The Negotiation

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      Factors that developed Mark’s interest in doing business with China

●      Building relationships with Xinhua News Agency and Tencent

●      The demographics of the ski industry in China and why locals prefer to ski abroad

●      Promoting the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and local winter sports in general

●      Ski locations in China

●      The economic drivers behind the development of ski hills

●      Why many resorts in China have not been able to develop year-round destinations

●      What about ski TV appeals to Chinese audiences

●      The difference between programming for a Chinese audience and a Canadian audience

●      Emerging winter sports in China

●      What the future holds for ski TV in China

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Mark Kristofic, Managing Partner at S-Media, a television, print and digital production company that provides advertising, marketing, and production in Canada and China. S-Media also owns Snowsports Media, which includes a ski travel show featuring different destinations around the world. Mark is also partnered with the nonprofit events management company, World Snowsports Events Group.

Because skiing worldwide had been relatively flat in terms of growth, Mark identified China as an emerging sports market. His interest in expanding into the market only grew with the announcement of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, where sports would be a state-sponsored initiative.

In October 2017, S-Media began talks with Xinhua News Agency. They had their first meeting in Beijing that December and, only a month later in January 2018, began filming around China, their partnership official.

Asked how S-Media was able to build a relationship with Xinhua, Mark says that there were two keys to their success. For one, “they actually wanted the Western validation of the ski industry.” Secondly, they focused their messaging on the two elements that Xinhua wanted to highlight: regional culture (depending on where they were filming) and how the development of snow sports in China led toward their goal of hosting a successful Olympics.

S-Media has since partnered with Tencent as well. Mark explains how his company, working alongside Xinhua and Tencent, programs for a Chinese audience compared to a Canadian one. He also goes on to speak on winter sports in China in general, and how the upcoming Olympics is contributing to the industry’s growth around the country.

Key Quotes:

“Once we had that formula where we knew we needed to talk about the ski area, their preparedness for the Olympics, and the culture, then it became quite simple to produce the product [for Xinhua].”

“The content that we built for Xinhua was really information-driven and coming from the mouth of the government. We did have a massive number of views, but whether that was appealing to the audience or not, we don’t really know.”

“What really resonates with the Chinese viewers from an entertainment standpoint is having influencers and celebrities involved.”

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      The explosion of fitness culture in Asia

●      Mainland China’s consumer sporting goods market

●      Columbia’s brand strategy for the Chinese market

●      Differences between the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean sports apparel markets

●      How the 2008 Beijing Olympics impacted the country’s sports apparel market

●      Establishing a digital and physical presence as a new sports brand in China

●      Do big-box stores for sports apparel exist in China, or are they independently managed?

●      The current state of Japan’s sports apparel market

●      How Japan’s work culture influences shopping habits

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Bill Tung, who currently works as Managing Director at Peaks Consulting. Bill discusses the rise of the sports apparel world in China, Japan, and Korea, which he experienced firsthand as Vice President of International Sales and Market Expansion at Columbia Sportswear.

Bill recalls, upon joining Columbia in 2003, that China was “virgin territory” for the brand. Working with their distributor in Hong Kong, they explored potential strategies to introduce their products into the Chinese market. While Columbia was eventually able to foray into the country—and gradually built brand recognition with in-store marketing—it turned out to be a huge challenge because very few Chinese engaged in outdoor activities such as skiing, snowboarding, camping, or trail running.

Indeed, one of the more unique elements of the sports apparel market in China is that fashion, rather than function, is the biggest selling point for most consumers. Compared to Japan or Korea where people buy these products for the sport or to stay warm, Chinese consumers of sports apparel tend to value style over technology. Columbia’s success in all three markets is owed to the company’s “flexibility and foresight to localize design” while keeping “the DNA and the history of the brand intact.”

New brands looking to enter a foreign market need a multipronged approach going in, and it starts with everyone in the organization, from the C-suite to the rank and file, embodying that global mindset. Marketing and product design has to be specifically tailored to the unique culture of the country in question.

With regard to China, the most important part of any marketing strategy is building brand awareness through local eCommerce and social media platforms. But the company has to have a physical presence as well because part of the experience for the consumer is feeling the product.

Key Quotes:

“For Columbia, it was very much dictated on the features, advantage, and benefits of the product to justify those price points. In China, anybody could buy a down jacket, but why would they buy your products?”

“For a new brand that’s looking to go into China, whether you’re a sporting leisure brand or a luxury brand, it’s all about getting online.”

“Ignore the concept of Japanese uniqueness at your peril.”

“If you can satisfy Japanese consumers’ expectations about quality, you have the rest of the world covered.”

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      The landscape of sports in China today

●      How motivation to go into sports differs between kids in China versus kids in the West

●      The development of sports infrastructure in China

●      The importance of sports celebrities in driving the popularity of sports in China

●      Popular sports in China today

●      Physicality in Chinese sports

●      Educating Chinese parents in the world of sports

●      Chinese athletes going international

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Radley Mackenzie, Founder and CEO at SinoSports Development, “a China-focused international sports and education platform, supporting Asian student-athletes with online and offline expertise and exposure” based in Toronto. Radley is also the President of consulting firm Radley Hall International and the Toronto Representative for high-tech manufacturing company Saimen.

To this day, education is a higher priority for the youth in China than the arts or sports. Radley notes that, originally, “sports in China was closely tied to national program development. The Chinese government has always thought sports were an important flagship for them globally.” He likens it to the Soviet approach to national pride.

The government’s traditional approach was to handpick who they consider to be the best performers and optimize their athletic capacity in isolation, i.e. without the support athletes in most other countries enjoy.

Fortunately, this decade has seen a wider adoption of sports. On one hand, parents now see sports as a great way to complement their children’s education at school. On the other hand, the government itself now sees the economic benefits of sports and has encouraged wider participation in recent years. In fact, the Chinese government has announced that they would like to have 300 million winter sports enthusiasts involved in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

Over the last 20 years, badminton, ping pong, and martial arts have been the most popular sports in China. Western sports have seen massive growth in more recent years, in particular basketball, soccer, and tennis. Last year, according to the NBA commissioner, there were 300 million basket players in China. Today’s soccer players number around 30 million, and tennis players around 15 million. Figure skating is also seeing greater popularity, with around 1 million skaters across China.

Key Quotes:

“Originally, sports in China was closely tied to national program development. The Chinese government has always thought sports were an important flagship for them globally.

“SinoSports was originally founded on increasing human contact between coaches and players in both markets.”

“Sports are a sector right now where China is desperate and eagerly looking for foreign expertise and have recognized that they can’t do it alone.”

Resources Mentioned:

SinoSports Development

[email protected]

WeChat: radleym

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      How Gang Lu became the founder of the premier tech media in the country

●      The transition from a competitive to a collaborative startup environment in China

●      The connection between changing family dynamics and the rise of innovation and entrepreneurship in China

●      The business of media in China

●      All about BEYOND Tech Expo 2021 in Macau

●      The future of the 996 working hour system

●      Gang Lu on the U.S.-China trade war

●      The current state of blockchain in China

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with tech influencer Gang Lu, Founder and CEO of TechNode.com. Formerly known as MOBINODE.com, Technode.com today is “the leading bilingual tech media in China covering startups and large listed companies, entrepreneurial community, and angel/VC investment activities.” Gang Lu is also the Co-Founder of OpenWeb.asia Workgroup, a blogging network focused on the Asian web industry and enhancing “the intercommunication of local Internet markets.”

Gang Lu speaks to the parallels between the relatively recent relaxing of the top-down cultural dynamic in the Chinese family and workplace as the key that sparked the level of entrepreneurship that we see in the country today. With the government now encouraging the growth of new tech startups, Chinese society has become ripe for innovation that, according to Gang Lu, is only beginning.

The world of media is obviously very different in China than it is in the West. For one, copyright is not enforced at nearly the same level, leading to a lot of outright plagiarism between companies. Advertisements are also valued much lower in China. Instead, to stay profitable, media companies rely heavily on sponsored articles. It of course follows that since articles can be commissioned by outside parties, the integrity of the information being published is often questionable.

With the rise of the tech industry in Asia, TechNode, in collaboration with the Macao International Grand Events Promotion Association, is organizing the first two-day BEYOND International Technology Innovation Expo at the Venetian Macau on June 17, 2021. Gang Lu believed the time had come to shine a spotlight on Asia-based tech startups and other companies at an Asian venue instead of in the West where most of these events are usually held. Calling Macau “the Vegas of Asia”, he pinpointed the Venetian as the perfect place to kick off the first BEYOND Expo.

Finally, Gang Lu speaks on the 996 culture, the U.S.-China trade war, and blockchain. To these three developing topics, he adopts a wait-and-see mindset, saying that China does not currently seem to be budging in its big-picture economic priorities despite (or maybe because of) the ongoing pandemic, increasing global dependence on digital solutions, and the transition of power in the U.S.

Key Quotes:

“I think, before 2011, you didn’t see that many startups. But after 3G took off, suddenly you saw the mobile market booming.”

“If we look at the global tech space, there are so many new companies that are not in the States or Europe. They are in China and other Asian countries. We need not just an event, but a platform where people can go every year to showcase their technologies and innovations in Asia.”

“Why is China moving so fast? I think China, for many reasons, is able to open the market to adopt new applications and infrastructures like 5G.”

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      How workspaces change as people’s work change

●      Efficient communication with clients in the design space

●      Redefining the purpose of the office

●      Differences in the work environment in China versus the West

●      The impact of COVID-19 on the way work is done in China

●      Commercial architecture in China

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Nabil Sabet, Group Director at global workplace design firm M Moser Associates in North America and Greater China. The company “has specialized in the design and delivery of workplace environments since 1981, with clients from the corporate, private healthcare and education sectors.” Nabil’s experience in the China market goes back to 2006 when he worked as a space manager at M+W Group in Shanghai.

Nabil shares his thoughts on evolving work environments as the nature of work itself changes. He also discusses how different sectors vary in their understanding and appreciation for workspaces that are appropriate to what they do. Ownership of space in the tech sector, for example, is relatively low because there is a lot of sharing of spaces. Legal work, on the other hand, is done in more segmented, even hierarchical, spaces.

However, Nabil says that the COVID crisis has put the office space in “an existential crisis”. Due to the many uncertainties that most businesses continue to face moving forward into 2021, Nabil and his team are spending a lot of time “redefining the purpose of the office altogether.” He also explains how China in many respects was able to rebound relatively quickly in spite of the pandemic.

Nabil gives his observations on the differences between how Westerners and the Chinese approach work, and how these differences impact the design of their respective work environments. He says that the workforce in China “really has a strong sense of obligation” to the country, the company, the team, and their leaders. This collective attitude makes work incredibly fast and efficient. In the West, there is “a stronger sense of rights and individuality”, meaning organizations spend more time creating consensus among their people.

M Moser owes its effectiveness as a design firm to its complete focus on environments to which people go to work, including research centers, office spaces, innovation centers, and so on. This narrow focus allows them to collect an abundance of data and a thorough understanding of both “the hard stuff and the soft stuff”.

There are many factors that go into an office that is totally dependent on the nature of the work to be done, and M Moser positions itself as a company that “owns the entire problem”.

Key Quotes:

“When people’s work changes, then the environments that support that work also need to change.”

“The office is a gathering place for the team. The real purpose of the office is for people to come together. Yes, there’s an element of focus: You go to the office and you focus and you work. But, largely, the reason we will be going to the office is for human connection. It’s for connecting to other team members; corralling around a common purpose; getting inspired about our work and seeing our contributions as part of a team.”

“Depending on where you live in the world and the culture, the home setting can be more conducive or less conducive to remote work.”

Topics Discussed and Key Points:

●      The increasing simultaneous “closeness” and “friction” between California and China

●      What makes California special to China as opposed to other U.S. states?

●      Matt speaks on co-hosting the Heartland Mainland: The Iowa China Podcast

●      Emerging tech trends in China

●      Eroding trust in Chinese tech platforms

●      Key takeaways on MacroPolo’s October 2020 report on what China will look like in 2025

●      How AI, blockchain, and other emerging technologies will transform Chinese society

●      How China is able to consistently stay on the cutting edge of AI

●      Why China has been incredibly malleable and willing to overhaul its society over time

●      What Silicon Valley thinks of Chinese tech

Episode Summary:

Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Matt Sheehan, Fellow, and Researcher at MacroPolo, the digital think tank of The Paulson Institute. MacroPolo covers politics, economics, technology, and energy in China. Matt’s portfolio features writings on technology in China and its interactions with the U.S. and the rest of the world. His subfield focuses on artificial intelligence, a topic to which he has dedicated 90% of the last three years of his work.

In 2016, Matt wrote The Transpacific Experiment: How China and California Collaborate and Compete for our Future. His thesis for the book is that “California is Ground Zero for a new era and a new type of U.S.-China relationship.”

Matt notes that the relationship between the U.S. and China back in 2010 was characteristically more distant and “trade-based”. Around 2018, that relationship had become more “ground-level and face-to-face” as a result of the opportunities generated via the gradual influx of Chinese students, investors, immigrants, and homebuyers over the years. Matt’s book goes into how California (i.e. Silicon Valley and Hollywood) and China have been both collaborative and competitive at the same time.

Listen in as Matt explains how the multifaceted powerhouse that is California influences the trajectory of China’s economic growth. He also dives deep into what he means by the two regions being collaborative and competitive at the same time.

Matt then describes Iowa’s unexpected importance to the U.S.-China relationship and why he, in fact, co-hosted and co-produced the Heartland Mainland: The Iowa China Podcast. He goes on to speak on the future of the Chinese tech ecosystem as written about in MacroPolo’s October 2020 report. Finally, Matt reflects on shifting perceptions of China through the years and how the country is able to stay so malleable all this time.

Key Quotes:

“Even as California and China have become closer in recent years, that closeness also brings a lot of new frictions.”

“In five years, I don’t foresee chip restrictions and export controls hobbling Chinese transition to this industrial tech juggernaut that it wants to become. But as we stretch it out further to 2025 to 2030 and beyond, I do think that restrictions on China’s ability to access leading-edge semiconductors are eventually going to serve as a bit of a cap on how far they can go with this foundational technology.”