Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts

Thursday, November 09, 2023

My career as a marketing expert – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Hong Kong-based marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok explains how she became what she is today at the Hong Kong women’s magazine Jessica: A Leading Voice in selling in China—a snippet of her insights: the blueprint for success.

Jessica:

Money as Energy: Investing Beyond the Balance Sheet

Ashley perceives money as more than a mere financial metric or symbol of success; she views it as a form of energy.

“Money is pure energy, money is nothing but energy. The energy is given to me not just to give me comfort… when I have a use case, I know what to do with this money, how am I going to contribute even bigger to the world.”

Her contemplation of money’s role is both philosophical and pragmatic, acknowledging the nuanced relationship women often have with finances. Ashley recognizes that cultural and familial influences deeply affect our financial mindset and behaviors from an early age, particularly for women, and how these can dampen financial aspirations. By conceptualizing money as “pure energy,” Ashley reframes the discourse from accumulation to purposeful distribution, from personal wealth to societal contribution.

Ashley envisions money as a means to empower and create positive change, transcending personal luxury to foster broader societal benefits. Her stance is clear: money is a vehicle for fulfilling potential and serving the community, not just an end goal.

Moreover, Ashley aligns her financial strategies with core values like enjoyment, value creation, and profitability. These principles guide her business choices, ensuring alignment with her identity and long-term vision. This approach marries personal satisfaction with business acumen, redefining financial success as the capacity to innovate, make a difference, and uplift one’s community.

Looking ahead, Ashley emphasizes adaptability and the pivotal role of education:

“The latest statistics said that a Gen Z in China today in their lifetime will likely change 12 careers… what do you need in order to be so agile? Education.”

She underscores lifelong learning as essential for thriving in an ever-evolving career landscape.

The Legacy of Empowerment

Ashley’s narrative weaves a vision where innovation is nurtured, diversity is embraced, and growth is relentless. The space she has created transcends the physical confines of her agency, fostering a mindset of empowerment that resonates with every individual she influences. Her story serves as a blueprint for change, a testament to the transformative power of asking the right questions. It is a journey of profound self-discovery that unfolds when one dares to pursue the answers.

Ashley’s path illustrates how curiosity can ignite passion and conviction. By challenging conventions and forging new templates for women in business, her leadership celebrates collaboration, mentorship, and talent cultivation. Ashley reframes limiting mindsets around gender and money, championing authenticity and education as drivers of success. With an unrelenting focus on growth and innovation, she leverages her expertise to guide brands into the complex Chinese marketplace.

Ashley’s courage to take the entrepreneurial leap, despite risks, ignites a call to action for others to fearlessly pursue their purpose and potential. Her inspirational journey empowers women to become trailblazers in their own right, turning curiosity into conviction.

More in Jessica.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more stories by Ashley? Do check out this list.

Thursday, October 19, 2023

China: the innovation factory – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok released today – together with co-author Ron Wardle – their book Innovation Factory: China’s Digital Playbook The two examine China’s digital transformation and its unique e-commerce and share what Western brands can learn to boost innovation, increase competitiveness, and foster a brighter future. You can read the press release here.

“China’s rapid economic reinvention has been nothing short of miraculous, but that reinvention has faced criticism that the country is good at manufacturing but not at innovating,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of the China-focused digital consulting firm, ChoZan. “It’s clear that China has proven those critics wrong, and in Innovation Factory, we showcase how China has been able to jump into the digital age with less baggage with the game-changing mobile phone, do it at speed, and keep up the pace to get it where it is today.”

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Monday, October 02, 2023

Lessons to learn from China – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok (right)

Hong Kong-based marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok dives into the lessons to learn from China and the future of retail in China, together with Kathryn Read. How did she start off in China, and evolved into one of the leading voices for both Chinese and foreign companies?

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Thursday, September 14, 2023

New trends in social commerce – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Social commerce is expected to grow exponentially until 2023 in North America, Europe, and Latin America, following the trends of market leader China, writes marketing expert Ashley DudarenokIn Techn0de she describes three trends in social commerce brands have to know.

Ashley Dudarenok:

This year, it’s anticipated that social commerce will generate global sales of more than $1 trillion. And when it comes to social commerce, China is the market that stands out. Social commerce has expanded rapidly in the country, with a 40.25% increase in market size between 2021 and 2023. Between 2021 and 2025, the size of China’s market is anticipated to increase at a rate of 17% per year. …

Co-creating together with consumers is one of those trends, and Dudarenok looks at the example of Yili.

Brands can engage users on social media platforms by allowing them to interact or co-create engaging content as part of an effective strategy for increasing product promotion and awareness. This technique not only creates a user community but also increases brand visibility and engagement.

Take, for example, the milk brand Yili. Yili asked consumers to participate in a packaging design contest aimed at football enthusiasts to increase engagement and sales during the 2022 World Cup. Customers who spent a particular amount on items were entered into a lucky draw as part of the promotion.

As a result, visibility and sales increased significantly. The campaign received over 27.24 billion Weibo impressions and resulted in a 12.1% increase in sales, illustrating the potential of user participation and co-creation in brand promotion.

In light of this, fast-moving consumer goods brands can consider employing similar techniques by inviting consumers to co-create content during popular events, festivals, or marketing campaigns. This could involve a wide range of activities that tap into the creative potential of the consumer base.

More trends in Technode.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

You can get here the CHINA SOCIAL COMMERCE REPORT 2023.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Marketing will be back on track in 2024, not 2023 – Ashley Dudarenok

Ashley Dudarenok

Economic recovery in China has been modest since the country emerged from the Zero-Covid crisis, and marketing will only be on track in 2024, rather than 2023, says marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok at CNBC. 

CNBC:

 Businesses in China are spending cautiously on advertising this year as local consumption isn’t expected to bounce back for a while yet.

Marketing revenue rose in the first three months of 2023 for several Chinese internet giants — but not Alibaba, the largest of them all by dollar value. That’s on a year-on-year basis.

Heading into the 618 shopping festival this month, brands remain cautious.

“For 618, generally of course brands will be trying, but compared to before it’s a bit more tired,” said Ashley Dudarenok, founder of ChoZan, a China marketing consultancy.

“We know it takes exactly the same amount of money to bring the customer into your shop today versus 2021, but the customer is going to spend about 30% less in your shop,” she said…

In the first quarter, the median disposable income of urban residents in China was officially 12,175 Chinese yuan ($1,739), up 3.9% from a year ago. Education, health care and travel were the top three categories for planned spending, a central bank survey found.

“The general consensus in the industry is that 2024 is going to be the year of growth and rebound,” Dudarenok said. “2023, let’s just get out of the downturn, stay connected with the platforms, with the customer,” she said.

Dudarenok noted that ad agencies are also spending just to experiment with search engines. Baidu and Microsoft’s Bing have both been working with new generative artificial intelligence technology.

More at CNBC.

Ashley Dudarenok is a marketing expert at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Tuesday, June 06, 2023

Fifteen years of innovation and marketing in China - Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Andrew Gaule discusses with marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok how China leapfrogged over the past 15 years in innovation and marketing, leaving many of the Western competitors behind, often forcing them to leave China.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more innovation experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

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Saturday, June 03, 2023

5 Tactics for AI and virtual branding – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing veteran Ashley Dudarenok dives into the tactics for branding in China, using AI and virtual technology. Those technologies define increasingly the success of brands in China, she explains in the Jing Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok:

Brand marketing in China that deploys virtual and AI technology is exerting an increasingly large impact on purchasing decisions, with consumers seeking new and exciting experiences.

The rise of AIGC (artificial intelligence-generated content) and other virtual marketing methods has drawn the attention of investors, producers, celebrities, and social platforms. Brands can expect to see more innovation and creativity in this space, led by the rapidly developing gaming, cartoon and avatar spaces in China.

Marketers and brands stand to benefit from having a firm grasp on how virtual and AI-led marketing in China will develop through this year. ChoZan’s China E-commerce Marketing And Digital Space 2023 Mega Report outlines five tactics that brands can use to unleash the technologies’ potential.

More at the Jing Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more branding experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.https://www.china-speakers-bureau.com/branding-experts/

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Change in China, AI, social media and business – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok (right)

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok discusses change in China and her career in the world’s fastest-moving economy with Greg Mustreader.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more e-commerce experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

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Thursday, March 09, 2023

How to win over the female consumer – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Women account for 70% of the purchases in China’s households, and marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok looks into the 2023 trends for the female consumer at China’s Women’s Day, for the Jing Daily. Most of China’s platforms dive deep into this important segment of consumers.

Ashley Dudarenok:

These business opportunities are set to expand as China’s “she economy” thrives, driven by financially independent young women, particularly those from the millennial and Gen-Z generations, spending on themselves for their own happiness rather than fulfilling traditional roles.

This growth has propelled the emergence of female-centric businesses catering to women’s preferences and needs, making China the world’s third-largest consumer market for women, equivalent to the combined retail markets of Germany, France, and the UK, reports the South China Morning Post. The shift has also prompted other businesses to target female consumers and promote gender equality in their workforce.

The COVID-19 pandemic both positively and negatively impacted China’s “she economy.” E-commerce and digital platforms accelerated, benefiting female consumers who shop online, and female representation in companies improved, while women in the workforce, particularly in the service sector, have lost jobs or experienced reduced hours.

These dynamics are fueling the rise of trends that brands must master to succeed.

More trends at the Jing Daily.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more consumer experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Friday, February 24, 2023

Luxury brands should focus on their Very Important Clients – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok picks five 2023 trends for luxury brands in China, from its ChoZan’s 2023 Mega Report. The first one: focus on your VIC’s, Very Important Clients. this and four more trends from the Jing Daily. Among them: expand the duty-free ecosystem, and adopt global pricing strategies.

Ashley Dudarenok:

Globally, the top 2 percent of luxury customers make up about 40 percent of luxury sales, according to Bain’s luxury goods market study. In China, the concentration of very important clients (VICs) has been on the rise and has further expanded in 2022. The economic slowdown has affected entry-level luxury consumers more than high-net-worth individuals, and the decline in mall traffic has led to fewer new customers entering luxury stores.

Consequently, sales have tilted towards VICs in 2022, with some Chinese luxury brands achieving higher concentrations of VIC sales than the global average. VICs have also played a significant role in online luxury sales, with shoppers who buy more than three times a year accounting for over 50 percent of sales and being the fastest-growing segment, according to Tmall Luxury Pavilion.

These high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) are ready to travel as the pandemic restrictions are lifted. They can be categorized into two profiles: those that shop domestic and those that shop overseas (Peihuo phenomenon). The overseas VICs travel to other countries to purchase luxury goods at the “regular” price and not the “China” price, whereas domestic VICs prefer the local experience of shopping in boutiques regardless of the item’s price.

Brands can get ahead of the overseas VICs by offering additional incentives to their products. As for domestic VICs, brands need to invest in travel retail opportunities, especially in areas like Hainan.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more experts on luxury goods at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

China consumer sentiment is slowly improving – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Domestic tourism in China saw a jump, and consumer sentiment is improving more slowly after the zero-Covid policies ended, says consumer expert Ashley Dudarenok at CNBC. Brands are relucted in spending their marketing budgets. Dudarenok said that heading into 2023 and the Lunar New Year, some smaller brands had turned more conservative on China and cut their marketing budgets for the country in half.

CNBC:

More recent data show Chinese consumers are starting to open their wallets again, especially for travel.

During the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday that ended Friday, national tourism revenue surged by 30% from last year to 375.84 billion yuan, according to official figures. But that was still short of 2019 spending.

“Consumer sentiment is better. Spending power is kind of back,” Ashley Dudarenok, founder of China digital consultancy ChoZan, said Friday. “But I don’t think that suddenly from one month to the next things are back … to 2019 or double 2019.”

Dudarenok said that heading into 2023 and the Lunar New Year, some smaller brands had turned more conservative on China and cut their marketing budgets for the country in half.

“Consumer sentiment was really down, nobody knew what was actually coming, and a lot of marketing budget and dollars went into 11.11 [Singles Day] and it was also not successful, so brands did not earn a lot over 11.11” and another shopping festival in December, she said. “Then suddenly China opened. Many people did not expect that [and were] quite startled by this swift development.”

Dudarenok does expect overall consumer trends to continue, whether it’s people in larger cities spending more “on feeling better” or people in smaller cities paying for higher-quality products.

Many analysts expect high levels of savings among Chinese consumers during the pandemic will translate to greater spending this year.

At the policymaker level, Chinese authorities say they’re prioritizing consumption. Premier Li Keqiang led the first post-holiday executive meeting of the State Council on Saturday, and “called for efforts to expedite consumption recovery and keep foreign trade and investment stable,” according to a readout. The meeting said policies to promote the consumption of cars and other big-ticket items would be “fully implemented.”

More at CNBC.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more consumer experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Monday, January 23, 2023

3 steps for China digital marketing in 2023 – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok looks at steps to take in 2023 for the digital marketing of your brand in China. How are we doing, what is our vision and how do we get there, these are the key questions Dudarenok dives into in her vlog.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

How to deal with a consumer PR crisis – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

China’s sportswear giant Li-Ning got into hot water when netizens got upset about a possible new fashion line, looking very similar to Japanese military style. Marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok gives in Campaign Asia some advice on how to deal with such a PR crisis. Li-Ning has not yet responded

Campaign Asia:

When Campaign reached out to China marketing expert, founder of Alarice and ChoZan, Ashley Dudarenok, on how the brand should manage this PR crisis, she believed that “silence is not a particularly wise choice at this time, but rather a response should be made as soon as possible”.

She added: “In particular, if Li-Ning as a local national brand continues to delay a response, the negative sentiment among Chinese consumers may fester even more dramatically. Li-Ning’s failure to respond to the market will continue to raise questions as to whether the brand’s design crisis is deliberate”.

Dudarenok offered more advice for Li-Ning on how to resolve the issue. Firstly, she said the brand should monitor public opinion by identifying the exact problems and to what extent they have developed. Then, the brand should react quickly and show a serious attitude about this issue. This is to “calm the immediate negative sentiment in time to avoid further development and festering”. Finally, Li-Ning should take practical action to control public opinion and avoid further furore. “

[The brand should] provide a sincere explanation of the problems in the design of the garment and apologise for the negative impact,” said Dudarenok. “To avoid another PR crisis, it is important to respond rather than just trying to cover up the incident.”

More in Campaign Asia.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more consumer experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.

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Monday, October 10, 2022

How to prepare for the double 11 festival – Ashley Dudarenok

 

Ashley Dudarenok

The double 11 (11/11) festival has changed from a singles event to a significant marketing happening for everybody, but especially Gen Z. Marketing guru Ashley Dudarenok explains how companies can prepare for a successful double 11, at her vlog.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.


Monday, August 22, 2022

How to work with virtual influencers in China anno 2022 – Ashley Dudarenok

 


Ashley Dudarenok

Marketing expert Ashley Dudarenok dives into China’s virtual influencers in 2022 and discusses how brands can work with those successful marketing tools and avoid trouble like with the human influencers, on her vlog.

Ashley Dudarenok is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your (online) meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.

Are you looking for more marketing experts at the China Speakers Bureau? Do check out this list.