Analysis
The Chinese marketplace is unique. If you do not understand your local target groups, their interests, their ideas and mindset, chances are your communications effort will backfire. Understanding target groups is more than just segmenting the market – you need direct contact with real people.
Focus Groups and In-depth Interviews are methods taken from consumer marketing, but they are equally useful for business-to-business companies and products. Our consultants are trained in applying a communications perspective to these methods, using them as a basis for positioning and key message development.
To get a fast but accurate overview of your public image, consider using a Media Audit. We interview a number of Chinese journalists in your industry and report on the perceptions of you and your competitors.
Online, we provide ongoing monitoring, as well as competitor benchmarking and online accessibility using our Hurdle Analysis methodology.
We continuously do analysis projects for Fortune-500 clients and many smaller companies from industries as diverse as luxury goods, telecoms, industrial equipment, automobiles and fast-moving consumer goods.
Send us an email at contact.us(at)eastwei(dot)com, if you would like to look at our client list and some case studies!
Focus Groups
In a focus group, we work with local market research vendors to gather 6-8 people from the relevant target group and hold an informal discussion moderated by an experienced Eastwei consultant. Focus groups build on associations and group dynamics to provide information on attitudes, understanding and other image factors that are hard to answer with a simple questionnaire. Sessions are recorded for later summary in a written report.
In-depth Interviews
In-depth Interviews are a complement to focus groups, used for preparation or when discussing sensitive issues. The consultant meets with one respondent at a time, giving plenty of opportunity to follow up on associations, misunderstandings and new ideas.
Media Audits
Media Audits provide a comprehensive overview of corporate and product image and reputation, as seen by an informed group of experts: industry journalists. Journalists understand what's going on in your business; they gather information, attend industry events and meet your competitors on a daily basis. This makes them an invaluable source of information. A Media Audit is also a great relationship-building tool.
Hurdle Analysis
Eastwei Hurdle Analysis uses the standard “Attention – Interest – Action – Sharing” marketing model to analyze how easy it is for customers to reach you, learn about your products, and interact with your brand online. The model provides an integrated approach which forms the basis for Search Engine Optimization, Link Strategy, User Experience Management and User Enabling.
Media Relations
In China, you will often hear people talking about "guanxi" – relationships. Many agencies will tell you about their guanxi with journalists, and how these relationships will guarantee good media coverage.
But relationships are important in PR everywhere. If a consultant doesn't have good relationships with local editors and journalists, what is he or she doing in PR anyway? The key in China, as in any other markets, is to make messages compelling to the target group. This requires in-depth knowledge of their level of understanding, mindset, values and habits. It also requires the patience to keep journalists and other constituencies informed about yourself – even when you don't necessarily need them to write about you.
In China, more than anywhere else, PR is about providing knowledge. And to do that, your consultants need to have an in-depth understanding not only of the Chinese market and media, but also of your company, competitors, products and industry. At Eastwei, we have the in-house skills to perform qualitative research and analysis as the basis for all the work that we do. But we also illustrate our commitment to understanding by requiring every consultant to work in-house at our clients. Every one of us has done service as a bartender, been an intern in a technical service center, sold furniture, or hawked laptops in a mom-and-pop computer shop – all to get hands-on experience of our clients' products.
Our track record of generating industry-leading coverage proves that the Eastwei Knowledge-Driven Media Relations™ approach, built on understanding, a "service" approach to media, dialogue and professionalism, points the way to the future of Chinese PR.
For more information, please visit: http://www.zhongguoshigongguan.com
Service offerings
• Clipping and analysis service;
• Media Audits;
• Long-term Media Strategy and publicity programs;
• Press Releases and Feature Articles;
• Risk assessment, Scenario Planning and Crisis Systems
• Crisis Management
• Media Training and Crisis Training for executives
On-line Communication
The Chinese online environment is complex, developing rapidly – and very different from that of other countries. The internet is where things happen in China these days – e-commerce is expanding rapidly, trends are usually born online, and according to Eastwei research, more than 90% of Chinese media crises started online before hitting mainstream print and broadcast channels.
In China, the internet is both global and highly local – not only do Chinese netizens prefer Chinese-language sites, but the most popular sites often differ from province to province and city to city. Blogs, chats and social networks function in subtly different ways from their Western counterparts.
Having a strong online presence in China therefore requires more than translating your website – you must understand local user habits, adapt your channels to local customs, and make sure that your offering links to the most important Chinese sites and is easily searchable in Chinese.
Eastwei offers a full range of online marketing services, from online monitoring and analysis to Web Design, Social Media Intervention, Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing. We have in-house experts who have worked for major portals, as well as traditional PR consultants with long-term experience from online intervention and stakeholder engagement. In other words, we have the capability to coordinate traditional website design with the latest social media tools. Most of our retainer clients now use Eastwei for online projects.
For a proactive approach to your online environment, we recommend starting with an Immersion Workshop, where Eastwei consultants will do initial research followed by a one-day session to take your team through the major forums, what your competitors are doing, and how your brand could become stronger online.
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Event Management
For years, Eastwei clients have been asking for support on event management. In 2007, we founded Re:verb Events, China's message-driven event agency, to meet this need.
Re:verb's purpose is summarized in our slogan: "Telling Your Story". We combine excellent execution with an in-depth understanding of communications and the role of events in driving strategy. Creative ideas that support your messages; great execution; efficient processes; and tools and metrics for follow-up of communication results – Re:verb provides turn-key event solutions that drive business strategy.
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