Isobar China Group’s Jane Lin-Baden on Winning the Chinese Market with a New ‘Agency’ Model

　　Isobar China Group has become a powerhouse in helping brands connect with increasingly tech-savvy Chinese consumers. But just don’t call it an agency.

　　Jane Lin-Baden, the company’s CEO, says their focus isn’t only using creativity to communicate with brands, but to pioneer new products, services and business models.

　　To accompany our spotlight on creativity in China this week, Lin-Baden talked to us about the evolving marketing landscape in China, as well as how emerging technology will drive new opportunities for impact.

　　What are the biggest marketing trends you’re watching in China?

　　Advertisers are drastically increasing investment in IP and branded content, coupled with offline digital activation. More than 65% of advertisers are increasing digital spending, 46% will increase offline and activation spending, according to CTR Research. Amongst digital spending, I am seeing a bipolar phenomenon, i.e. heavily performance-driven spending coupled with programmatic or IP programs and sponsorship of brand content

　　Another trend is the rise of technology-centric and mobile first initiatives. Advertisers are receptive to technology-led marketing ideas that drive social to commercial and online to offline. Mobile first has been the key driver behind many marketing campaigns as well. The ROI of mobile to commerce will be a big testing ground for brands in China in 2016.

　　From the perspective of a brand, what are the most significant differences between Chinese and American consumers?

　　Internet+ (China’s new policy for encouraging tech innovation) and mobile commerce will make Chinese consumers savvier in digital and mobile than those in America, because it is about lifestyle, not just a channel.

　　With the growth of the mobile Internet and commercial infrastructure, consumers in China are adopting mobile commerce and third-party mobile payments much faster than American consumers. This poses a critical challenge to advertisers — they should be adept at building mobile-centric sales channels to expand penetration into the market.

　　The Chinese government policy of “Internet +” will be a main driver behind industrial 4.0 developments in many sectors in China, especially in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), financial and household services. We see more Internet-based brands expanding into retail and offline services and creating more mobile-centric lifestyle ecosystems in China than in America. With that said, advertisers in China need to be more knowledgeable about growing their brands in less conventional media and business contexts.

　　Isobar China has been at the cutting edge of blending creativity and technology, what do you think makes your approach unique?

　　We are not an agency. We are a company that expands brand’s “brand commerce” ambition in the digital age, through data, technology and creativity.

　　I believe that media will be replaced by data intelligence. The change from media to data sits at the core of digital marketing in China. Isobar China Group is leading in fostering unique data sources and expertise and making data relevant in building brands.

　　Also, our NowLab maker initiative has been one of the global pioneers in leveraging the technology community for marketing innovations. In China, we will expand this into retail intelligence and product utility as well as speed up our product design capability through a new innovation fund. We believe that China is no longer the backyard of global innovation; it will lead and become an engine of innovation and the global community will learn and benefit from this innovation. With that in mind, we will invest in building product IP.

　　I think high creativity should not only benefit brand communication with consumers, but also create new business and revenue models for agencies and for our clients. When you put top creative minds along with savvy commercial entrepreneurs, you should expect not just a great campaign, but new products and services in the market. Recently, we concluded an agreement that will help brands to design new products for China, based on our data intelligence and creativity. We will co-design, sell the products and share revenue.

　　Since taking the helm at Isobar China, your agency has pioneered a number of effective campaigns — from your “Share-a-Coke” campaign exploring online culture to a recent Chinese New Year social activation celebrating family reunions and local culture. How do you know when you have an idea that will resonate with consumers?

　　The concept of an “effective campaign” is vague. Effective in which regard? In China, campaigns may result in big media exposure and impressions, but it is hard to find a campaign with long-term impact. In a fast-moving and “geared toward novelty” market like China, agencies and advertisers are chasing “newness” every day. What has made me very proud of Isobar is that our “Share-a-Coke” campaign (including Nickname bottle, Lyric Coke and Drama Coke) has been a social phenomenon in the market for three years in row since 2013. It’s been remarkable not only for the incredibly big reach and consumer engagement numbers it has produced, but also for increasing sales and strengthening our client’s channel. Sales have grown year upon year in the last three years.

　　China Lyric Coke

　　Drama Coke

　　The Lyric Coke idea from Isobar Shanghai has recently been transported to the U.S. market.

　　This proves that a great idea from China can travel internationally when it reflects simple yet deep consumer insights and high cultural relevancy. “Effectiveness” in my definition is the emotional residue left after the removal of programmed exposure. The idea will only have a long-lasting residual effect if it touches the core of consumer emotion.

　　You recently launched a clever “singing tray mat” campaign for KFC that invited consumers to scan a QR code with their phones to turn a tray mat into a music player. Where did the idea come from and why do you think it was so successful?

　　KFC CAMPAIGN

　　The idea came from a crystal clear insight: dining experiences in most fast food restaurants are boring, uniformed and uncreative. If we turn KFC’s 5000 stores from sellers of fried chicken to sellers of dining experiences, then KFC is no longer a chain of fast food stores, but an entertainment channel. What could be more amazing than making every tray mat into a DJ device for young people?

　　As my colleague Chris Chen, CEO & ECD of Trio Isobar, has said, after being in China for 28 years, KFC is losing its “young and energetic” image. But Chen and his team realized that in the minds of the young Chinese generation, music is an obsession. They also understood that the music industry is looking for more offline opportunities to reach their young target audience.

　　So they turned the ordinary tray mats into a powerful media outlet. It’s become a great channel for the record companies to promote new artists and albums, so they are willing to provide music content to KFC for free. At almost no extra cost, KFC creates a sustainable platform offering fun dining experiences for its consumers.

　　You clearly strive for excellence in each of your campaigns. Can you talk about the value of celebrating excellence in advertising on the global stage, through awards programs and other channels?

　　An agency should be built for excellence in connecting brands with consumers. If it is not in the blood of an agency, the agency shouldn’t be there in the first place. But excellence needs a stage. We are the company that is behind the scenes. Our objective and sense of success should come from making our clients and their products center-stage – by making brands as famous as well-known celebrities and good friends to consumers. Awards are another stage for us to speak about our point of view and what we believe true meaningful impact should look like. Therefore pieces of work promoted in award programs should be real. If we are only promoting illusion and hypothesis through untrue projects, we are telling the world that creativity will not make a real business impact; and I strongly believe otherwise.

　　Which new tech platform are you watching most closely? Why?

　　We are clearly moving into the “next generation” of communication, where humans and machines are communicating with each other more than ever. This has a profound impact on marketing. In the future, what we need to consider in marketing is no longer just about telling a story to humans, but making machines understand how to translate the value of marketing to humans. We are entering into a world of marketing through all the human senses, not just text art and music. New tech platforms will also have a profound impact on the definition of media. Media will become more based on a “segment of one” than different clusters. An endless range of new forms of media will be created, because of the existence of robotics, AI and VR. The requirements for these different forms of content will be drastically changed as well.