China's Top 100 Brands: Chanel the most wanted—again
The luxury company plays by its own distinct rules when it comes to marketing. Elsewhere in China's Top 100 Brands chart, Apple slips a few spots, while Uber plummets down the list.
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Didi Chuxing rides high in China while OTAs incur consumer wrath
We saw much longer strides in brand perception as a result of an intentional focus on service. The opposite is true for local losers, even if their drops are not as dramatic.
Legal complaint filed in connection with confrontation at GroupM offices
A dispute that resulted in a public argument outside WPP's Shanghai offices last October has now led to an official civil complaint.
Influencer ethics and accountability: Where are they?
Influencer marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry that is both glamorous and ugly. A discussion at our CampaignComms conference explored ideas like a Glassdoor equivalent for influencer reviews and a '4R' vetting criteria.
A McWin for McDonald's; big branding bucks for Starbucks
McDonald's and Starbucks triumphed over 230 other fast-food restaurant and coffee-shop brands in the whole of Asia Pacific.
Huawei vaults upward in brand ranking
Huawei has taken over from Xiaomi as the top Chinese brand across APAC.
Dentsu launches cross-border unit to serve Japan and China
Dentsu China Xover Center (CXC for short, and pronounced 'C by C') will launch on 1 June.
Why gender-neutral marketing may not mean equality
Efforts to address authentic differences between men and women need not be held back in the name of political correctness or progressiveness, say practitioners.
Aaron Wild resigns from OMD China
Wild served in leadership roles in China for both PHD and OMD over the past eight years.
'Is it expensive?': Sellers not pleased by price-comparison tool for China digital ads
A tool that lays out hidden markups of digital media buying and potential arbitrage in China has caused a stir following its release last month.
Jerry Clode on setting up The Solution for smaller brands
New shop takes Resonance China's ex research lead back to New Zealand.
Updated: 'RedEye' fraud op suspected to exploit digital ad industry in China
An ad-fraud network is reaping as much as RMB20 million (US$3 million) per day, and fraud-detection measures have failed to detect it, according to verification company Adbug.
Plant-based milks aren't a thing in Hong Kong, so Oatly made up a Chinese character for them
The invented pictogram is not a brand name; the Swedish company intends it as a conceptual signifier for plant-based milks. And it already shows signs of catching on.
Uncle Martian, what an awfully familiar logo you have!
On World Intellectual Property Day, we take a look at China, where the law surrounding IP infringement increasingly has teeth.
Wunderman Thompson unveils China leadership; Bryce Whitwam to depart
JWT male executives win out and a Wunderman man was culled in the agency's first post-merger shakeup at the sub-region level.
Amazon to withdraw from China's local e-commerce marketplace
Competition from Alibaba and JD proved too costly for Amazon China's domestic retail business, say industry experts.
Brands are relying less on agencies to manage KOLs in China
R3 whitepaper finds marketers in China can no longer only rely on agencies to select and launch KOL campaigns.
To post-90s Chinese, luxury is no longer for rich people
An Ogilvy study says to make luxury matter to the post-90s generation of young Chinese, brands have to change six marketing rules.
FAW-VW hands China media duties to local sales house
Winner in FAW-Volkswagen pitch unseats MediaCom, claims account is worth RMB2 billion (US$298 million) in billings.
Mailman wins La Liga, hires Asia VP, opens Singapore office
Bima Said, formerly of DAZN Group, will head Mailman's regional ops out of Indonesia.
Marketers, time for you to get 'GGWP' and other esports slang
How can esports 'n00bs' (newbies) get in on the marketing action, so they can later say to themselves GGWP ('good game, well played')?
BrandZ says Huawei is strongest Chinese brand outside China, but why?
Telecom and smartphone maker ranks No. 1 in brand power despite its struggles.
WPP China names CEO for Kinetic and GroupM OOH unit
The company appoints Cary Huang to a dual role.
Live from Digital360Festival in Shanghai
Text, images and video takeaways from the Digital360Festival, which took place March 28 in Shanghai.
Insisting on using only celebs is like "gambling" in your KOL strategy
Caught the influencer influenza? We take stock of the contagious KOL industry in China and determine how effective the spread really is.
Calvin Klein's Asia Pacific chief brand officer to leave amid restructure
Elizabeth Edmiston is stepping down after six and a half years at the US apparel brand.
UK advertising independents to woo more Chinese money
China newbies like The Beyond Collective, London Advertising, VCCP, and Feref are sussing out new business opportunities in the mainland.
M&C Saatchi Spencer wins Smartone business
The client worked with DDB previously.
Fosun establishes in-house brand management unit for fashion clients
The Chinese investment conglomerate has set up a pure play operation company to serve fashion brands with ambitions in Greater China.
MAC Cosmetics launches first interactive experience centre in Shanghai
The centre was the result of six months of research to understand GenZ's makeup purchase behaviour in China.
Mindshare China fills cup with more Master Kong drinks
Following a pitch, reportedly against Carat China and Blue449 China, Mindshare increases its remit from two to 13 brands.
PHD Singapore MD moves to Carat China as CEO
Wan-Gyn Ang is the new CEO of Carat China, filling a post that has been vacant for more than eight months.
Influencer matchmaker backed by John Hegarty wades into Asia
Matt Sutton has joined Whalar as CEO in Asia.
How Baidu went all out for its Spring Gala red-packet sponsorship
Baidu's daily active user (DAU) count grew 87% over eight days.
Three mainland Chinese brands with fresh approaches to CNY marketing
We highlight three domestic Chinese brands utilising technology, nostalgia, and humour to their advantage.
China Duty Free expands M&C Saatchi Spencer's remit to another airport
Another CDF subsidiary, Duty Zero, at the Hong Kong International Airport, is an existing client.
Bertilla Teo and Michael Lee to be Greater China co-CEOs at Publicis Groupe
The group also names an APAC MD for Publicis Sapient.
What happened behind the scenes of the Dolce & Gabbana China fiasco
Hear from the model in the videos that led to the cancellation of D&G's 'The Great Show', and the experiential agency behind the doomed Shanghai production.
'What is Peppa?' trailer injects much Chineseness into British cartoon
The Chinese internet has oinked in approval for a Peppa Pig ad that is half a movie trailer and half a sponsor promo for China Mobile.
China execs want their CEOs to speak out—way more than UK and US
CEOs and founders in China do not speak out enough, according to communications and marketing executives in a new survey from Weber Shandwick.
Claudine Kwek joins Omnicom from WPP
Her job scope as COO will cover Omnicom Media Group China's media agencies, OMD and PHD, as well as the group’s data and analytics division, Annalect.
FCB denies closure of Singapore office
Social media posts had suggested the agency was closing its doors by the end of this year.
In China, 'information cocoons' eclipse 'the big idea'
Taking a life of its own, Chinese-style marketing has followed neither existing textbooks nor tenets of ad gurus like David Ogilvy and George Lois.
Huawei 5G ad taunts Berlin with 'dog shit' jeer, and Germans actually agree
A Huawei ad at Berlin's Tegel airport taps Germans' desire for order and cleanliness to make a point.
Video: The significance of Singles Day 2018 for Alibaba
Why China's carnival of consumption may be at a turning point
Singles Day hits US$30.8 billion record as Alibaba goes 'all-in'
What brands won the day, and what we learned.
Nestlé consolidates media buying in China with Mindshare
Mindshare China expands scope of work beyond Wyeth and the Nestlé core portfolio.
We Are Social opens shop in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong head has been setting up the agency's 13th office since July.
Singles Day: MNCs evolve e-commerce KPIs in China—just not fast enough
Ahead of Singles Day, many multinational brands find themselves still trying to keep up with the omnichannel footprints of Alibaba and JD.
Innovation in content marketing doesn't happen by chance in China
Effective content marketing takes a concerted effort, according to speakers at Campaign's third China Innovation summit yesterday in Guangzhou.
Publicis finalises Digitas rebranding in China
Digitas China waited six months to remove the "LBi" from its former name, in order to make sure localisation and office renovation were in place.
Ascential fuses four e-commerce subsidiaries into one
Clients have had to rely on multiple providers in the past for a complete picture of their online sales performance.
China accounts for a third of global ad-funded video market
TOP OF THE CHARTS: China is expected to overtake the US to become the world's largest market for ad-funded video-on-demand for the first time in 2018.
Confrontation at WPP China offices caught on video
A public altercation yesterday at the WPP Campus in Shanghai, apparently over a payment issue involving GroupM, has been escalated to the local police.
M&A deals come full circle
The tide is turning from outside investors coming in, to inside investors looking out.
Digitas hires Wavemaker digital lead to drive its Hong Kong office
Antony Yiu replaces David Paysant, the outgoing MD of Digitas Hong Kong.
Belt & Road: Will all roads lead to (Brand) China?
The much-vaunted initiative could very well be China’s ‘brand promise’ as the face of globalisation, or not.
Tencent consolidates ad ops into a new business line
The move, under an overall reorganisation, signifies an intention to generate more revenue from advertising properties.
Starcom China races off with BMW for a second time
News of Starcom's retainer follows that of Juice Network being named as creative agency in July.
PHD Hong Kong hires HSBC account lead from Danone
Nadeem Amin will be managing partner for PHD's dedicated HSBC ASP unit.
Photos: MMA Smarties Awards 2018, China edition
Uniqlo China continues its winning streak at the Smarties Awards, the key annual event of the Mobile Marketing Association held this year on 13 Sept in Shanghai's Xintiandi.
China Sports Lottery hires 4A agency for the first time
Scope of work includes integrated planning and strategising on branding, communications and media.
Ikea, Nike, BMW, Marriott: Chinese consumers find you less relevant now
Prophet's 2018 China Brand Relevance Index shows Chinese brands raising their relevance due to innovation, not just pricing.
Electronics and auto brands lead digital transformation in China
Only 7% of Chinese brands are generating more than half their revenues from new businesses, according to Accenture research.
KOLs capture less than a tenth of HK video-viewing time
Video content put out by KOLs and brands doesn't command as much viewer attention in Hong Kong as you might think, according to Wave III of Omnicom Media Group’s video landscape report.
Hylink launches China tourism-focused subsidiary in US
The Beijing-based agency decided to formally enter the space due to a desire "to increase mutual understanding between global citizens".
Mailman takes US$15 million stake in European sports consultancy
China-based agency claims its purchase of a European firm is a "first of its kind" deal.
Daniel Zhang to succeed Jack Ma in 2019 as Alibaba chairman
Alibaba to exchange its reliance on Jack Ma's personal brand with "the next level of corporate governance".
TBWA China opens an internal technology lab
Q Lab will work with its own clients in addition to those of TBWA.
PHD China fills two newly-created senior management roles
Sandy Tan and Ian Dolan join the agency's China management team.
Jimmy Kuo replaces Dominic Ng as CEO of Vizeum China
The new CEO comes over from Carat to replace Dominic Ng, who is leaving to pursue personal projects, according to the agency.
Wieden+Kennedy Shanghai scoops Ikea creative account from BBH
Remit includes national integrated campaigns and store openings, as well as digital, social and retail communications.
Havas Beijing wins China Telecom’s traditional offline media business
The scope of work involves media strategy, execution, and performance evaluation for a period of two years.
Alibaba Group chooses MediaCom as overseas media agency
The remit covers strategy and buying for Tmall World, Alibaba Cloud, Dingtalk, Lazada, and Taobao International.
PHD retains Unilever business across Greater China region
Industry sees the account retention as a surprise given Mindshare's planning stronghold on the client globally.
Publicis, VCCP named winners in Cathay Pacific's first pitch in 25 years
The airline has chosen the winner of its creative, media and social assignments, an account reportedly worth US$100 million.
Photos: M&CSaatchiSpencer Hong Kong opens for business
The newly-minted M&CSaatchiSpencer threw a launch party on 30 Aug at the Naked Hub Sheung Wan in Hong Kong.
'China is not for everyone': readers respond to Delmus Credle's BBDO China account
Our story sparked a debate about what it is like to work in China as a foreigner. Some feel it's necessary to let "linguistic misunderstandings" slide; others feel the company in question could do much better. Do you agree?
Old ads come back to haunt Didi Hitch following rape-murder cases
Angry Chinese netizens have dredged up past ads for the ride-sharing service, which are filled with sexual innuendo that seems foreboding in retrospect.
Mileslife's debut in HK unites 16 air-mile schemes (but not Marco Polo Club)
Troy Liu, founder and CEO of Mileslife, does not classify his startup as a coalition loyalty marketing program.
How 6-year-olds in a Guangxi kindergarten re-interpreted Chevrolet's logo
Chevrolet's logo looked like a red cross, a crucifix or a sanitary napkin to many adults in China. A group of (much) younger ‘consumers’ helped change that.
Puma appoints Y&R as AOR for China
Y&R China won the business via competitive tender against five other agencies.
JCDecaux Transport rolls out automated DOOH planning tool in Hong Kong
Company says enhanced platform yields some surprises that defy conventional wisdom about where to advertise in Hong Kong's MTR system.
Brand Health Check: Can Clarks find its feet in APAC?
Perception of the brand in Asia has sunk to its lowest point in a decade amid a CEO resignation, falling profits and store closures. We asked four experts to explain what the shoemaker can do.
WPP China in talks to sell stake to Alibaba, CMC, Tencent deal may be a post-Sorrell 'tidying up': Analyst
Sources estimate the stake at hand to be roughly 20% of WPP China, valued at between US$2 billion and US$2.5 billion.
Loyalty schemes must keep evolving: reward-U's Christopher Chang
"There's still a lot of room for loyalty marketing to develop," says Chang.
Alibaba buys minority stake in Focus Media to engage with shoppers on the move
Alibaba Group acquired a minority 6.62% interest in China’s Focus Media and plans to take another 5% share in the Shanghai-based firm within the next 12 months.
Hong Kong first market in Asia to house Publicis agencies under one roof
"There was no collaboration in my first week", chuckled Publicis Hong Kong CEO Tom Kao in our exclusive interview, sharing his plans for the unification of the group's 13 sub-agencies.
Three loyalty marketing agencies rebrand as Collinson
ICLP, Collinson Latitude and Welcome Real Time will now be divisions under the new brand.
Unilever isn't chasing startups for the cool factor
After three years and 30 pilots, the Foundry shows no sign of stopping
Is Guess and Alibaba's FashionAI the future of retail?
When high style and high tech meet
Arsenal and 30 agencies ensnared in alleged BYD fraudulent misrepresentation case
More than 30 domestic ad agencies are crying foul after Chinese electric-car brand BYD indirectly absolved itself of payment obligations for RMB1.1 billion worth of ad production fees.
Chinese appliance brand on the hook for US$12 million in refunds as France wins World Cup
Vatti and its franchisees must pay consumers some RMB79 million (US$11.8 million) in reimbursements after Les Bleus claimed the World Cup crown last night.
Overseas consumers will not be a priority for WeChat Pay
It will not be possible for foreigners, except in Hong Kong and Malaysia, to use WeChat Pay local-currency wallets in the near term, as the payment brand is prioritising Chinese outbound tourists.
Xiaomi's poor IPO may have little bearing on its consumer brand equity
Is Xiaomi a smartphone brand? Is it a hardware ecosystem incubator? Is it an internet company? Confused investors did not buy into Xiaomi's narrative, but its intangible brand equity remains, experts posit.
Guess to be first global brand to digitise stores with Alibaba's FashionAI
The duo show off the system's capabilities, such as personalised recommendations based on prior Taobao/Tmall purchases, in a concept store in Hong Kong.
Jane Lin-Baden resigns from Isobar after a decade
Lin-Baden will support Isobar’s regional leadership transition until July.
What's that jumble of Chinese characters at the World Cup?
Your comprehensive guide to the official and unofficial Chinese sponsors on display at the World Cup — and what their presence says about China's long-term football ambitions.
China's top 100 brands for 2018
Car Inc, Ikea, Oreo, and iQiyi shoot through the ranks while Dumex is down in the dumps as it drops 159 spots.
'Be careful when talking about Tibet': Tool aims to help brands avoid hot water
Social-management platform Kawo wants to help ease the angst of brand managers who worry about posts running afoul of China's ever-shifting list of banned topics.