Here are some interesting facts, quotes and opinions gathered by earlier
US Trade Missions to Asia and by Bill McNutt, the Trade Mission
director.
Some items are gathered from the files of Bill McNutt consulting clients
who have successfully entered the region.
"The WTO is changing everything in China and it is changing for the
better" Godfrey Rooke, Chairman of Direct Marketing Association of Hong
Kong.
* With a population of 1.3 billion and already the global market leader
in the sale of televisions, refrigerators and mobile phones, China has
the potential to become the "consumption engine" that could one day
drive much of the world.s economy in the same way the United States does
today.
"The rate of progress in China is unbelievable. And the overseas
Chinese are leading many of the changes in mainland China. Direct
marketing has been born and is growing rapidly." -- Bill McNutt
* Today's China has taken center stage with foreign investors. The
opportunity to expand one.s business in China is endless. Home to more
than 100,000 native millionaires, an estimated five to six million
Chinese have personal assets above $100,000. Business-to-business
marketing to greater China is a real opportunity for American firms,
approaching Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China as one market.
Chinese consumers are free to receive personal mail and parcels at
work as well as the home, with a reported 50,000 Chinese subscribed to
international publications. Even the post offices in different
provinces are competing with one another for handling large quantities
of mailings.
Both U.S. and foreign companies are taking advantage of the new "opening
shop" attitude in Asia. And, they want to use direct marketing as part
of their marketing mix, just as they do in other parts of the world.
This makes for a golden opportunity for US service suppliers and vendors
to the DM industry.
It is reported that IBM has enjoyed great success with E-Commerce
marketing in China and throughout Asia. Companies, such as one in
Beijing, have developed software to translate Chinese characters to
English, making it easier for U.S. companies to tap into this market.
Japan is also referred to as the newspaper capital of the world with a
daily circulation as high as nine million
For many years, L.L. Bean sold to Japanese consumers using their English
language catalogs. As of 2002 they have nine stores in Japan, a web
site in Japanese and a strong catalog business in two languages.
Ranked the 13th largest economy in the world, South Korea holds great
promise for direct marketing, especially in the financial services
sector.
Many dotcoms in Korea have excellent email lists, but do not have postal
mailings, another huge opportunity for direct marketing.
The expansion of credit cards in China and Korea has resulted in an
unexpected surge of orders for many U.S. based merchandise web sites.
U.S. companies are catching on to this phenomenon.
Citibank is in the process of launching international credit cards into
the Chinese market in a big way in the near future.
"American direct marketing database companies and service providers of
all kinds are needed in Asia to help improve standards," James Thornton,
founder of Mailings Lists Asia.
Australia is larger than all of Europe with a population not as great as
Texas. The population is spread out in only three or four population
centers with a great majority of the citizens living along the coasts.
It is amazing that the entire population of the country is about the
same as Mexico City. Average income is high, nearly 30,000 Australian
dollars.
Australian direct marketing is growing at approximately 16 percent a
year. The telemarketing business is growing at over 20 percent annually.
The economy is growing at about 4 percent.
There are a little over four million direct mail (DM) responsive
buyers in the country. This figure has been fairly consistent over this
course of the 1990.s. Indications are this group is getting more and
more responsive and increasing spending via the direct response (DR)
channel. The use of the Worldwide Web as a DM channel has helped the
entire sector.
The most successful is Cellarmasters, the largest and most successful
wine club in the world with more than 300,000 members in Australia and
New Zealand. The company is so successful that one in 8 bottles of wine
in Australia is sold by Cellarmasters.
In New Zealand, Biolab is the leading provider of high-quality
scientific instrumentation, equipment, supplies and chemicals to
research, industrial, clinical, educational and biotechnology markets.
Today, New Zealanders from all walks of life are buying and selling
goods and services on-line, from the weekly groceries to airline
tickets, software, music, arts and crafts, and clothing.
According to New Zealand DM Association, Direct Marketing is now
1.64billion-$dollar industry. In the last seven years, direct marketing
has become the fastest-growing distribution channel in New Zealand
New Zealand is considered as one of the most "networked" countries in
the world with 39.9% of all household having a PC with internet access
(Nielson/NetRatings January 2001).
The largest users of DM in New Zealand are oil companies, tourism, and
large multinational firms. Many of the multinational firms are starting
to use DM to provide services for other businesses and customer loyalty
programs.
Singapore
Traditionally, business to consumer direct marketing does not do well
in Singapore. Although the average consumer in Singapore has a higher
average personal income than their counterparts in the USA
Typical products sold through direct marketing in Singapore include
consumer goods such as gifts, cosmetics, health supplements, stationery,
fitness equipment, household appliances, bags and accessories.
The direct marketing industry is well supported by service companies
including Singapore Post, Singapore Telecom Call Center, Teledirect, TNT
International Mail, Dun & Bradstreet, Olgilvy One and MMS Consultancy.
The Singapore government also actively supports the industry through its
Direct Marketing Program by assisting companies (through financial
incentives) in using direct marketing for their trading activities.
Being in our country, walking around and seeing for yourself is the
only way to see Singapore. Don.t relay on what you get from the
library. Come and see it yourself. And come with a knowledgeable
direct marketer. Someone who knows cross border direct marketing.
Malaysia
To conduct the direct mail business from on shore in Malaysia you have
to have a license. This is not true if you sell from off shore.
It is proven that about 30 percent of consumers in Malaysia will buy
direct response.
The Malaysia advertising index has been growing for 20 percent a year
for several years
Readers Digest is successful in Malaysia. The Secretary of the
Malaysia Direct Marketing Association is an executive with Readers.
Digest.
