Forecasting the future can never be an exact science, but business persons need to do it all the time. Only their forecasts are called projections, and some are based on better data than others. Demographics are always an essential component when considering the investment needed for entering the China market.  Good data is crucial when considering what to export to China, but sometimes that data is hard to access.

That’s why the first step with any new client for Avela Consulting is to commission a feasibility study. Using Big Data and Small Data resources, we check the current pulse of the shifting China market and Chinese buying trends. Furthermore, some sectors of the Chinese economy are simply not open to foreign competition. Avela’s feasibility studies include an analysis of the changing regulatory landscape.

All that said, there are some Demographic certainties that can form the basis of sound business decisions regarding exports to China. The numbers are mind-boggling,..

1)  By 2020, China will have some 250 million citizens over the age of 65.

This suggests great growth opportunity in elder care products and services. The challenge is accessing that market effectively while protecting your brand and intellectual property. Avela assists with such considerations.

2)  China has 700 million people online.

The number of  Chinese people who are online at any given moment exceeds the entire population of the United States, so opportunities abound with ecommerce.  Choosing the right platform, messageand deliveryis key and they vary from region to region. Not only that, they are constantly in flux. Having Avela Consulting’s team in the country and on the ground in China gives its client the edge in this arena.

3)  Chinese Consumer spending is expected to grow to some $6 trillion by 2020.

As the Chinese middle class grows, Chinese consumerism grows and this is all essentially a new market being created before our eyes. Many of these people have never had access to foreign products before and they are in high demand.

This is an incredible opportunity waiting to be seized by bold businesses in the West, but it is a foreign land working from often different rules. Working on your behalf, Avela can guide you through the process and make the right connections necessary for a successful entry into the China market.

Seize this historic moment for your business! Contact Avela Consulting to begin the process of entering the vast China market with your exports. With offices in Houston and Shanghai, we bridge the distance and cultural differences between you and remarkable profit potential!

You have probably been hearing a lot about Big Data and Small Data recently. Data mining is big business with all sorts of marketing potential. There is a multitude of uses for Big Data, but in the case of marketing, countless business transactions, social media posts and other sources are often sifted through to identify individuals who represent likely consumers of a product.

Knowing your customers’ habits is key to reaching your customer, so a profile of your likely customer is a critical tool in your marketing toolbox. Big Data looks at the totality of information out there… and it is daunting. Algorithms dig into the data and sort through it all to identify trends to create a customer profile. You get information such as where they live, their income, whether they shop online, viewing habits, etc.

This might seem cold and analytical, but it’s all good information to know, and can help you make some informed marketing decisions. For instance, should you advertise on broadcast television or online media? It represents the science of marketing, but not the craft of marketing or the art of marketing.

That’s where Small Data comes in. It works to understand why a customer buys your product or a competitor’s product. Say your competitor offers their product cheaper and in a variety of colors and the customer ultimately buys from them. What do you need to do to get the sale the next time? Maybe you need to lower your price—or maybe you simply need to offer your product in red. Small Data can help you make that decision.

Here’s a way to look at it: say you are a real estate developer contemplating constructing an apartment building in a certain city. You already have a good idea of what you think a successful building for your budget would look like: maybe 50-70 units, one and two-bedroom units, a mix of luxury and premium build outs, pool, exercise room. Big Data might tell you there are ten recently constructed apartment buildings that match your criteria in the city. Five of them are renting at the rates you need to get to make a profit, but only three of them are fully rented with wait lists. All this is important Big Data you need to know before entering the market, let alone deciding what to build.

Of course, you want your building to fit among the 30 percent that are profitable, fully occupied apartments, so you want to know as much as possible those three competitors. That’s where Small Data comes in.

With Small Data, you may find that the three successful buildings are near public mass transit stops, offer great views or are in walking distance to office centers. That can help you decide where to build. Or, perhaps there is no similar property available so you may choose instead to put a different style of apartment building or select a different city. You may also learn about their renters. How many own cars? That may tell you whether building a parking deck is important. Are the two-bedroom units most often rented by singles? That may suggest they often sublet the extra room, which may be good information to know when designing floor plans. If some of the competition has ground level retail and dining venues, do the tenants patronize them? If so, they may be a draw you want include in your building. If not, you may have more profitable uses for the space.

So you see, the Big Data gives you the overall, big picture—the basic questions you need answered before considering going a step further. Small Data gives you the details you need to know for success.

You must have both when considering entering the China Market. Avela Consulting has the expertise to collect the data needed for informed decisions. Having worked in China for 17 years, we have the cultural wherewithal and networking to leverage the data for maximum success.

Perhaps this is obvious for those familiar with the Key Opinion Leader phenomenon, but it deserves some careful consideration.

Today’s consumers are deluged with marketing from all corners in our digitally dominated world. Advertisements, some of which are cleverly disguised, appear alongside our news, our entertainment, our social interaction and even our work. The age old solution for those wanting to cut through the clutter of conflicting messages has always been to consult an expert when making a decision.

But what is an expert in today’s digital world? As our institutions become increasingly digitized, it is perhaps inevitable that the public’s concept of an expert becomes—for better or worse—digital, too.

KOLs, to whom consumers today often turn to in decision making, may be (or seem to be) actual subject matter experts. This is particularly true when consumers are making intellectual purchasing decisions. An expert KOL can be a source of useful data when making fact-based or information-based buys.

Very often, however, KOLs can be the equivalent of the popular kid in high school—the one everyone wants to be like. Their followers want to wear the same clothes, drive the same cars, have the same hairstyles, buy the same products and eat the same food. Clearly this is the case when making emotional purchasing decisions, and we all know emotion-driven purchasing is the case in more transactions than we may care to admit.

This phenomenon has affected marketing worldwide, but it is especially in-play with the digitally connected market in China, where middle class consumerism is in hyperdrive.

The Chinese market is, of course, huge. Millions of new consumers are seeking to stake out their own identities and latching onto KOLs to help them do it. In a pool this big, KOLs can appeal to relatively small niche markets and demographics that still deliver appealing numbers to advertisers.

Of course, with a market this big in this much flux, having the right KOL delivering the right message on the right platform to reach your target audience is key.

That’s where Avela Consulting comes in. While based in Houston, we have maintained an office in Shanghai since 2002 and have built a network of proven partners who are experts in reaching target audiences in China.

Of course, China’s KOL industry is extremely competitive and advertisers must be wary. While a KOL’s appearance, personality and platform must synch with target audiences, their fees vary making some better bargains than others. In addition, fake social media followers are a problem in China and elsewhere. Avela provides due diligence with small data and large data dives backing up informed strategies for foreign businesses entering the China Market.

Imagine a country where 700 million people move from abject poverty into a brand new middle classin a span of 40 years. A country that was once ideologically opposed to capitalism, that now embraces property rights, free market competition and profits. A country with the third largest stock exchange in the world—when measured by market capitalization.

You are imagining today’s China.

It is estimated that by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s middle class will be in the Asia-Pacific region. By that time, the Chinese middle classis expected to number 1 billion.

Until recently, the Chinese government restricted access to its markets by foreign businesses. Following the natural order of things, these restrictions limited supply and drove up demand. Chinese consumers hungered for Western products and major players willing and able to pay the stiff price for market access—like GM, Nike, Apple and Starbucks—flourished.

But the Chinese middle class demand for products has increased beyond the capacity of a restricted market, so the government is opening up access. Large and medium sized businesses are now increasingly able to compete for the attention of the Chinese consumer.

Of course, just because there is access doesn’t mean the process is simple. Your “i’s” have to be dotted and your “t’s” need to be crossed. There are cultural bridges to be built, media strategies to be assessed, and so on. Avela Consulting is here to make that all easy. With office in Houston and Shanghai, we have been in country since 2002. We know our way around, and are waiting to help you with your first step toward a middle class on steroids. Simply contact us.