Cynthia Chan is a Strategic Director in the Cultural Insights Studio at Cheskin. She has over ten years of market research and consulting experience and has worked extensively in domestic and international markets including China, Japan, Korea, US, and Germany. Cynthia specializes in capturing and uncovering consumer insights through a range of qualitative and ethnographic approaches. She has worked with a range of technology and packaged goods clients on branding, packaging, and product design, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, The Gap, Levis’, Motorola, Church & Dwight, Dreyer’s, DFS, and GE. As a native Cantonese-speaker, who is also fluent in Mandarin, she has conducted qualitative research and ethnographies in Chinese in both US and China.
Cynthia co-authored the book, China’s New Culture of Cool: Understanding the world's fastest growing market.
2 January 2008
Fielding projects during the holidays is not something we do very frequently but this year, I had the honor to conduct a series of ethnographies in Shanghai and Beijing during the last week of December. Even though Christmas is not an official holiday in China, it has successfully became one of the most celebrated western holidays in China in recent years.
6 July 2007
Shanghai is one of the legs of Live Earth concert series today (July.7.07.) The 24-hour Live Earth concert series, promoting global warming awareness, is scheduled to begin in Sydney, Australia on July 7, 2007 and continue across all seven continents with events in Tokyo, Shanghai, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, and Rio de Janeiro, before concluding in New York.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I can be at the concert in person even though I’m in Shanghai right now. I heard that the tickets are all sold out! However, it’s definitely interesting to see how climate change and global warming issues are playing out in China.
20 March 2007
As Denise introduced in her earlier blog , we recently boarded an eye-opening journey to China via online social networks. China kick starts our initiative to further understand youth culture in several emerging markets around the world.
We conducted the first of two rounds of digital ethnographies with several young people in both top and second tier cities in China via QQ, one of the most popular social networking sites in China. We gave each respondent a week-long assignment that included blogging, picture-taking and posting. They were also asked to post links to their favorite websites on their home page, and to invite friends to join the forum.
What we got back were page after page of dynamic real-life stories. We were so excited as we read their blogs and browsed through pictures they took every day during that week. As ethnographers who have conducted many ethnographies in person, we were pleasantly surprised by the energy that came through these web pages. We also had the luxury to interact with our respondents digitally for the entire week!
2 January 2007
Shopping has always been a public experience in China. Traditionally, it involved colorful, open-air markets with fresh meat, produce, and wares for customers who had to bargain hard. The decades under Mao’s Communism saw dreary stores providing few choices, and clerks with no incentive to sell. But all that has changed in recent years. According to retail analysts, in the last six years more than 400 large malls have been built in China. Within two or three years, China will be home to seven of the ten largest shopping malls in the world.
15 December 2006
Since the market reforms of the late 1970’s, China has gained a global reputation for mass production of cheap, often low-quality, consumer goods. No one expects this massive market of fakes to disappear suddenly or for the country’s manufacturing to be on par with that of Germany overnight, but China clearly is not content to be the world’s cheapest copycat. From having no design schools at all until 1982, China now boasts 450, with hundreds more in the planning phases.
24 August 2006
The economic and developmental changes transforming China on a daily basis have created a new demographic familiar to most Western countries but new to China. This new segment of society is the middle class. The notion of middle class in China did not really emerge until the mid-to-late 1990’s, and it’s still a relatively amorphous concept. In fact, although “middle class” is loosely translated zhong chan in Mandarin, the expression is not widely familiar. If a Chinese citizen has a stable income sufficient to afford an apartment, a car, a child’s education, and assorted more discretionary purchases like vacations, entertainment, and fashion, he or she is likely to be regarded as a member of the middle class. For our purposes, a family with an annual income ranging between 30,000 to 75,000 yuan ($3,750 to $9,375 U.S.) or assets of 300,000 yuan could qualify.
26 July 2006
A phrase as commonly heard as “hello everyone” may have greater meanings than what it is trying to convey in different contexts or in different cultures. Our friend Gordon Gray, from Beijing China Liaison, has an interesting perspective with a similar phrase he heard over and over again in China.
Here’s the blog from Gordon:
The 'Big Family'
Watch any variety show on Chinese television and you may hear the common Mandarin greeting 'Da Jia Hao', meaning 'hello everyone', or literally translated as 'Big Family Good'. This phrase conveys a great deal of meaning about how the Chinese view themselves and their world, closely identifying the individual as a member of the larger social family in the 'Big Family'. This is deeply rooted in the Chinese way of thinking and organizing that has developed over thousands of years of history and is incorporated into basic everyday language.
For the individual, this social model as a member of a larger family starts with the circle of family and friends, the 'pengyou' (friend) network, extending to business associates and beyond. The concept of the 'Big Family' organized as ever wider circles within circles is perfectly expressed in the structure of Beijing's modern city freeway system, setup as logical interconnected concentric circles of increasingly larger Ring Roads, starting at the center of the city at Tiananmen.
12 July 2006
Ask any young Chinese what they want to be and you’re likely to hear them explain that they are not sure yet, but they want lives that express their personalities and their individual uniqueness. This might not be surprising coming from a New Yorker or young person living in London, but until very recently, the idea that life should reflect individual tastes was unthinkable in China. Life there was dictated by the community, the family, and tradition. The desires of an individual were irrelevant and potentially disruptive. But capitalism thrives on individualism, so Chinese society is adjusting to accommodate it. In searching for their personal identity, China’s young adults are happy to be the country’s guinea pigs for this.
That’s not to say they do this easily. In addition to the Maoist legacy, China has a long history of collectivism that prioritizes the needs of the group over the individual. To value self-expression is to confront deeply entrenched behaviors and beliefs, and it would be naïve to suggest this doesn’t cause tension and conflict. Nevertheless, the trend is gaining steam and spreading well beyond the relatively sophisticated coastal cities. Right now, expressing personality is about the hottest thing a young Chinese can do.
28 June 2006
One hot afternoon in May, I was attracted to the crowd as I stepped into the New World Department Store on Nanjing Road. The much-fascinated crowd was mesmerized by the closeness between them and international stars Yao Ming and David Beckham. Flashes went non-stop from their digital cameras and camera phones as they take turns to measure up against Yao or fondly put their arms around Beckham.
Almost everyone in the world knows Beckham is in Germany playing in the World Cup, what I saw was actually his wax figure on display at the entrance of the newly-opened Madame Tussauds’ museum in Shanghai. Attracted by the city's fast-moving reputation, early discussions and planning of this sixth museum in the world started in 2004.
Sure enough, the museum attracted loads of Shanghai locals as well as Chinese tourists from other cities. Knowing Chinese’s passion of picture-taking, the museum plans a wide range of photo opportunities to suit visitors’ needs. They are even generous enough to let the crowd went up close with Yao Ming and Beckham at the entrance area.
One of my local friends stopped by the following day trying to get a glimpse of Beckham but found that he was gone. The staff says Beckham was sent to the repair shop. I’m guessing he was “melted” by the support of his fans in China! I am sure he will be back in action very soon.
11 June 2006
I flew into Pudong around 6:30 PM yesterday night. Everywhere I looked were signs of the World Cup--even though it's taking place thousands of miles away in Germany. As we landed, I saw planes from Lufthansa and Emirates decorated with the World Cup decal. The nose of the Lufthansa plane was painted to look like a soccer ball. As I headed into the city, billboards with World Cup sponsorships were everywhere and on the street, Chinese were wearing t-shirts from the teams they support. Pubs and restaurants have hauled in the latest plasma screen TVs to accommodate fans and there's plenty of content to keep them happy. In my hotel, I wrapped up the evening switching from one station to another--more than half of the channels were covering the World Cup in one way or another. If this is how China reacts to the World Cup, imagine the receptions they'll give to the Olympics in Beijing.
13 February 2006
Tokyo, a forever exciting and energetic city, fascinates me in different ways. Aside from sashimi and authentic shabu shabu, its technology wows me all the time. Technology is advancing at full speed every single minute in a wide range of areas, including consumer electronics, robotics, automobiles, etc.
31 January 2006
Li Yuchun made the TIMEAsia list of “heroes” for 2005.
Li was the winner for the “Super Girl’s Voice” (an American Idol-type singing contest) held in August 2005. The show drew in the largest audience in the history of Chinese TV. Li, some says, didn’t top other contestants with her voice or dance moves, however, her unique appearance and personality helped her draw in most audience votes via SMS to win the contest. As of now, she’s still one of the most searched/mentioned names on various websites in China.
4 August 2005
One of the many reasons clients send us to China is to help them create brand names that work in a country with over a billion people spread across a vast geographic area. This is both an art and a science, as this recent article by Doris Ho implies. Formal rules and guidelines exist, but creativity also plays a crucial role in finding the right name and expressing it correctly. For example,
23 June 2005
Walking down Wangfujing Street, a pedestrian shopping zone in Beijing, I was mesmerized by the range of brands I saw in stores that lined both sides of the street – brands from all over the world. The most interesting and intriguing aspect of this scene was how brands in China are behaving in a more bold and dynamic way than they did in the past.
8 June 2005
When I flew into Beijing International airport yesterday evening, it was obvious that the city is already gearing up for the 2008 Olympics. From what I can see, this preparation is not just limited to the official Olympic organizing team. The entire city seems to be collaborating to pull this off.
The first sign are the dozens and dozens of billboards from proud sponsors like Visa, GE, Budweiser and Samsung, crowded side-by-side from the terminal to the main highway. This is followed by unending construction in preparation for the influx of visitors the event is expected to bring--new highways, more trees, a new Ritz-Carlton. In the city itself, preparation for the Olympics is a topic that everyone can discuss. An article in the China Daily today talks about the Olympic Volunteer program the government put in place to attract recruits. The book "Knowledge our Citizens Need to Know about the Olympics" is prominently placed in bookstores, and includes a detailed history of the Olympics, descriptions of the opening and closing cermonies, a list of Chinese gold medalists and other topics intended to raise the population's awareness.
The world seems to easlily accept that China can efficiently produce a wide range of products. What we often don't see is how efficiently they've been able to transform their cities, not only for the upcoming Olympics, but throughout the country. China currently has 166 cities with populations exceeding 1 million. The US has 9.
6 June 2005
I flew into Beijing yesterday evening. Even though I've been traveling to China for many years, it's reinventing itself so fast, I can never get complacent about what I know. If China were a corporation, we would all be in awe at how rapidly and pervasively they are innovating. Here are a few interesting changes I picked up in Day 1:
- the city is clearly gearing up for the 2008 Olympics. I'll write more about that later this week.
- private companies are starting to offer health insurance (versus state-owned ones as before). This could be
29 March 2005
When you flip through magazines, zap through TV channels, or even walk around town, in China, it is not hard for you to spot lots of faces in various ads, commercials and billboards. You may not find these faces familiar but they definitely send messages out to the Chinese population in China.
Celebrity endorsements and the use of spokesperson were popular in Greater China for years, and they span across almost every categories of products and services, from skin whitening products, digital cameras and mobile phones, to refrigerators, air-conditioners and cars. There is more and more variety injected in the recent years as far as who marketers use as their spokesperson.
14 March 2005
How trends move around and materialize in different regions around the world is absolutely intriguing to me. Trends definitely move around in different forms and shapes – they may be industry-oriented (like fashion, automobile, mobile phones, entertainment), or they may be about lifestyles, attitudes, or behaviors.
Technology made communication and physical travel so much easier, faster, and cheaper, and hence, contributed a big part in moving trends around the world.
16 July 2004
I’ve always thought the application of nanotechnology in fabric was very cool, however, nothing really strikes me enough for me to grab a pair of spill-proof pants, or shirt that keeps bugs away until 10:12pm on July 13, 2004.
My patience almost went out the window when my seafood chowder was finally brought to my table. Before I could dive into my soup, the server knocked over my glass of milk tea (which was very full)! There was no way I could avoid the splash – it was a head-on crash. Next thing I knew, I was (together with my gray slacks) soaked with ice milk tea waist down. It was a shot of shock, helplessness, and embarrassment, all bundled together.
26 May 2004
My sis-in-law just gave birth to an 8 lb 5 oz baby boy last Wednesday (yep, first baby in the family). She had her baby at the California Pacific Hospital in San Francisco. Her experience in the past nine months was a classic example of how Asian Americans live their lives in “home away from home” – living their life in the US, but also turn to cultures and beliefs they brought along with them. She went to a Chinese American OB/GYN who is bilingual, followed both Western practice as well as the traditional Chinese way of trotting along her pregnancy (including a full-range supply of herbal soup), and named the baby with both English and Chinese names (Kaden, Chi Ho Chan).
© 2007 Cheskin Added Value