Marketing and Promotion Planning: How Businesses Can Use the Power of Media to Open Up the Market

Author: Guo Yu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book is part of the "China Marketing Strategy" series. The author, after years of dedicated research, analyzes recent commercial events in the Chinese market from a marketing perspective, making it a comprehensive collection of current marketing news in China. It offers valuable insights for businesses on how to skillfully use media to promote their brands. As the saying goes, "Among the strong nations, it is not Qin but Chu, or not Chu but Qin. If the horizontal alliance succeeds, Qin becomes the emperor; if the vertical alliance succeeds, Chu becomes the king." In the late Warring States period, marked by the rise of conflict among the seven states, strategic thinking emerged, represented by Su Qin and Zhang Yi, advocating for horizontal and vertical alliances. These strategies adjusted the relationships between weaker states and between weaker and stronger states, achieving a certain balance of power. Looking at today's commercial battlefield in China, it is akin to a fierce struggle for dominance. Initially, multinational companies like Procter & Gamble and Unilever entered the Chinese market, engaging in mergers and acquisitions, such as L'Oréal's acquisition of the well-known brand Xiao Shifu, forming a horizontal alliance. Later, Chinese automotive companies began large-scale integration efforts. The reorganization of automotive groups and Tianjin Automotive Group saw the First Automotive Holding Company acquire the excellent assets of the Chery Shares Company, followed by its acquisition of Sichuan Travel Car Factory. Dongfeng signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Nissan, while SAIC, General Motors, and Liuzhou Wuling invested together to establish SAIC General Motors Wuling Motor Co., Ltd. After a thrilling reorganization battle, the new landscape of China's automotive industry has preliminarily achieved a vertical alliance strategy. Banks such as the Bank of Communications, China CITIC Bank, Everbright Bank, and Industrial Bank have all submitted listings, seeking investment through acquisitions and mergers of smaller financial institutions to accelerate low-cost expansion, with the goal of achieving a vertical alliance strategy to resist the large-scale entry of foreign banks. Qin conquered the six states with its ambition to dominate the world and its invincible cavalry and arrows, much like the rain of arrows depicted in the movie Hero, unstoppable and victorious wherever they went. But in today's commercial warfare, what can businesses rely on to expand their territories and dominate the market like Qin's cavalry and arrows?——Marketing.