Abstract

Critical Importance Of Branding In The Nutrition Space In China

Author(s): Drew Campbell

Often people get confused on what is marketing and what is branding. In Asia, especially in China, it is your brand's perceived value that determines whether it will sell well or not due to the unique cultural element subject to Asia only which is â??faceâ?. In the nutrition space, it is even more critical again.It's only in Asia â??faceâ? matters so much to people. Receiving face or losing face is what drives a great deal of the culture in many areas of daily life, including purchasing decisions as what people wear, consume, or associate with is reflection of themselves.In China you will often see that it is 2-3 brands taking up possibly as high as 90% of the entire sales within one category of products, whereas in the West it could be up to 100 brands or more making up for 80% of the sales within a category. Your brand can either bring face to a person if it is well known, trusted, or uniquely and â??coolâ?. Conversely, it will lose value if it is unheard of or has no distinct difference and value. Forget sales, channels or even marketing strategy as your prime focus in China; get your brand building and brand positioning right and sales and marketing is EASY in the China market. Branding is now not just a singular approach or locked within one department of a company. A modern 2020 version CEO should have a strong finger on the pulse of what is his brand story and brand positioning in the marketplace at all times is and appreciate that every single component of the customer's experience is tied into the brand. Logistics, packaging, customer service, social media, colour, brand name, taste, science, dollar value and sponsorship. Everything is associated with your brand and builds it or brings it down. In the nutrition space, the right brand positioning and brand strategy, it gives your sales and marketing people the ability to create greater sales conversion thus less effort is needed and expense on marketing and sales strategies. Sales conversion is key, and the right brand strategy and brand building activities can help make this far more cost effective.