Posts in Avela Partners

Big-Small Data

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

Data mining is big business with tremendous marketing potential. There is a multitude of uses for Big Data, but in the case of marketing, countless business transactions, social media posts and other sources are often sifted through to identify individuals who represent likely consumers of a product.

Knowing your customers’ habits is key to reaching them, so a profile of your likely customer is a critical tool in your marketing toolbox. Big Data looks at the daunting totality of information out there. Algorithms dig into the data and sort through it all to identify trends to create a customer profile. You get information such as where they live, their income, whether they shop online, viewing habits, etc.

This can help you make some informed China marketing decisions. For instance, should you advertise on broadcast television or online media? It represents the science of marketing, but not the craft of marketing or the art of marketing.

That’s where Small Data comes in. It works to understand why a customer buys your product or a competitor’s product. Say your competitor offers their product cheaper and in a variety of colors and the customer ultimately buys from them. What do you need to do to get the sale the next time? Maybe you need to lower your price—or maybe you simply need to offer your product in red. Small Data can help you make that decision.

The Avela Consulting Response
Avela Consulting accesses the extensive data bases tracking Chinese consumer activity to provide data relevant to making informed decisions regarding your China marketing. Both Big and Small Data, properly used to identify and target likely buyers in China are key resources in effectively accessing this market.

CPA-Tax

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

While in many ways CPA services are the same in China as everywhere else, the ways that are different can bring your Chinese operation to a standstill will little notice. Accounting for your China operation must be entrusted to someone who understands the ins and outs of the system and knows where the pitfalls hide.

Furthermore, they need to stay abreast of changes in accounting and tax codes. Ideally, they would know when they are coming. Beijing can seemingly change the rules overnight. One has to keep on top of things in order to make the appropriate adjustments quickly.

Perhaps most importantly, proper filing and compliance in these areas are essential to being able to remove as much money from the country as legally possible.

The Avela Consulting Response
The Avela Consulting team includes experienced China CPA service providers with the necessary structural support to keep your operation in China compliant in accounting and tax matters. Knowing your goals for the China market and properly positioning your accounts is key in making sure funds in China are assessable as they are needed.

Legal Consulting

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

Making sure all your legal ducks are in order is essential to accessing the China market. Chinese business structure is complex and it is easy to unwittingly “paint yourself into a corner” that limits future development for your company’s presence in China. These corners can be very difficult, and often very expensive, to escape from once you are in them.

Furthermore, while the Chinese government is opening market access to large and medium-size foreign businesses, that does not necessarily mean that bureaucracies on local levels are equipped or trained to ease the process for people unfamiliar with the necessary forms and procedures.

Violations of official protocols can result in your business, or some aspect of it, simply being shut down in China with no recourse. It is critical that this aspect of conducting business in China is properly done from the start.

Following proper procedures in the proper order is essential to patent and trademark protection and other intellectual property safeguards. Of course, the China government has had a poor record of IP protection in the past, but that is changing. Nevertheless, you are unlikely to get satisfaction in Chinese courts if you do not have the proper paperwork already on file if a problem arises. Having the proper paperwork on file in China can also serve as a deterrent to infringement and other abuses.

Clients should also be aware that China also has its own interpretation of what constitutes enforceable contracts.Western contracts are often designed to cover every possible contingency in perpetuity, while Chinese contracts tend to be considered for shorter terms, defining the initial expectations of both parties. The understanding is that contracts will be revisited and revised with the benefit of experience as business relationships move forward.

The Avela Consulting Response
The Avela Consulting team advises you on proper path through the government maze to realize your goals and assists with filling out the paperwork. We will also suggests extra steps recommended to allow for future growth potential.

The Avela team will create a foundation to serve you well as you move forward. This allows you to focus on other aspects that are more germane to your mission of bringing your products and services to the China Market. We also have experience in contract negotiations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and can provide the necessary cultural bridge for profitable business relationships.

Branding/Design

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

Createc is one of China’s premier cutting edge Branding agencies. The Emily’s full Introduction and case 4 study videos below are a testament as to why we have chosen Createc as one of our strategic partners. Creatic has a vibrant young vibe that matches the sophisticated young market demographic in China. Partners like Createc along with our other critical partners services, coordinated thought Avela’s “right fit” sourcing model can place you firmly in the China market.

Sales

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

Obviously, the objective of entering the China consumer market is to derive sales from its population of some 1.4 billion people. While this can be challenging for reasons detailed in our other resource papers, it is made easier by a culture seemingly devoted to commerce.

There are major decisions to be made before going into the Chinese market, however, and our Avela Consulting Feasibility Study is designed to make those decisions informed ones. For instance, is the best vehicle for achieving your goals e-commerce or full market penetration? Decisions like this drive decisions regarding sales down the line.

The majority of sales in China are digital, relying upon online payment service providers such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, UnionPay and others. It is essential to transact through these services, but they also provide near-instantaneous reporting so results of marketing promotions can be tracked and their effectiveness measured.

With such a large population, launching a product on the national level is impractical, so a coordinated regional approach is typically advised. With social media playing such a large role in the country, however, it can be assumed that once your product is rolled out in one area, your competitors will be alerted and may start their own roll outs in other regions to capture the market there. This is one of the reasons we stress the value of our IP protection legal services. Nothing is guaranteed, but filing the proper paperwork and securing China patents should deter such practices and provide legal recourse should they occur.

Product launch events are a common occurrence in China’s larger urban areas and can be quite effective in creating buzz among your target audience. Such events should be considered as “must haves” for any rollout, and should be carefully and creatively planned to have the most impact for the budget. Social media, as discussed in another resource paper, plays a key role in this, and KOL (Key Opinion Leader) participation is often a component.

The Avela Consulting Response
Avela Consulting is all about generating sales for your products or services in China. The team assembled for your account will be hand-picked for your product and goals. The sales team is at the center, but the Avela Consulting value is in the team support dedicated to your success, and providing attention to all the unique cultural and official details that must be address for a successful venture.

Social Media

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

ACCEL BRANDZ provides comprehensive market entry support for any international brand or company looking to enter the Chinese market. We focus on incubating a new brand to Chinese market with market intelligence, strategic set up and execution. We are differentiated from other brand agency or consulting firm. At ACCEL BRANDZ we focus on result – client’s business result and sustainable growth in China, both short term and long term.

Our branding + channels+ social media approach has helped many international and domestic new brands grow from zero to one and shortened the market development time by at least 30%. Incubating a new brand is the core strength of our company, through our 5-part market entry framework, including market potential assessment, market entry research, market entry strategy, market entry operation, and acceleration investment.

The key to success for a new brand coming to China is how to smartly set up its social media strategy, especially for consumer brands. Social media branding and social commerce is the most effective and efficient way to get business as well as brand recognition.

E-Commerce rises as a result of growth of social media relationships and high-quality platform-based product recommendations (such as RED). KOLs played a role that broke the traditional communication pattern in the social media ecosystem and turned it into the “decentralized” social media communication model, in which each consumer can speak and transmit information more freely online. And some leaders are able to grasp the public needs and to address the current hot issues. Such leaders stand out and become KOLs. If these KOLs recommend a product, the followers are easily convinced and make the purchase immediately, this is what we called “conversion”.

At ACCELBRANDS, our team, knowhow of social media ecosystem, and resource can assure our client to achieve sales result with much lower market investment in shorter time.

A Case：German anti-hair loss shampoo

A branded German anti-hair loss shampoo entered in China market on 2015 with its unique selling point of anti-hair loss function by caffeine technology targeting young man. 12 months after launch, the brand made very little progress and very few sales limited at one premium supermarket only. After consulting with ACCELBRANDZ team, we clearly identified the brand challenges (lack of consumer education both on hair loss problem and caffeine as ingredient) and business challenges (online distribution), and based on that we provided a market entry strategy with both marketing solution and business solution.

Marketing solution:

Education focused marketing was essential

Data-driven and integrated media campaigns (online to offline).

Social commerce as the key driver for brand image building combined with ROI

Business solution:

Prioritizing online distribution channel development

Expanding major offline premium retailer partnerships

Our achievement：

Brand started to take off from end of 2016, and annual sales revenue reached 3.5million Euro in 2018 with only 4 SKUs. The brand is now recognized as No.1 imported brand on anti-hair loss treatment segment, and penetrated to main e-commerce platforms (Tmall, JD) and social commerce (over 80 KOL’s social commerce stores), and offline supermarkets in China.

Marketing Strategy

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet
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Customer Service

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

Customer service before, during and after the sale is a critical when operating in the China market. It is a competitive environment and customers are wary because of the country’s earlier history of over-hyped, poor quality, locally made products. As new businesses and products appear, their reputation for customer service is one of the criteria that Chinese consumers use to evaluate a product and poor performance in this area can doom a roll out.

Chinese expectations are high, and it is vitally important for a brand to have a great reputation for customer service. This is where the orders are processed and the money collected, so naturally it must be in synch with Chinese purchasing trends which rely heavily upon online payment service providers such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay.

It is also the place where the returns are processed and refunds are distributed. If a business falls short in its customer service, it quickly becomes known through social media which is perhaps the single greatest influence in Chinese consumer purchases.

China is opening its markets to large and medium sized foreign businesses, but those business are essentially on their own in finding their path is accessing the Chinese consumer and service after the sale.

The Avela Consulting Response

Entering a market as vast and complex as China requires top notch, in-country support that is responsive to quickly changing consumer buying trends. This not only requires constantly staying on top of consumer buying technology, it also means promptly meeting customer expectations on service.

Avela Consulting has the talent on the ground in China to do both.

We can assemble a team dedicated to your product and as responsive as you need with email, phone and chat services to quickly respond to all aspects of the sales process. We consider customer service to be the edge that makes a difference to your overall branding strategy in China.

Fulfillment

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

Anyone currently making and selling a product in the U.S. already knows that fulfillment is a key component to a successful operation and that customer expectations vary by country and region. It stands to reason that in the hyper-charged economy of China these variations tend towards the extreme in large, densely populated  urban areas.

Highly motivated and competitive delivery workforces serving Chinese urban settings have raised expectations within a consumer market coping with its own pressures. There is no shortage of delivery services willing to undercut competitors’ price and delivery time and in some cases same day delivery is the norm. Naturally, in such an environment vendors come and go and can be absorbed by others, but customer expectations remain high.

The product and price has much to do with setting expectations and the logistics of fulfillment within cities and may require multiple delivery methods and vendors. Of course, promises must also be backed up by readily available inventory. In a land where social media reigns supreme a business cannot afford to have its brand or product reputation sullied online for falling short in the execution of fulfillment.

The Avela Consulting Response

The factors determining the best solution to fulfillment issues are too numerous to allow in-depth detail analysis here. Suffice to note that an “if, then” decision tree will drive much of the discussion. For instance, questions such as, “Will the market strategy be based upon  cross border e-commerce or full market penetration?” need to be answered.

The product itself and client goals will lead to the identification of regional market selections, where existing fulfillment infrastructure may present acceptable multiple vendors to choose from or there may be only “one game in town.” With multiple vendors, items like the location of central hubs, staffing and delivery vehicles come into play.

Whatever the decisions, Avela Consulting relies on in-China resources to select fulfillment vendors that are the proper fit for our client’s market niche.

As with most endeavors in China, relationships are key: we need to be able to count on vendors fully understanding expectations and following through on commitments. This cannot be taken for granted in China and face-to-face, Chinese-to-Chinese interaction is the hedge against potentially crippling surprises. In a similar vein, if a problem develops it is crucial that we be informed as quickly as possible to implement a “plan B.” (The desire to “save face” is deeply rooted in Chinese culture and must be reckoned with in advance; this is another advantage in developing relationships.)

For these reasons, and more, we at Avela Consulting have found that it is usually best to resist the temptation to always contract with the lowest bidder for fulfillment services. It is more important to find the right fit, then negotiate the best deal and renegotiate, as appropriate, as time goes on. Too much is riding on these services and the value-add of having confidence in a business relationship trumps short-term and short-sighted savings.

Having said that, it may seem counterintuitive to add that a one vendor strategy may not be the best option within a marketing region. Having two or more vendors may provide that “plan B” in the event of some sort of failure, or one may be better suited for a region than another. In such cases, it is usually beneficial for vendors to understand the rationale for multiple contracts and that they do not need to fear being pitted against one another.

Investment Partners

February 1st, 2019 Posted by Avela Partners No Comment yet

An Avela Consulting Marketing Component Resource Paper

This paper will discuss the title topic as it applies in the China Market and will explain how Avela Consulting responds with strategies custom-structured for individual client needs. These Resource Papers provide a preview of the issues addressed in the Avela Consulting Feasibility Study that will be prepared for your individual needs.

Backstory

China is opening its consumer market to outside large and medium-sized businesses, but any concern contemplating entering the Chinese market should consider whether taking on a local investment partner would provide substantial benefit to the enterprise. Any attempt to access Chinese consumers requires opening the right doors, and the right partner may be able to open them quicker and at less expense.

The optimal investment partner provides more than funding, although that is certainly important. A partner within the Chinese market can provide synergy, valuable connections, co-op advertising possibilities and open distribution channels, to name just a few advantages.

Of course, there is risk in any partnership arrangement, but this type of relationship is not unusual in China. Thorough background investigations and clear understandings of expectations often result in partnerships that enable foreign businesses to realize goals quicker and more profitably than they would obtain by “going it alone” in China.

Do you go it alone or do you need a Chinese partner in China? One that can not only bring financial support, but valuable experience as well. Partners can open distribution channels and relationships that could be invaluable. This is a question that will eventually need to be answered as part of your plan to address the Chinese market. Avela can help make this assessment, identifying the kind of partner you might need and assist in finding the right fit and negotiating a fair deal that will serve both parties well.

The Avela Consulting Response

After learning a client’s goals for the China market, Avela Consulting may propose that the client consider an investment partner as an expedient to attaining those goals. (Or perhaps the client has already reached that conclusion independently.)

Avela can assist in the decision and selection process by identifying the best type of partner for the situation searching for the right fit within the available pool of investors. We will provide discrete, in-country background investigations to make sure the client has eyes wide open when making the choice.

We also assist in contract negotiations which require a reckoning of cultural differences. For instance, Chinese parties tend approach such commitments differently than is typical in the West. Rather than create documents intended to cover every possible contingency in perpetuity, Chinese business people tend to seek a contract that establishes the initial expectations of both parties, with the understanding that it will be revisited and revised with the benefit of experience. Avela Consultants has experience in contract negotiations on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and provides the necessary cultural bridge.

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