China: Three broad Chinese perspectives that brands can draw inspiration from

There are three broad Chinese perspectives that brands can draw inspiration from: getting stuff done fast, uninhibited innovation, and relationship maintenance, writes Y&R China's Stephen Drummond.

'Thinking Chinese' can provide a different perspective for your business and brand. In just 35 years China has achieved three times the growth that the West achieved during the entire industrial revolution, which, by the way, took over 80 years. These numbers alone suggest that there must be something the world can learn from China.

There’s nothing new about ‘borrowing’ from China, it’s been going on since Marco Polo stole the idea for pasta and the English pinched some tea bushels to plant in India.

Then there’s Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which has influenced both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategies and more since the fifth century, and continues to do so even today.
But what about modern China?

In her controversial 2011 book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Amy Chua outlined the trials and tribulations of being a 'Tiger Mom'. Chua noted: “We all want our kids to grow up happy, strong, and self-reliant. But different cultures have very different ideas about the best way to do that.”

The fact is, while there are many downsides to the ‘Tiger Mom’ approach, the results are often extraordinary and as such, many commentators believe that it’s time to selectively borrow some ‘Tiger Mom’ thinking.

What we are proposing here for marketers is that we can be selective in what we adopt from China.

Read the full article by Stephen Drummond, chairman and chief strategy officer, Y&R China