Dragon Trail - Top 8 Tips to Market to Chinese Consumers_Sept 2011

REACH & CONNECT
WITH AFFLUENT
CHINESE CONSUMERS
BY LEVERAGING DIGITAL
MARKETING, TECHNOLOGY
AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO
INCREASE BRAND AWARENESS
AND GENERATE DEMAND

DRAGONTRAIL.COM - CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM

TOP 8 TIPS FOR MARKETING
TO AFFLUENT CHINESE CONSUMERS

1. Spot the China Travel Trends
2. Understand the Chinese Consumer
3. Develop a Multi-Channel Plan
Channel
4. Leverage the Internet as a Medium
5. Develop a Relevant Chinese Website
6. Be Social to Connect
7. Tell your Story
8. Build Relationships via Campaigns


1. SPOT THE CHINA TRAVEL TRENDS
• China Travel Market is growing
• Internet is used to “Plan & Tell”
• Growing demand for more individual experiences

Chinese Travel Change
3 Trends are shaping The New Chinese Tourist
1.China Outbound Tourism and Domestic Tourism
China
is growing
2.Chinese Internet and Social Media channels influence
Chinese
planning and research
3.Chinese consumers are moving towards an
Chinese
experienced based choice model from a price based
choice model

The New Chinese Tourists are demanding higher
quality services, and moving from Traditional Tour
Groups to more individual travel experiences


Chinese outbound Travellers
expected to exceed 100 million by 2020.

100+
 China Outbound Traveler Number
Unit: Million person times

57
47
41 46
31 34
29
20

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2020
Source: China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) (Expected by UNWTO)


1.China Outbound Tourism and Domestic Tourism is
China
growing
2.Chinese Internet and Social Media channels
Chinese
influence planning and research
Chinese
choice model



Online Travel Research in China

Source: Nielsen, 2009


Sharing trip experience in online is getting more and
more popular, especially for young generations.


1.China Outbound Tourism and Domestic Tourism is
China
growing
2.Chinese Internet and Social Media channels influence
Chinese
planning and research
Chinese
choice model



Demand for Individual Travel Experiences
BCG points out in its March 2011 Travel and Tourism
in China report that 95 of travel consumers
95%
surveyed were dissatisfied with current market
offerings, both domestic and international.


Demand for Individual Travel Experiences


2. UNDERSTAND THE CHINESE CONSUMER
• Offer Chinese
Chinese-ready Services
• Affluent Consumer are Younger

Major consumer in Outbound Travelers
are young professional with high income.

5 6 Business person 5
1 3 6 USD3,660 or
1 above
26 4
29 3 Government officer 34
45-59 16 4 19
Blue-collar worker USD2,197-
3
25 3,559
25 7 Teacher
28
35-44
32 25
10 Student USD1,174-
4 2,196
20
Freelancer
31
25-34 9
27
Senior 29 USD566-1,173
management/executives
39
18-24 22 30 Professionals
16 18
Clerk/white-collar worker
10 USD565 and
2 below
General Outbound General Outbound General Outbound
Population Travelers Population Travelers
Population Travelers

Source: Nielsen Outbound Travel Monitor 2011


VIDEO: China's new young affluent luxury consumers

http://www.youtube.com/user/P1ChinaLuxuryReport#p/a/u/0/v6BaIqZ8X9k

3. DEVELOP A MULTI
MULTI-CHANNEL PLAN
• Digital media is critical
• PR is still evolving

4. LEVERAGE THE INTERNET
• Media Influence
• Geographic Reach

CHINA INTERNET USERS HAVE GROWN BY 1500% SINCE 2000

485 million Internet users in June2011, representing 34% of the Chinese population

Most engaged country online: 92 % contributed to social media

85% of Chinese online users approve Internet Censorship

The Internet is their most important information source for 84.3% of netizens

More bloggers in China than in Europe and USA combined
Source: CNNIC; Trendspotting; Forester; iResearch


Source: Digital Influence Index 2010 – Fleichman Hillard & Harris Interactive


Internet Penetration:
USA: 80%

Opportunity for
Growth in China:
By 2015 – expected to be
750-900 Million Online Users


VIDEO: China Luxury Boom Moves Inland

http://youtu.be/XxZi6wlNC1Y

5. DEVELOP RELEVANT CHINESE WEBSITES
- No Straight Translation
- Avoid Content Gaps

Research studies indicate that attitude towards websites,
the site’s interactivity and usability, as well as purchase
intentions of users are enhanced when sites are congruent
with the target customers’ cultural predispositions.
(“The Culturally Customized Website”, Elsevier, 2005.)

Collectivism: Emphasizing values
important in collectivist cultures.
For example, emphasizing family
theme.

Power Distance: Adding elements
that emphasize power distance. For
example, displaying awards or
honors that a company or brand has
received.


EXAMPLE: BANFF
China Market Relevance:
- Content is re-written, not
straight translation (adding
important content areas,
not part of the English website,
i.e. location map, Chinese Restaurants, etc.)
- Content is optimized for
Chinese Search Engines
- Website is designed for
Chinese consumers
- Chinese website has more
relevant branding (Canadian
Rockies.cn)
- Chinese site is hosted in China
- Doesn’t link to English sites of
travel suppliers in Banff, but
incorporates suppliers
DDRAGONTRAIL.COM
RAGONTRAIL.COM -- CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM
CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM

Ensuring Relevance – Avoiding Content Gaps
“Chinese consumers associate irrelevant websites with bad offline experiences.”
Source: ChinaTravelTrends.com

1. Straight content translation from the English website to Chinese leads to the
following:
 Content is not written for Chinese search engines
 Content is not written in a way that is relevant to the market
 Content is missing important sections that are important for Chinese consumer’s decision
making process. That content (i.e. information about Chinese visa application process,
availability of Chinese restaurants, relevant destination information, etc.) is mostly
missing on the non-Chinese website. A straight translation would not include that content.
Chinese

We define “content/context gaps” as:
> Content Gaps are pieces of information that have not been localized, or simply
translated into Chinese. Content Gaps (on external websites) are pieces of
information that are linked from the Chinese version website, ie the website of a
partner that does not have a (fully) translated Chinese website. Context Gaps are
pieces of information that are not relevant to the Chinese audience. This could
include maps that do not relate to the distance/location of China, Google maps in
English, Western social media logos/links (ie. Facebook/Twitter/Youtube instead of
Renren/Weibo/Youku).


VisitBritain’s new Website – great use of Web 2.0

…and VisitBritain.com in Chinese

Is it really Relevant???

6. BE SOCIAL TO CONNECT
• Censorship vs. Local Sites
• Brand Engagement = Education

CHINA SOCIAL MEDIA DOMINATES THE US:
Chinese netizens are more engaged in creating/sharing content

Source: New 2008 Social Technographics data Source: Chinese Social Technographics Revealed,
reveals rapid growth in adoption, 2008/10/20 2009/01/23


China’s digital media landscape
is dominated by local players.

Government censorship Local players appeal
to domestic users

March 2011


Weibo = Twitter + Facebook + YouTube + News

35 countries and regions
have weibo.com accounts

Total Followers

1 UK: 63478

2 Singapore: 43751

3 Czech Republic: 42004

4 Canada: 40115

5 Australia: 35830


P1 | SNS for the Affluent Class


7. Tell Your Story
• Leverage KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders)
• Encourage Sharing of Travel Experiences Online

VIDEO: Tourism New Zealand KOL Campaign


8. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS VIA CAMPAIGNS
• Combine Viral Spread with Engagement
• Capture Customer Data

Virtual Trip Campaign
Three virtual
itineraries around
Canada were designed.
Participant who
complete one route
will have a chance to
win a free trip to
Canada.
In totoal three free
trips, 50 iPads and
1000 U-disks as prizes.
RESULTS:
3.3 Million Visitors
Awards 2011
250 K Registrations
39,000 Followers (SW)

DDRAGONTRAIL.COM
RAGONTRAIL.COM -- CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM
CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM

Dragon Trail Services

Digital Marketing External Efforts Social Media Marketing
Chinese Web Site Management
Web Analytics
Email Marketing Campaign

SEO/SEM … Campaign Pages Strategy

Your Digital Site
Web / Mobile
Consumer Internet Travel Technology
Tuantuanle.com Itinerary Engine
Satellite Sites
Slow.travel Trip Pages

Tripshow.com Web Analytics Booking/Search

Marketing
Database


Dragon Trail Digital Strategy Approach

GOAL: Increase Brand Awareness & Direct Sales

– Guide Strategy Execution
– Build a foundation for brand engagement
(Social Media ready and Search Engine
optimized Website for the Chinese Market)
– Create online touch-points
– Develop relevant content
– Maintain, monitor, engage, and evaluate
– Gain insights from data and social media
– Combine and offline and online tactics
– Drive campaigns that convert
– Increase revenues

58

Dragon Trail Program Execution

5. Interact with influential bloggers 1. Determine the best possible
and manage Dragon Trail’s market strategy to build brand
Familiarization Trip 2.0 Program, awareness and reach the
designed to create buzz about target audience
the brand.

4. Execute an innovative
social media campaign that
drives traffic and captures
consumer data, leveraged 2. Develop a culturally-
for future initiatives. relevant Chinese Website,
consistent with the brand
message, optimized for
Chinese search engines,
designed for the Chinese
target market, with
3. Set-up profiles on targeted Chinese engaging content, and
Social Media profiles, seed relevant hosted in China with state
content, engage with the audience, and of the art technology.
monitor for brand reputation.


Dragon Trail Digital Strategy Planning

Integrated Digital Marketing & Social Media Campaigns


A couple important points…
1. Website hosting in China is critical in order to ensure organic
local search engine optimization, and optimal accessibility.
2. Constant optimization of the social media landscape is
critical in order to ensure content seeding, consumer
engagement, and brand reputation.
3. A solid technology partner is vital, especially when running
campaigns, to ensure data quality and protect the database
from hackers.
4. Local representation, especially with intimate knowledge and
relationships in the travel and internet space in China
critical in order to ensure successful strategy execution.
…in short: YOU NEED A TRUSTED LOCAL ADVISOR
IN CHINA. DRAGONTRAIL.COM - CHINATRAVELTRENDS.COM

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT
THE CHINESE TRAVEL MARKET?

Access the latest trends on ChinaTravelTrends.com
and join the online community for free.
www.ChinaTravelTrends.com (Twitter: @CnTravelTrends) - Published by Dragon Trail & COTRI

Essential China Travel Trends Book
With forewords from UNWTO, WTTC, and PATA

“… Already the world’s fourth most
visited destination today, by 2020,
China is expected to become the
leading international tourism
destination and the fourth largest
outbound travel market. This
comprehensive study of travel trends in
China provides invaluable insights into
one of the fastest growing travel and
tourism markets in the world."

Taleb Rifai - Secretary General,
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)


China Travel Social Media Seminars
(DT also organizes company-specific seminars upon request,
specific
and is available for speaking engagements world
world-wide.)
“ This was a very important and
insightful seminar, organized by
Dragon Trail. Social Media in China
looks very complex and like a whole
lot of work, but then again, people
are talking with or without us - so we
are definitely better off if we take part
and try to influence it."
Oliver Sedlinger - China Director,
German National Tourist Board (DZT)
Select Speaking
Engagements:


The Chinese Outbound Tourists will continue to
travel all over the world. Are you ready for them?

TRAINING & COACHING CERTIFICATION RESEARCH PLEASE CONTACT COTRI
(CHINA OUTBOUND TOURISM
RESEARCH INSTITUTE) FOR
MORE INFORMATION:
WWW.CHINA-OUTBOUND.COM

“We treat clients as partners”

-Based in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian (Tech Ctr.)
Based
- Unique combination of unmatched expertise
- Best in class capabilities & award
award-winning solutions
- Innovative cost model & strategic approach
- Growing list of clientele of leading travel brands

Contact me:
LinkedIn: Thraenhart
Twitter: @JensThraenhart
Facebook: JensThraenhart
E-Mail: Jens@DragonTrail.com

Get insights & trends:
www.DragonTrail.com
JENS THRAENHART www.ChinaTravelTrends.com
Twitter: @CnTravelTrends
Join our Community:
www.Community.ChinaTravelTrends.com

Awards 2011
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Dragon Trail - Top 8 Tips to Market to Chinese Consumers_Sept 2011

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