing research center, said, "in the process of internationalization and globalization of service brands, customer satisfaction with service quality, timeliness, convenience, credibility, price, etc. is fundamental. in addition to service standards in line with international standards, what is more important is cultural integration. otherwise, it will be difficult to gain international visibility, reputation and loyalty."

in recent years, technological progress has accelerated the transformation of the global industrial society, and china's independent capabilities and international competitiveness in the field of technological innovation have become increasingly prominent. however, while technological innovation has brought new impetus to the development of the industry, it has also triggered a series of social risks and trust crises. the "2024 edelman trust survey china report" shows that nearly 40% of respondents worldwide believe that technological innovation and social change are too fast and not properly managed.

as a newly established startup, zhenggu encountered this problem. zhang xiangdong, chairman of zhenggu (beijing) agricultural development co., ltd., said, "my country's organic food regulations are very sound, but the development speed is slow. the biggest challenge comes from consumer trust." zhang xiangdong said that in china, the per capita consumption of the organic agriculture industry is about 9 euros, accounting for less than 1%. in fact, organic agriculture has very important value and can make certain contributions when facing problems such as climate change, biodiversity and pollution. for example, in terms of climate, organic agriculture can reduce carbon, fix carbon, and is also conducive to improving biodiversity, while also solving some pollution problems.

innovative change requires effective management to ensure its successful implementation. taking green energy, artificial intelligence, genetic medicine and genetically modified food as examples, relevant data show that if the innovation can be effectively regulated, the confidence and acceptance of global respondents will be greatly improved. at the same time, for all institutions, effectively addressing public concerns and actively communicating with the public is the key to gaining trust.

renowned economist frank h. knight once said, “known unknowns are risks, and unknown unknowns are uncertainties.” faced with the ever-changing global market, whether chinese companies are going global or international brands are deepening their presence in the chinese market, they all need to uphold integrity and innovate, and cultivate their internal strength.

beijing business daily reporter kong wenxie