Source: China Trade News
According to data released by the Ministry of Commerce recently, the bilateral trade volume between China and Africa in 2021 will reach 254.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 35% and a new high since 2014. my country has been the largest trading partner of Africa for 13 consecutive years, and Chinese commodities are increasingly enriching the lives of African people. May 10, 2022 is the sixth Chinese Brand Day. Here, I would like to talk about some superficial thoughts on Chinese brands competing in the African market.
When Chinese brands go to Africa, I think we can start from two aspects: the first is how Chinese brands of tangible products (usual goods, such as machine textiles and other visible products) can enter Africa and become bigger and stronger; The second is China's intangible products (such as the construction industry) that are services, how to establish a brand in Africa and become bigger and stronger. How to make Chinese brands bigger and stronger in Africa, I think the main thing is to do a good job of both tangible products and intangible service brands.
The overall level of development in Africa is relatively low. Most of the poorest countries in the world are located in Africa. In the past, there were still wars and chaos in some parts of Africa. Many Africans have never been abroad, and many have not even been out of their own provinces or provinces. Smaller administrative area, so many Africans know little about external brands. Therefore, new products entering the African market have the opportunity to establish their own brands and build their own audiences in a relatively short period of time, with less burden on brands.
In 2000, the bilateral trade volume between China and Africa was only 10 billion US dollars. In the following two decades, China-Africa trade has boomed and exceeded 250 billion US dollars by 2021. Chinese products are cheap and high-quality, which can better meet the daily life of African people with low per capita income, so that Chinese products have a wider exposure in Africa. Small stores selling Chinese products can be found in remote small mountain villages with only a few hundred people in some African countries, which creates a good opportunity for the establishment of Chinese brands. The consumption of brands is subject to the income of consumers, and many African people are more concerned about the price and cost-effectiveness of products, which creates a comparative advantage for the establishment of Chinese brands. High-end brands in Europe and the United States surpass the spending power of many Africans and are actually far away from their daily lives.
In many African countries, television, newspapers and other media advertising is still very effective. The African advertising industry has emerged with the rapid development of the African economy in the past two decades. However, because most people have limited information sources and few opportunities to go abroad, the media has become an important channel for many Africans to obtain product information sources. Many people believe in advertising, and the cost of advertising is not expensive, so it is necessary to increase product awareness through media advertising in Africa.
When it comes to Chinese service brands, China's construction industry has a good reputation and reputation in Africa. Many African countries say that we are an "infrastructure maniac" because our construction cost is relatively reasonable and the construction speed is fast. Many African countries are willing to Hand over engineering projects to Chinese companies. Of course, the services that Chinese companies can provide to Africa go far beyond engineering construction. If our service providers can continue to maintain the characteristics of high efficiency, fast speed and good quality services, China's service brand will have a bigger presence in Africa. market.
I think that a company or some of our products entering Africa needs professional market development planning and brand development planning. You need to have a reasonable positioning for your own products, which must be in line with the actual situation of your own development; you must identify the market, if it is a mid-range product, go to the mid-range market, and if it is a high-end product, go to the high-end market. . There are 54 countries in Africa, and you should choose a country that suits you to expand. Each country has different cultures and consumption habits, so brands also need to consider localization to suit the local market. It is recommended to consider establishing a local brand in different African countries, or consider establishing a regional brand, because based on regional integration agreements, It is more convenient for products to be circulated among member countries.
Brands must have proper names. Some enterprise products are very good and well-known in China. After going to Africa, they directly mark the domestic brand name in Chinese Pinyin. Because of the difference in language pronunciation, sometimes Africans are not so easy to read and remember, which is not good for brand promotion. . Therefore, it can be considered to register different trademarks in different countries in Africa, and register them with words that are easy to read and remember by local people, which is conducive to promotion and dissemination.
The brand story is very important, but it can't be too complicated, don't give too many meanings, it must be easy to remember, easy to understand, and don't cover everything, it will not help spread. For many African people, compared with listening to stories, they are most concerned about three things: product quality, cost performance and after-sales service.
In addition, the domestic brands and foreign brands of the same company's products must be isolated to avoid a situation wher one loses all. For tangible goods, our focus should be on promoting the brand of the product, not the company that produces the product, in short, the trademark of the product; for intangible goods, especially services, what we should promote is to provide Service company, let customers understand the service quality of this company, and establish the brand of this company.
