JWT China: Advertising for the

new Chinese consumer

By
Group
Arjun K
Ketav Patel
Nikhil Sharma
Nitin Saraf
Priya Talmale

Summary

JWT (J. Walter Thompson)

Headquarter : New York

Offices in China: Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing.

Plans : Faster growth through the Team JWTSolar System.

Advertising

Regional disparities

Consumer Culture

Media Landscape

Role of Olympics

Key Issues

To decide upon their

expansion strategy
Gaining specific
insights on local
Chinese consumer in
terms of social,
economic and
cultural
development.
( Brand positioning)

To work on its
turnover rate which
was much less then
that of the industry
turnover of 50%.
Hiring and retaining
talented junior
people.

Local clients were

primarily sales
driven, which made
it difficult to
convince them to
implement
advertising strategy.
Difficult to develop
loyalty of local
customers than
their western
counterparts.

Discrepancy in
consumer spending
and consumer
behavior required
different advertising
strategy to be
developed for each
targeted segment.
Tight state control
on various
advertising media.

Q.1

Cons:
Chinese Culture: Sensitive
Laws
Local Market
Belief in Old Media
Language

Pros:
Huge untapped market

ANALYSIS FOR JWT

CHALLENGES
Chinese hangover from socialist era, exercising too much control
Political
Less number of Chinese in top management positions in JWT
Mandarin unknown to most foreigners. Mandarin was the ad language and also first language of many employees.
Price-sensitive clients(only mid and large level companies
opted
JWT)
Mainlyfor
sales
driven, short term focussed clients.

Economic 80% Chinese ad market controlled by local low cost players but JWT charges
is growing very fast, what if growth bubble bursts and CAGR goes down, economic downturn sets
a premium.
& Leadership China
in,building
How JWT
willcreating
manage
Brand
and
sustainable brand

Absence of creativity oriented Chinese education system so talent pool becomes

difficult to categorise
Outspokenness was not a quality in Chinese which was essential in
advertising
field
Marketing was
not conceptualised as integral to business because of

Social

socialist
Low
levelmindset
of loyalty among Chinese clients as compared to the
West
Divide of haves and have-nots, Income disparity(Gini coefficient increase) which made it difficult to target
market
with of
uniform
ads from socialism to individualism(difference between high social class consumers
Erratic Shift
consumers
versus middle class ones)

Technological

Legal

Traditional ad methods preferred by state owned enterprises which limited scope

of advertising
Online and mobile phone ads had potential but dependent on Infrastructure development for
increased penetration

Synergy among Team JWT(issues of nomenclature, sharing of

financials).
Advertising towards reinforcing public and political sentiments(teenager ads,Nike LeBron James
ad)"instinct for boundaries
Regulatory guidelines, sometimes vague guidelines like "social public order", "good
social customs"

Our Advice to Mr Tom Doctoroff

Properly understand Chinese Culture

Chinese are very society oriented

Very patriotic and nationalistic

Despite becoming Modern and experiencing an increase in income, Chinese still discard the individualistic
behavior

Chinese people are very status conscious , so instead of portraying products as having value , portray them
as being luxury items and give them a sense of exclusivity

Products which are family oriented and display societal and family values are more likely to succeed in
Chinese Market

Status is the ultimate wealth for Chinese consumers , so portray your product as a means of enhancing their
social image

Thank You