For the past few years now, local Chinese brands have been spending vastly more money on domestic advertising than their multinational counterparts.
However, the latest Adwatch poll has found that it's not how much is spent, but how the product is positioned.
According to the TVC recall poll conducted by Synovate, Pepsi -Cola topped the chart with a 99 per cent rate of recall. Coming in at a close second was Naobaijin health products at 97 per cent.
However, according to Nielsen Media Research, Pepsi - whose advertising agency is J. Walter Thompson - spent US$13 million on marketing communcations activities in the third quarter of last year, compared with US$57 million for Naobaijin, which is the second biggest advertiser in China.
The difference between the two is that the beverage giant uses a range of marketing tools to boost its image and awareness.
Pepsi's strategy includes employing celebrities, such as Taiwan pop band F4, to promote the brand. Riding on the coattails of celebrities gives it a greater bang for the buck.
Naobaijin, on the other hand, is content to place a majority of its budget on television.
JWT Shanghai senior account director, Chris Shen, said that in the second half of last year, F4 was extremely popular in China, reflected by the fact that its television drama scored high ratings points among Shanghai viewers.
He added: "In November and December, Pepsi continued to air a commercial that featured the pop band in order to strengthen its "Ask for More" brand positioning."