U.S., Europe brands take on the Chinese consumer
Here, on June 28, 2025, Louis Vuitton has a new cruise store in Shanghai, China.
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Beijing – China’s economic slowdown does not prevent US and European brands from renewing their strategies to reach Chinese shopping.
Instead, the charm of the world’s second largest consumer market forces companies to adapt to increasing competition from local brands.
In the case of Kraft HeinzIn China, more people buying ketchup this year also meant to hire a local agency to help create memorable campaigns-to decorate the columns of the metro station to mimic the bottles of catering bottles and introduce the frying eggs and tomatoes on a popular plate: fried eggs and tomatoes.
Shanghai -based marketing company Good Idea is a difficult market to fight even for the growth network (GGN). Mandarin, which was translated by CNBC, Stephy Liu said that the agency witnessed at least five different consumer trends in its 14 -year history. “The game continues to change.”
But even after rejecting a purchase offer from the British advertising giant WPP, GGN said Liu, said that about half of its customers are foreign brands.
Although Kraft Heinz has not yet ended with the Chinese ketchup campaign, the company reported the second quarter net sales in developing markets 4.2 % climbed A year ago, it helps to balance the decreases in North America.
According to a person familiar with discussions, WPP investigated a potential gain of GGN, but did not progress much in the process.
Kraft Heinz did not respond immediately to comments.
Localized social media
Jacob Cooke, Founding Partner and CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies, which helps foreign brands to sell in China, said, “Among the international brands in China, especially content and platform, the first marketing of the content and platform, but also to marketing locally, especially to marketing, especially to marketing, and to sell foreign brands in China. Calls CEO.
Cooke said this this year Under armor It creates products below 100 yuan ($ 14) to attract an online buyer audience, then uses live broadcasts with special users to create fitness communities and sell more premium products offline.
It has become an e-commerce force in the last few years since it has started to use the application of Byttance for live sales during celebrities and companies for live sales. And with numbers, there are very few questions that jumping to Xiaohongshu and Doguyin World is useful for businesses.
Liu from GGN said that adapting to this new social trade ecosystem has become the biggest challenge for brands in the last two years. “Foreign brands ‘is not just Tiktok?’
He warned that success requires a complex strategy that could involve changing everything as configured. However, return is important.
“In half a year, it can help you sell more than you sell. [Alibaba‘s] Tmall in two years, Li Liu said.
Data is power
In addition to social media, a critical factor in many companies’ strategies is access to data armies about what consumers buy in China.
Share more data about China e-commerce platforms, including Alibaba’s Tmall, and the popular. Amazon.com “Cooke from WPIC, dedi he said. “People often know what their competitors sell and what they sell for.”
With these detailed data, the Chinese make -up brand Perfect Diary said it could be successful by determining a market pain point and creating a lipstick targeting this low price segment. He said that foreign brands are under pressure to create Chinese products and that there is a major change in the last five years.
E-commerce platforms in China show rude figures on how many orders per product, while third-party companies such as Syntun offer significant product rankings and other online sales data.
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In the case of AppleOn September 19, the iPhone 17 launch was JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce company, who published sales data for the Chinese motherland. The electronic -oriented platform announced that the first minute of the iPhone 17 series pre -orders last year’s iPhone 16 series exceeded the pre -order volume on the first day.
Apple’s story also emphasizes how it is possible to revive local interest, although it has lost its market share in local competition. Some customers in Beijing, CNBC’ye iPhone’s new cosmic orange color, and more indigenous people, such as larger internal storage, such as new attractive features, such as the aim of buying their first iPhone, he said.
China’s factories released the iPhone cases with a similar orange tone, even before 17 models.
China Marketing Consultancy Chozan’s founder Ashley Dudarenok, “Winning brands, local R & D centers and product teams on the spot are the brands that build.” He said. “This allows them to detect trends early, to develop products adapted to local needs, and to launch the market over the years, not over the years. This is an important separation from the past, where global products are often launched in the Chinese market.”
Cultural connection
Cultural integration, especially in the right data and social media platforms Chinese brands are successful in touching the country’s own craftsmanship history.
“Brands go beyond superficial headings to Chinese culture.” He said. He pointed out that Loewe has established a partnership with Jade carving masters, and Burberry worked with artists.
And despite the decrease in sales in China’s luxury market, Lvmh This summer, he opened an eye-catching ship-shaped store in Shanghai-but produced a lot of local buzz.
Unlike LVMH’s luggage store in Manhattan, Shanghai’s position enters the history of China as an entrance harbor for international travelers about a century ago.
The new store also captures the roots of the European brand on handmade travel bodies-this is opposed to the fact that Chinese brands cannot offer the same emotional attractiveness, Joe Ngai, the President of the Great China in McKinsey, LinkedIn Post.
“As Chinese customers grow up in their trust and desires for local elements, dedi he said,” Creating more transitions between the West and the East is one of the unique opportunities for multinational companies in China. “
– Eunice Yoon from CNBC contributed to this report.
