Zhang now oversees a company that is widely viewed as China’s leading brand, boasting global revenues upwards of US$10 billion, including a leadership position in at least one US product category.
Along the way, Haier has become something of a darling of the international media, gracing the upper echelons of brand rankings from the likes of BusinessWeek, the Financial Times and Interbrand.
Surely then, agencies must be queuing up to pitch for Haier’s brand strategy assignment, as the white goods giant gears up for next year’s Olympics in Beijing. Perhaps, but there is more than a hint of wariness. After all, the pitch appears to take up where last July’s aborted attempt to find an Olympics agency left off — and some shops are more than a little concerned.
Indeed, the Haier review illustrates what is an uncomfortable quandary for international agencies in China — that bigger local clients may not offer much beyond the kudos of name recognition.
“Haier is always held up as one of the Chinese brands that can break through into the global market,” says a source at one of Haier’s roster agencies. “If you are an international agency, there are basically three China brands that your global CEO has heard of — Haier, Tsingtao and China Mobile. The reality, of course, is terribly difficult.”
That reality, it appears, encompasses a company where the marketing function is dominated by sales, and where corporate brand work is at the mercy of the tussle for supremacy among different product divisions. “It’s as primitive as they come,” notes another agency source. “Fundamentally, Haier is
a sales-driven, image-conscious company. It wants to be big, so it knows it should be using a 4As agency... but the question is what type of empowerment does the marketing department have?”
The situation is further complicated by an apparent vacuum in terms of authority, a relatively common scenario at local companies which feature a dominant CEO. “The problem with Haier is it doesn’t have a final decision-maker,” adds a source at another of Haier’s roster agencies. “Last year, no one was appointed, and the pitch just finished.”
Or remained unfinished, despite the work of roster shops DraftFCB, Saatchi & Saatchi, Asatsu-DK and Dentsu to formulate a cohesive brand platform in preparation for the Olympics. For these agencies, working for Haier also calls for them to set up satellite operations at Haier HQ in Qingdao — which, for at least one shop, is described as a hardship posting that rarely attracts the best agency talent. “Hiring people from outside Qingdao is difficult, as is keeping them,” says a source.
With the Olympics fast approaching, meanwhile, the seven agencies invited to present — DraftFCB, ADK, JWT, Euro RSCG, Leo Burnett, Y&R and Bates — are being asked to devise an Olympics platform at short notice. With 55 sponsors already signed up, Haier may have its work cut out in carving through the clutter. On this, though, the agencies are less concerned.
“For local clients, it is never too late,” explains one agency head who is expecting to pitch. “But, somehow, we hope that one day Haier will wake up and take things more seriously.”
