{"id":1772,"date":"2025-10-04T03:06:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T03:06:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/u-s-europe-brands-take-on-the-chinese-consumer\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T03:06:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T03:06:26","slug":"u-s-europe-brands-take-on-the-chinese-consumer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/u-s-europe-brands-take-on-the-chinese-consumer\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S., Europe brands take on the Chinese consumer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"RegularArticle-ArticleBody-5\" data-module=\"ArticleBody\" data-test=\"articleBody-2\" data-analytics=\"RegularArticle-articleBody-5-2\"><span class=\"HighlightShare-hidden\" style=\"top:0;left:0\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"InlineImage-imageEmbed\" id=\"ArticleBody-InlineImage-108201806\" data-test=\"InlineImage\">\n<div class=\"InlineImage-wrapper\">\n<div>\n<p>Pictured here is Louis Vuitton&#8217;s new cruise ship-shaped store in Shanghai, China, on June 28, 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>BEIJING \u2014 China&#8217;s economic slowdown isn&#8217;t discouraging U.S. and European brands from revamping their strategies to reach Chinese shoppers.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the allure of the world&#8217;s second-largest consumer market is forcing companies to adapt in the face of growing competition from local brands.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-2\">Kraft Heinz<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>, getting more people in China to buy ketchup this year also meant hiring a local agency to help create catchy campaigns \u2014 decorating subway station columns to mimic ketchup bottles and promoting the condiment as a fresh twist on a popular dish: stir-fried eggs and tomatoes.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a hard market to tackle, even for Shanghai-based marketing firm Good Idea Growth Network (GGN). The agency has witnessed at least five different waves of consumer trends in its 14-year history, founder Stephy Liu, said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. &#8220;The gameplay keeps on changing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But GGN has succeeded even after rejecting an acquisition offer from British advertising giant WPP, Liu said, noting that about half of her clients are foreign brands.<\/p>\n<p>While Kraft Heinz isn&#8217;t done with its China ketchup campaign yet, the company reported second-quarter net sales in emerging markets climbed by 4.2% from a year ago, helping offset declines in North America.<\/p>\n<p>WPP explored a potential acquisition of GGN but did not end up going far in the process, according to a person familiar with the discussions.<\/p>\n<p>Kraft Heinz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Localized social media<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>From Starbucks&#8217; struggles to Lululemon&#8217;s successes in China, it&#8217;s become clear that the right mix of localization is essential.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Among international brands in China, the winners are often dedicating more than 40% of revenue to marketing, especially content and platform-first marketing, while also iterating products locally based on market data,&#8221; said Jacob Cooke, co-founder and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps foreign brands sell in China.<\/p>\n<p>This year, Cooke said that <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-5\">Under Armour<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> has created products under 100 yuan ($14) in order to attract a mass of buyers online, while using livestreams with dedicated users to then build fitness communities and sell more premium products offline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div role=\"region\" aria-labelledby=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108201833\">\n<div role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" id=\"Placeholder-ArticleBody-Video-108201833\" class=\"PlaceHolder-wrapper\" data-vilynx-id=\"7000389539\" data-test=\"VideoPlaceHolder\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-videoEmbed\" id=\"InlineVideo-0\" data-test=\"InlineVideo\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"InlineVideo-inlineThumbnailContainer\"><span class=\"InlineVideo-videoButton\"\/><span\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>ByteDance-owned Douyin has become an e-commerce force in the last few years since celebrities and companies started using the app for livestreaming sales during the pandemic. And by the numbers, there&#8217;s little question that jumping into the Xiaohongshu and Douyin world is worthwhile for businesses.<\/p>\n<p>Adapting to that new social commerce ecosystem has become the biggest challenge for brands in the last two years, GGN&#8217;s Liu said. &#8220;Foreign brands will think, &#8216;Isn&#8217;t this just TikTok?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She warned that success requires a complex strategy that can involve changing everything from how a team is structured to the kinds of products sold. But the payoff is significant.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In half a year, it can help you sell more than you sold on [<span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-7\">Alibaba<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>&#8216;s] Tmall in two years,&#8221; Liu said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Data is power<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>In addition to social media, a critical factor in many companies&#8217; strategies is access to hordes of data on what consumers in China are buying.<\/p>\n<p>Chinese e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba&#8217;s Tmall, share far more data on what&#8217;s popular than <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-8\">Amazon.com<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> does, WPIC&#8217;s Cooke said. In China, &#8220;people generally know what their competitors are selling and what they&#8217;re selling for.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With that granular data, Chinese makeup brand Perfect Diary was able to succeed by identifying a market pain point and creating a lipstick targeted at that lower price segment, Cooke said. He noted that&#8217;s pressured foreign brands to create China-specific products as well, a big shift over the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>E-commerce platforms in China also often show rough figures on how many orders were placed per product, while third-party companies such as Syntun offer significant amounts of product rankings and other online sales data for free.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-test=\"WildCardEmbed\">\n<div class=\"WildcardEmbed-wrapper\">\n<style><![CDATA[\n\tdiv {box-sizing: border-box;}\n\t\n\t.noselect {\n\t  -webkit-touch-callout: none; \/* iOS Safari *\/\n\t\t-webkit-user-select: none; \/* Safari *\/\n\t\t -khtml-user-select: none; \/* Konqueror HTML *\/\n\t\t   -moz-user-select: none; \/* Old versions of Firefox *\/\n\t\t\t-ms-user-select: none; \/* Internet Explorer\/Edge *\/\n\t\t\t\tuser-select: none; \/* Non-prefixed version, currently\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t  supported by Chrome, Edge, Opera and Firefox *\/\n\t}\n\t\n\t#tcc-wrapper {width: 100%; max-width: 620px; min-width: 300px; cursor: pointer; display: block;}\n\t\n\t.tcc-widget-content {\n\t\tfont-family: Proxima Nova,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;\n\t\tfont-size: 16px;\n\t\tline-height: 24px;\n\t\tfont-weight: 400; \n\t\tcolor: #000;\n\t\tpadding: 16px 0 16px 0;\n\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\theight: auto;\n\t\tborder-top: 1px solid #cccccc;\n\t\tborder-bottom: 1px solid #cccccc;\n\t}\n\t\n\t.tcc-logo-col {\n\t\tfloat: left;\n   \t\tmargin-right: 20px;\n\t}\n\t\n\t.tcc-text-col {\n\t\t\n\t}\n\t\n\t.tcc-text a {\n\t\tcolor: #0053CF !important;\n\t\ttext-decoration: none;\n\t\tfont-weight: 600; \n\t}\n\t\n\t\n\n]]><\/style>\n<div id=\"tcc-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"tcc-widget-content\">\n<div class=\"tcc-logo-col\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fm.cnbc.com\/applications\/cnbc.com\/resources\/styles\/skin\/special-reports\/the-china-connection\/tcc_widget_logo.png\" width=\"314\" height=\"auto\"\/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"tcc-text-col\">\n<div class=\"tcc-text\">Weekly analysis and insights from Asia&#8217;s largest economy in your inbox<br \/>\n\t\t\tSubscribe now<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>In the case of <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-9\">Apple<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span>&#8216;s iPhone 17 launch on Sept. 19, it was Chinese e-commerce company JD.com that released sales data for mainland China. The electronics-focused platform announced that the first minute of iPhone 17 series preorders surpassed the first-day preorder volume of last year&#8217;s iPhone 16 series.<\/p>\n<p>Apple&#8217;s story also underscores how it&#8217;s possible to reignite local interest despite losing market share to domestic competition. Some customers in Beijing told CNBC that they liked the iPhone&#8217;s new cosmic orange color, and that more locals intended to buy their first iPhone this year since they&#8217;d heard about new attractive features such as larger internal storage.<\/p>\n<p>China&#8217;s factories were quick to jump on the trend, releasing iPhone cases with a similar orange hue even before the 17 model was out.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Winning brands are those that have established local R&amp;D centers and on-the-ground product teams,&#8221; said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of ChoZan, a China marketing consultancy. &#8220;This allows them to spot trends early, develop products tailored to local needs, and launch them in months, not years. This is a significant departure from the past, where global products were often simply rolled out in the Chinese market.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"ArticleBody-subtitle\">Cultural connection<\/h2>\n<div class=\"group\">\n<p>Even with the right data and social media platforms, cultural integration is becoming increasingly important, especially as Chinese brands find success in tapping the country&#8217;s own history of artisanal craftsmanship.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Brands are moving beyond superficial nods to Chinese culture,&#8221; Dudarenok said. She pointed out that Loewe partnered with jade carving masters, while Burberry teamed up with bamboo-weaving artists.<\/p>\n<p>And despite declining sales in China&#8217;s luxury market, <span class=\"QuoteInBody-quoteNameContainer\" data-test=\"QuoteInBody\" id=\"RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-13\">LVMH<span class=\"QuoteInBody-inlineButton\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistContainer\" id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\" data-analytics-id=\"-WatchlistDropdown\"><button class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-watchlistButton\" aria-label=\"Add To Watchlist\" data-testid=\"dropdown-btn\"><span class=\"AddToWatchlistButton-addWatchListFromTag\"\/><\/button><\/span><\/span><\/span> this summer opened an eye-catching ship-shaped store in Shanghai \u2014 immediately generating much local buzz.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to LVMH&#8217;s luggage-shaped store in Manhattan, the Shanghai location taps into the Chinese city&#8217;s history as a port of entry for international travelers to Asia roughly a century ago.<\/p>\n<p>The new store also captures the European brand&#8217;s roots in hand-crafted travel trunks \u2014 which contrasts with Chinese brands&#8217; inability to offer the same emotional appeal, Joe Ngai, chairman of greater China at McKinsey, pointed out in a LinkedIn post.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As Chinese customers grow in their confidence and desire for local elements,&#8221; he said, &#8220;creating more crossovers between West and East is one of the unique opportunities for multinationals in China.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u2014 CNBC&#8217;s Eunice Yoon contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pictured here is Louis Vuitton&#8217;s new cruise ship-shaped store in Shanghai, China, on June 28, 2025. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images BEIJING \u2014 China&#8217;s economic slowdown isn&#8217;t discouraging U.S. and European brands from revamping their strategies to reach Chinese shoppers. Instead, the allure of the world&#8217;s second-largest consumer market is forcing companies to adapt [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1582,270,1447,1267,272],"class_list":["post-1772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loan","tag-brands","tag-chinese","tag-consumer","tag-europe","tag-u-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/finzexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}