 BIZ TALK CEO INTERVIEW:
Andrew Meaden - CEO Mindshare China
Beijing-based Andrew Meaden is CEO of Mindshare in China. Originally from Lancashire, England, he began his career in London at Zenith Media, later working at Ogilvy & Mather Media (prior to the formation of MindShare). He moved to Asia in 1997, and has worked in Vietnam, as General Manager for Dentsu Young & Rubicam, and Japan, as CEO of MindShare. He moved to MindShare China in 2005 and was promoted to CEO in 2006.
Mindshare has offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Fuzhou, Nanjing, Hangzhou and Chengdu. How would you summarise the different client approaches across China?
AM: Business across China tends to differ dramatically by region. In Beijing, for example, as its the base of central government, there tends to be far more technology and corporate clients based there, such as banks, energy companies, telecommunication companies and technology companies. Whilst in Shanghai, there are far more foreign manufacturing JVs in fast-moving consumer goods and other categories. Guangzhou, on the other hand, is a very 'local style' market, with far more Chinese-owned or overseas Chinese invested enterprises, as is also the case with Chengdu and Hangzhou.
We have found, therefore, that there can be no ‘one size fits all’ strategy in China. It is necessary to have not only offices in different regions, but also different services and different kinds of staff to cover all of China effectively.
Your mission statement is to help clients understand, navigate and manage the evolving media landscape. What are the key challenges for operating in such a rapidly changing, fragmenting media industry?
AM: In China, clients have a range of concerns. The largest of these is usually price inflation on mainstream media channels, such as TV, which still takes the largest share of their budgets. Rate-card inflation in China typically runs at over 15 per cent per year, pushed on by ever-increasing investment and the slow decline in TV audiences. For our clients, as the largest buyer in China, we have been able to negate much of this, but for many clients, trying to manage cost, this obviously remains a significant concern.
Many clients, particularly those targeting youthful or more affluent consumers, are also concerned about the growth of digital media, such as the Internet and mobile phone advertising. This represents a huge opportunity for clients, as digital can act not just as a channel for advertising, but for so much more – such as retail and customer support. As a result we have invested heavily in this area to bring international-standard staff, tools and systems to help clients take advantage of this opportunity in China.
Do you agree that the future of marketing and advertising in China will be online, handheld and portable?
AM: Yes and no. I think, ultimately, all marketing and advertising will be via interactive media, even television. This is clearly becoming true elsewhere in the world, and in China in cities like Hangzhou digital TV is gaining huge penetration meaning that even traditional advertising formats like TV can now allow users to interact and access micro-sites and purchase on line. However, I think this adoption will still be slow for many Chinese and particularly in lower-tier cities. Traditional advertising such as non-digital TV and print still accounts for the vast majority of all advertising dollars spent in China, and I think this will remain the case for a long time.
So, yes, everything will become digital, but not just yet. The key advice we give to clients is to start learning, testing and understanding how to take advantage of this now, so when this switch over does occur, they will be well placed to take full advantage of it.
How important is sports marketing, branding and sponsorship for your clients in China, and is this increasing?
AM: I would say, although it’s not typically as big a category in China as in European countries or North America yet, it is certainly growing very quickly. We are fortunate enough to be responsible for all of the media planning and buying for Nike, and so are heavily involved in this area from basketball right through to athletics.
We do have other clients now, who are also getting more involved in sport and sponsoring teams and events, as well as getting us to help create branded sports content, such as sponsored TV programming. If you watch the current show, Soccer Prince, on air on Hunan satellite, you can see a great example of this, which we organised.
I think with the 2008 Olympics and the increase in purchasing power Chinese people have for leisure time, along with increasing concerns globally about the need for healthier lifestyles, interest in this area will grow and grow.
One important aspect of your work is consumer research. Many consumer reports have tended to focus only on tier-one cities, do you think this is changing?
AM: Yes, for sure. I think lots of clients now are seeing that advertising and consumer promotions have reached saturation point in many tier-one cities and, as a result, there may be much more cost-effective growth opportunities in tiers two and three. I think this will become increasingly the case over the next few years, and many clients are looking now for opportunities to enter lower tier cities.
We have carried out our own research extensively in lower tier cities to understand media habits and consumption, as well as attitudes towards brands and categories. This work has been well received by clients looking into these areas.
Last update : Saturday, 17 November 2007
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