The latest economic data from China has some mixed signals. GDP is growing, although that growth rate has slowed a little bit from Q1 to Q3 of this year. Retail spending is also growing relative to 2024 but again, the growth rate is dropping as the months go by and retail spending growth drops belowContinue reading “Growing…but not growing?”
Author Archives: Sriram@Searchlight
How China’s “Near-Perfect Competition” market changes brand strategies
When I first started to study economics, one of the concepts that caught my imagination was “perfect competition”. While there are many detailed explanations of what this is, perfect competition is essentially a market with the following characteristics: Chinese E-Commerce: The “Near-Perfect” Competition Analogy While working on brands in China, I’ve often been blown awayContinue reading “How China’s “Near-Perfect Competition” market changes brand strategies”
Famous Chinese brands you’ve never heard of (part 2)
Often, when I refer to a famous Chinese brand in conversation with someone who doesn’t live here, I get a look of bemusement. To try and create greater familiarity for those living elsewhere, we’ll periodically profile some of the prominent brands and businesses that we believe will be household names across the world soon. ThisContinue reading “Famous Chinese brands you’ve never heard of (part 2)”
Famous Chinese brands you’ve never heard of
Often, when I refer to a famous Chinese brand in conversation with someone who doesn’t live here, I get a look of bemusement. To try and create greater familiarity for those living elsewhere, we’ll periodically profile some of the prominent brands and businesses that we believe will be household names across the world soon. We’llContinue reading “Famous Chinese brands you’ve never heard of”
Marketing in a Pandemic – the need for business model reinvention
COVID-19 has been with us for about a year now. In that year, companies like Zoom have gone stratospheric. E-commerce and food delivery have prospered. Online trainers, home gym equipment and virtual learning have all been much in demand. Netflix has done very well indeed. At the same time, some businesses have suffered. Anything relatedContinue reading “Marketing in a Pandemic – the need for business model reinvention”
3 Top Tips on picking a new agency in the new year
It’s January and many clients’ thoughts will soon turn to the year ahead. Often, this is when a decision is made to call a pitch, evaluate different agencies and choose one to work with for the next couple of years (at least!) Based on my experience running pitches for clients over the last 3 years,Continue reading “3 Top Tips on picking a new agency in the new year”
The empirical approach to defining a target audience – Spray, Learn, Focus
For the first 20 years of my working life, I was in an advertising or media agency. In our interactions with clients, very early on, there would be a defined target audience that we set out to create communication for or buy media in order to reach. Usually, the definition of that audience was basedContinue reading “The empirical approach to defining a target audience – Spray, Learn, Focus”
3 problems with the procurement approach to media buying – and why the partnership approach is better
Long ago (when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and I was a young lad skipping carefree through the meadows, placing a media buy here and there as I went) media agencies were treated as partners by their clients. We were co-owners of their successes and failures and while we never forgot that we were running ourContinue reading “3 problems with the procurement approach to media buying – and why the partnership approach is better”
What kind of agency do you need? (Thoughts on eliminating the middlemen in media)
Over the last 3 years I’ve been involved in about 18 agency selection projects with clients – where we help them evaluate and select an agency to manage their media. (By the end of this year I’ll have seen a few more of these projects). Across all these projects I’ve noticed one very consistent patternContinue reading “What kind of agency do you need? (Thoughts on eliminating the middlemen in media)”
China’s Advertiser-Unfriendly Digital Media Ecosystem
There is one profound difference between the digital media landscape in China and everywhere else. The two key players who control most desirable digital advertising inventory / publishers in China do not depend on advertising for their revenue.This simple fact makes it easy to understand why, unlike Google, Facebook, Twitter or ad-exchanges elsewhere in theContinue reading “China’s Advertiser-Unfriendly Digital Media Ecosystem”
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