For this article, we interviewed Allan Tan, managing partner at Finn Partners; Jacob Stempniewicz, VP marketing at Andovar; Cassie Cheng, marketing and communications director at Mobvista; and Freya Simpson Giles, director at Giles Publications.
1. Some cultures will not openly express their opinion
Allan: It’s important marketers remember to not assume that clients, partners or work colleagues will tell you what they really think. Many people in Asia are reserved and consider direct, honest feedback to be rude unless they know you very well. A collaborative and mentoring approach to working relationships works better.
2. Marketers in Thailand actively avoid conflict and confrontation
Jacob: The biggest lesson I learned while working in Thailand was that the local people generally avoid conflict and confrontation at all costs, which can lead to issues going unnoticed or unresolved for a long time because nobody wants to escalate them. Your email marketing efforts could be generating little ROI despite decent figures, and it may be the person responsible knows of a flaw in the analytics tool which explains this error but is afraid to mention it for fear of being held responsible.
3. English proficiency is low in Asia; learning the local language may help target new markets
Jacob: It’s important not to assume that Asia is a homogeneous region and that all countries are the same or similar, because they aren’t. Japan and Pakistan are more different from each other than any two European countries. This also means that you won’t be able to reach Asia as a market using only English or any one language. Overall, the level of English proficiency is very low and there’s pride in national languages.
4. PR is more important than content marketing in China
Cassie: In Asian countries like China, PR is seen as more important than content marketing. Chinese companies don’t have the culture or the same attitude about the importance of content marketing or internal knowledge-sharing. Also, people don’t trust whitepapers or data as much in China because of a much wider issue around transparency and trust in the information that’s published and shared online. PR in China is usually easier to roll out in the short term over content marketing, and this may be because it’s easier to pitch the media, compared with Western countries. Asian people also love to read good stories, which is why PR may be preferred to data and facts.
5. Personal, face-to-face relationships are valued over digital communication
Jacob: Western clients tend to focus on tangible ROI, technology, and efficiencies and very often deals can be made over the phone or even email. This long-term perspective extends to how we market ourselves and nurture leads and prospects in Asia. It’s usually more important to be able to build a personal connection in Asia, ideally by meeting in person at industry events. Shaking hands, exchanging business cards, and sharing a moment discussing non-business matters pays dividends over the long-term.
Asian cultures value relationships more than hard facts. Building business relationships takes more time and a personal touch, but they tend to be more resilient. Although it takes longer to build relationships, it’s also harder to lose them. The adage that people buy from people is truer in Asia than anywhere else.
6. Securing new business requires patience
Allan: Don’t expect a business deal to be concluded on the first meeting. They need to get to know you better, and will not appreciate aggressive sales tactics to get them to sign on the dotted line. Instead, you may need to invest time in building relationships first, before you build the business. The main lesson for our agency was to be able to accommodate longer selling cycles, and to be patient if decisions aren’t made as quickly as we’d like.
7. Targeting the right level of seniority is vital for pitching new ideas
Freya: A huge challenge for B2B marketing teams in Asia is effectively pitching new services and ideas. Getting the right level of seniority is crucial. Go too high up the management structure and it’s not their concern so they’re not interested. Target too low and traditionally they won’t want to challenge the current way of doing things as they may lose ‘face’ with the more senior staff.
Even once you’ve identified the right person, it can be hard to convince them to buy a product if it is too new to the market. Herd mentality is a strong driver in Asia so proving that you already work for a similar business gets better results than framing yourself as a market ‘disruptor’ that goes beyond what the competition is doing.
To learn more about B2B marketing in Asia, sit in on an Ignite 2017 session presented by Bray Leino’s head of B2B Strategy, Katherine Almond.
