Chinese Companies Can’t Build Brands? Think Again

Posted by Joel

BusinessWeek

How many Chinese brands can you name? Probably fewer than the fingers on your hand. Atlantic Monthly journalist James Fallows believes China’s lack of global brands is proof it is not an economic superpower. As he wrote last month, 44% of Americans think that the world’s leading economic power is China. “People who think this are crazy,” Fallows wrote on his blog. “Name 20 large American corporations that do business worldwide. Without trying, you can probably name 50. Try to name even 10 from China.”

Most people can’t. In part, that’s because Chinese companies traditionally haven’t cared much about building brands. Lacking marketing talent and looking for a quick buck, they competed on price rather than spend the time and money on brand-building. After all, it took decades for Japanese and Korean companies like Toyota and Samsung to become global players.

The world has changed, though, and Chinese companies with the potential to become global brands have emerged. For brand managers, it would be a mistake to discount Chinese companies. Take sports-apparel maker Li Ning as an example. It is competing head to head with Nike (NIKE) and Adidas on design and product selection, and opened its first retail store in Portland this month. It has even opened design operations near Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., and is taking advantage of the downturn to hire American talent…

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