This presentation was delivered in Beijing on March 20th 2014 to the 'China Going Global' think tank. The theme was "Overseas corporate communications for Chinese companies: building image and protecting reputation"

1. 1
Bob
Pickard
Chairman,
Asia-­‐Pacific
Overseas
corporate
communica5ons
for
Chinese
companies:
promo%ng
image
>
protec%ng
reputa%on
China
Going
Global
Think
Tank
March
20th
2014
at
Beijing

2. 2
Key
messages
for
today
Corporate
communica5on
is
an
increasingly
cri5cal
management
func5on.
Communica5on
has
become
an
essen5al
compe55ve
asset
for
interna5onal
brands.
Communica5on
is
of
direct
strategic
importance
to
the
Chief
Execu5ve
Officer!

3. 3
With
some
notable
excepGons,
few
global
Chinese
brands
How
many
of
the
89
Chinese
companies
on
the
Fortune
500
list
are
world-­‐famous
brands?

4. 4
GeEng
started
with
going
global
§ Many
Chinese
companies
are
completely
unknown
outside
of
China
and
will
find
it
challenging
to
compete
in
countries
where
‘mind
share’
will
help
them
achieve
market
share
§ In
many
cases,
their
corporate
communicaGons
efforts
have
been
so
‘local’
in
orientaGon,
they
are
simply
not
yet
equipped
with
the
tools
they
will
need
to
build
an
image
–
or
the
defences
required
to
defend
their
reputaGon
§ As
Chinese
companies
gain
tracGon
internaGonally,
they
can
count
on
being
aQacked
by
entrenched
compeGtors,
who
in
many
cases
may
enjoy
commanding
posiGons
supported
by
the
most
advanced
communicaGons
capabiliGes
available
today
§ Meanwhile,
in
many
Chinese
companies,
corporate
communicaGon
is
an
underdeveloped
and
poorly
understood
low-­‐status
funcGon
§ Even
before
then,
Chinese
companies
will
be
up
against
generic
negaGve
stereotypes
that
are
commonplace
in
many
markets…

5. 5
Chinese
companies
overseas
-­‐
especially
in
the
West
-­‐
have
been
tagged
with
nega5ve
‘na5onal’
stereotypes:
§ Unfairly
exploitaGve;
interested
in
‘extracGng’
from
host
markets
rather
than
‘contribuGng’
benefits
to
communiGes
§ CommodiGzed
‘quanGty’
players
who
compete
on
price
rather
than
on
quality
§ Hierarchical
‘machines’
with
top-­‐down
command
and
communicaGons
§ NaGonalisGc
and
conquering
in
mentality
towards
other
countries
§ UnsophisGcated
when
it
comes
to
corporate
social
responsibility
§ Agents
of
PRC
state
power
and
potenGally
a
security
risk
§ Environmentally
‘toxic’
with
polluGon
problems
likely
§ Untrustworthy
in
keeping
commercial
agreements
§ Flagrant
abusers
of
intellectual
property
§ Culturally
and
ethnically
homogenous
§ Harsh
employers
with
HR
problems
§ Lacking
in
transparency
§ Ethically
suspect
The
‘naGonal’
challenges
for
Chinese
companies

6. 6
The
opportuni5es
for
Chinese
companies
§ These
are
the
kinds
of
characterisGcs
that
may
be
unfairly
assumed
to
be
true
of
a
Chinese
company
overseas
before
it
even
gets
started
with
its
communica%ons
§ While
these
may
seem
to
be
daunGng
obstacles,
fundamentally
they
represent
tremendous
opportuniGes
for
Chinese
companies
who
have
the
‘power
to
surprise’
with
posiGve
behaviour
that
will
directly
contradict
these
negaGve
preconcepGons
§ Indeed,
it
is
the
contrast
between
the
negaGve
percepGons
in
theory
about
Chinese
companies
and
their
posiGve
performance
in
reality
that
will
build
the
best
image
§ The
key
test
outside
of
China
is
making
sure
that
when
people
hear
about
a
new
Chinese
company
for
the
first
Gme,
they
do
and
think
things
favourable
to
the
company
in
direct
consequence
§ It
is
cri5cally
important
that
Chinese
companies
become
well
known
interna5onally
for
the
posi5ve
things
they
stand
for
in
the
first
place,
rather
than
become
famous
first
through
nega5ve
mistakes

7. 7
Tencent’s
posi5ve
global
introduc5on

8. 8
Consider
the
case
of
Huawei

9. 9
How
some
foreign
companies
fail
to
communicate
in
China
§ Being
seen
to
‘take’
and
not
‘give’
§ Engaging
the
wrong
people
to
communicate
§ Lack
of
respect
for
local
culture
and
language
§ Failure
to
listen
to
their
stakeholder
communiGes
§ Misreading
the
tastes
and
preferences
of
the
market
§ Lack
of
effort
to
build
relaGonships
through
earning
trust
§ ‘Bulldozing’
of
‘global’
markeGng
from
the
home
country
§ Double-­‐standards
in
how
they
treat
customers
and
employees
§ Thinking
they
can
get
away
with
pubng
boundaries
around
markets
in
a
digital
world
where
‘local’
can
become
‘global’
Chinese
companies
should
avoid
making
the
same
mistakes!

10. 10
Like
this
recent
example
from
Japan…

11. 11
Not
all
countries
think
and
feel
the
same
as
China

12. 12
Understanding
the
communica5ons
context
§ The
first
thing
to
do
is
hold
up
a
mirror
and
take
a
fearless
inventory
of
where
the
company
stands
with
its
overseas
communicaGons
efforts
§ In
the
communicaGons
world,
this
is
oden
called
a
‘situaGon
analysis’
which
asks/
answers
quesGons
like
these:
ü Does
the
company
communicate
overseas,
and
if
so,
how?
ü Is
there
any
pre-­‐exisGng
profile
-­‐
or
is
the
company
completely
unknown?
ü If
there
is
some
awareness,
then
what
is
the
company
known
for
(what
is
the
first
thing
that
‘comes
to
mind’)?
ü What
industry
category
is
the
company
thought
to
be
in?
ü Do
any
of
its
products
have
brands
that
are
familiar?
ü Has
there
been
any
overseas
media
coverage
in
the
past
and
if
so,
was
it
posiGve
or
negaGve,
of
benefit
to
the
business
or
harmful?
ü Is
the
company
seen
as
‘just
Chinese’
or
‘truly
internaGonal?’

13. 13
Sebng
the
communicaGons
objec5ves
§ Once
there
is
an
understanding
of
where
the
company’s
communicaGon
starts
from
overseas,
then
it
becomes
much
easier
to
set
course
for
the
desired
desGnaGon
§ In
other
words,
as
the
result
of
new
investment
in
internaGonal
communicaGons,
the
things
the
company
will
gain
during
the
years
to
come
compared
to
what
it
has
today?
ü A
higher
profile
and
more
favourable
image
perhaps?
ü A
clear
widespread
understanding
of
what
business
the
company
is
in?
ü Maybe
a
greater
quanGty
and
quality
of
media
coverage?
ü A
large
and
growing
social
media
community?
§ All
of
these
communicaGons
objecGves
should
be
explicitly
designed
to
support
the
success
of
the
company’s
commercial
goals,
such
as
winning
contracts
or
driving
sales

14. 14
Mapping
the
target
audiences
§ For
the
purposes
of
building
an
image,
an
‘audience’
consists
of
the
stakeholders
whose
thoughts
and
acGons
will
determine
the
extent
and
the
speed
of
achieving
the
communicaGons
objecGves
§ Every
Chinese
company
going
global
should
map
out
the
overseas
stakeholders
important
to
its
business
success,
and
then
engineer
introducGon
opportuniGes
accordingly
with
the
express
aim
of
fostering
long-­‐term
relaGonships
§ Such
stakeholders
should
include:
ü media
ü government
ü NGOs
ü suppliers
ü shareholders
ü employees
ü customers
ü key
opinion
leaders
ü local
communiGes

15. 15
Listening
to
stakeholders
§ Contrary
to
out-­‐dated
misconcepGons,
nowadays
communicaGon
should
start
with
humble
listening,
not
boaslul
talking
§ CommunicaGon
is
becoming
more
about
conversaGons
and
dialogue
§ The
process
involves:
asking
stakeholders:
ü if
they
would
like
a
relaGonship
with
the
company
ü finding
out
what
kind
of
informaGon
they
would
like
to
receive
ü seeking
their
advice
and
guidance
on
the
communicaGons
content
important
to
them
§ Listening
is
the
first
stage
to
effecGve
communicaGon
and
making
the
other
person
feel
important…

16. 16
This
persuasion
theory
goes
back
a
long
Gme…
“Make
the
other
person
feel
important
>
and
do
it
sincerely”

17. 17
Establishing
the
strategy
§ All
corporate
communicaGons
plans
should
include
a
strategy;
namely,
the
approaches
and
designs
that
will
guide
everyday
acGviGes
§ For
example,
if
a
company
is
known
for
one
of
its
old
products
in
a
declining
market,
the
communicaGons
strategy
might
involve
an
emphasis
on
the
new
products
in
the
pipeline
that
will
be
the
moneymakers
of
the
future
§ Knowing
what
kind
of
informaGon
is
relevant
and
found
most
compelling
will
inform
the
development
of
the
right
strategy
§ Before
a
company
communicates,
it
should
have
some
idea
of:
ü what
abtudes
it
is
trying
to
reinforce
ü senGments
it
seeks
to
change
ü new
ideas
it
wants
to
get
across
§ For
Chinese
companies,
‘societal
alignment’
with
the
sensibiliGes
of
each
target
market
is
key
“100%
growth
every
year”
or
“being
a
global
top
10
player”
are
not
strategies!

18. 18
CreaGng
the
corporate
story
§ MulGnaGonal
companies
are
highly
complex
organizaGons,
but
unfortunately
complexity
is
the
enemy
of
clear
and
convincing
communicaGon
§ Such
a
narraGve
consists
of
messages
and
evidence…themes
designed
to
persuade
the
target
audiences
and
evidence
through
data
proving
that
the
company
should
be
believed
§ That
is
why
it
is
so
crucial
to
create
a
brief
‘corporate
story’
that
should
answer
three
quesGons:
ü why
is
the
company
in
business
ü what
it
is
doing
-­‐
and
who
is
it
doing
them
for
ü how
it
is
doing
those
things
and
what’s
disGnct
about
its
approach?

19. 19
Communicate
‘the
golden
circle’

20. 20
Designing
the
tac5cs
§ CommunicaGons
campaigns
should
list
in
detail
the
specific
and
tangible
acGviGes
which
staff
or
consultants
actually
spend
their
Gme
doing
§ These
tradiGonally
include:
ü building
stakeholder
databases
ü tracking
the
global
media
ü arranging
interviews
with
journalists
ü organizing
events
ü issuing
press
releases
ü producing
content
including
photos
and
videos
ü creaGng
media
material
about
the
company
and
its
products
or
services

21. 21
Going
beyond
the
basics
§ Media
relaGons
and
publicity
will
always
be
a
core
part
of
overseas
communicaGons
§ But
now,
these
acGviGes
are
all
part
of
the
mix:
ü creaGng
content
ü building
communiGes
ü understanding
analyGcs
ü applying
the
‘psychology
of
persuasion’
§ It’s
all
about
using
targeted
communicaGons
to
build
new
relaGonship
communiGes,
create
content
for
conversaGons
between
brands
and
their
consumers
where
rather
than
act
like
machines
or
‘things’,
the
Chinese
companies
communicate
like
actual
people

22. 22
These
days,
every
company
can
be
a
media
company

23. 23
The
big
picture

24. 24
ProtecGng
the
reputa5on
§ The
worst
thing
that
could
happen
to
a
rising
Chinese
company
going
global
is
becoming
world
famous
via
social
media
for
making
a
mistake:

25. 25
Because
crises
will
happen
§ Having
a
crisis
communicaGons
programme
in
place
is
absolutely
essenGal
in
order
to
safeguard
the
good
name
of
a
company
operaGng
internaGonally
§ Something
will
go
wrong
in
some
country
at
some
point
–
it
always
does
–
and
Chinese
companies
need
to
be
prepared
to
handle
high-­‐profile
local
issues
which
can
explode
into
full-­‐scale
global
crises
owing
to
the
escalaGon
power
of
social
media
§ Chinese
companies
must
know
that
it
is
going
to
be
hard
protecGng
their
reputaGon
–
especially
in
the
West
–
unless
they
take
transparency
seriously,
show
that
they
respect
local
communiGes,
and
listen
to
the
voices
of
others
such
as
NGOs

26. 26
Eight
keys
to
success
in
protecGng
reputaGon
1. What
the
company
says
must
match
what
the
company
is
doing
2. Expect
the
unexpected
–
map
risks
and
be
ready
with
responses
3. Prepare
assiduously
and
rehearse
communicaGons
disaster
4. Move
fast
because
whomever
speaks
first
is
oden
believed
most
5. Be
responsive
and
look
to
listen
6. Admit
mistakes
and
accept
responsibility
7. Don’t
get
into
fights
where
criGcs
tend
to
win
8. Don’t
be
heavy-­‐handed
or
arrogant

27. 27
Be
prepared
to
apologise
when
something
goes
wrong