BrandZ_2015_China_Top100_Report_EN

Part 1 | Introduction - Highlights
TOP 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands 2015
HIGHLIGHTS | Cross Category Trends
Changing government policies
and demographics drive trends
MOBILE
More brands interact on
mobile devices
Mobile phone users totaled
over 1.2 billion, 92.6 percent of
China’s population, at the end
of August 2014, according to
China’s Ministry of Industry and
Technology (MIIT).
And the China Internet Network
Information Center (CNNIC)
estimated that smart phone users
would total 480 million in 2014.
In this connected country, brands
rapidly increased their use of
mobile to enhance product and
services and communicate. Many
brands developed mobile apps
to interact with customers and
some implemented mobile ad
campaigns.
The travel brand Ctrip completed
80 percent of all transactions
online or with mobile devices.
Ctrip’s mobile app has been
downloaded over 200 million
times. A provider of after-school
tutoring services, Xueersi added
physical locations, but online
enrollment grew at a faster pace.
Xueersi integrated its educational
PC and mobile sites under the
name Jia Zhang Bang, Helping
Parent Community.
Most banks offered some form
of mobile banking, and many
included mobile payment. Mobile
transactions increased 126
percent, for the first half of 2014,
at Bank of Communications.
China Everbright Bank’s mobile
initiatives included mobile
banking and banking on WeChat,
the social networking site. The
total number of mobile login
times in the first half of 2014
reached almost 274 million for
China Merchants Bank, a year-onyear
increase of over 182 percent.
020
Brands integrate physical
and ecommerce presence
As brands expanded their
ecommerce operations, they
worked to integrate their O2O,
online-to-offline, presence. The
BAT brands – the search engine
Baidu; Alibaba, the ecommerce
giant; and Internet portal Tencent
– drove much of this activity
as they transitioned from their
core businesses into integrated
ecosystems to be constantly
engaged with customers.
One of China’s earliest car
brands, and known for its popular
Haval SUV model, Great Wall
launched Haval Mall, an online
car-purchasing site. Suning
advanced plans to strengthen
its core appliance business with
its physical stores while opening
its online platform to more thirdparty
collaboration.
New Oriental established an
online education joint venture
with Tencent. The venture
potentially helps New Oriental
reach a wider audience and
integrate its physical classrooms
with an expanded online offering.
Insurer Ping An continued to
integrate its online, mobile and
traditional channels to create a
seamless customer experience.
All products are branded Ping An.
The food company Sanquan
launched a new click and collect
business called Sanquan Fresh,
which integrates online ordering
and offline delivery. Tong Ren
Tang, the Chinese traditional
medicine brand, launched an
online medicine store selling
Tong Ren Tang over-the-counter
medicines and cosmetics.
Online grocer Yihaodian
strengthened its distribution
capabilities, placing package pickup
locations in major apartment
developments and at over 300
FamilyMart stores in Shanghai.
Reservations made on the Jin
Jiang hotel website increased
86 percent during the first half
of 2014. Jin Jiang also launched
email direct marketing and an
English language app.
MEDIA
Digital reshapes brand
communication
Brands organized their media
around the rapid rise of digital,
the increased amount of time
consumers spend online,
particularly with mobile devices,
and the dynamic integration
of online and offline consumer
behavior.
Chinese multiscreen users looked
at a screen almost eight hours
daily, with two-thirds of this time
divided about evenly between
smartphones and laptops.
TV watching occupied about
an hour-and-a-half daily, and
tablets about an hour. Internet
accounted for almost one-third of
media spending in 2014. And TV
comprised less than half of media
spending for the first time.
As TV viewing declined, brands
sought ways to use TV more
strategically. Several brands
advertised around popular reality
shows. CR Sanjiu sponsored the
first season of one of China’s
popular reality shows, “Where
are we going daddy” The highprofile
sponsorship was part of a
larger focus on brand building in
the competitive pharmaceutical
category.
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