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Bulletin: Why do you think Alibaba has succeeded when so many other Internet companies have failed?
Jack Ma: I think the most important thing is that we believed in our dream from day one, to today and tomorrow. I remember when I talked about my story for B2B and e-commerce in 2000. Everybody thought that I was crazy. Of course we made so many mistakes, like any company, but we never gave up the hope of making sure our dream came true.
Bulletin: You are often called the underdog, yet you rub shoulders with some of the world's most powerful movers and shakers. Are you getting tired of this label?
JM: I don't want to be recognized as a successful businessman, because one of the dreams that I wanted to realize when I set up my company in 1995, China Pages, was if Jack Ma can be successful then 80 percent of young people in and around the world can be successful also. We are just normal guys. If you work hard, if you learn quickly, then I think anyone has the chance. I don't think I am a successful businessperson. You have to create something: You create value for people, you help people, and then people help you. As a business, that is the result, not the process. Life is more fun than that.
B: Before setting up Alibaba you started China Pages, then helped MOFTEC and, more recently, established Taobao and AliPay. Do you have any more ideas up your sleeve?
JM: Yes. With e-commerce in the whole environment is not good enough. People complain about trust, people complain about payment, people complain about security. But we say, ?What is the use of complaining?? Build up the systems to deal with these issues. So we built up the trust. We built up the payment. We built up the online security. Then people say, well everybody is using pirated software. So we say ok, let's build a cheap software for those SMEs to use that they can afford. So that is Alisoft that we are going to release pretty soon. As an entrepreneur, don't complain about problems. Build solutions for them.
B: Many businesses try to sign up large corporate clients, but you seem to be focused on SMEs. Why?
JM: We are interested in catching shrimp, not the whales. When you catch shrimp, then you will also catch the whales. I think that is one of the reasons that we have survived. We bet on 's economic growth based on private SMEs. Five years ago, we said the main engine of 's economic growth will be SMEs and the private sector. So we said let's help these SMEs. Let's help the private sector. Let's help them with e-commerce. Let's help them to have more competitive power through using the Internet. We were lucky to have been there, because we created value first, then we thought about making money from them. So if they make RMB5 million a year, we say give us RMB5,000. That is fair. We have hundreds of thousands of customers, so we never worry about one customer leaving and then the whole company is in trouble. In , when doing business, always remember population. You have got the numbers. Without numbers, you will never win.
B: How did you establish trust among Alibaba users?
JM: In 2003, when we had one million free members, everybody was complaining: I don't trust this guy, etcetera. So I told my team let's build up a trust system, which we set up as TrustPass. Users pay RMB2,300, which we use to hire a third party to verify them. The second thing is that you should recommend five people who can vouch for you and you also need to list all the certificates/business licenses that you have. The third thing is that anyone on Alibaba who has done business with you should make a comment. At the beginning, it was very difficult. People said no one using an online B2B platform wants to make any comment. But we kept with it for four years. Now, we are becoming like a standard in . Over 200,000 companies, mainly SMEs, are using it. If you have a TrustPass on Alibaba, your feedback is seven times more than a free member. The other thing is many importers from Europe love TrustPass.
If you don't have it, they say go get it. Also, a lot of people are starting to print TrustPass on their business cards, so we think this has a lot of potential.
B: Why did you decide to take over Yahoo! instead of Google or Baidu?
JM: Well, first, Google was difficult to take over last year. It is so big and so successful, we wanted to, but it was very difficult. Baidu didn't have the synergy that we needed. We needed a global platform that can help Alibaba go global quickly. We needed a global partner on technology. So with all these aspects, we think that Yahoo! is the most suitable.
B: There seems to be a perception that "bigger is better" when it comes to online businesses. Do you think this is the case?
JM: No. I don't think bigger is better. First you have to make your business good, useful and valuable. Then, if members believe it is good, more people will join, so bigger is a natural result. A lot of dotcom sites try to make their sites bigger and bigger, but in the end, they do not create the real value.
B: Do you want Alibaba to be the world's biggest B2B platform?
JM: Of course, that is our dream. It costs nothing to dream. We want to make it big, but we have to keep on making it better first. Then bigger will be a natural result.
B: You still haven't declared that Alibaba will go public, why not?
JM: I think going public is like going to the gas station: You get the gas and keep on driving. We still have plenty of gas so can keep on driving. We are very profitable and have a lot of things we want to do that we have not done yet. And in the market, at least today, it is better for a company like Alibaba to be private, rather than to be public. But we will go public, we just don't have specific timetable for that yet. But we will be there.
B: Where does most of your revenue come from?
JM: Alibaba B2B. This is very profitable, very successful. It keeps on growing steadily and we believe it has a big future. Most of the income is from membership services and renewals. People love it and pay year after year, so it has become a community-based membership.
B: Where do you think eBay went wrong?
JM: They made some mistakes, and we were lucky that we made some good decisions. Of cours,e we also made a lot of mistakes, but maybe not as many as they did. I think that just because we won against eBay it does not mean we will win e-Bay . For Taobao, as to whether it will be successful or not, we will have to wait and see. If Taobao is bigger than eBay Global, then that means our dream and our vision are right, because I believe that the market is bigger than the online retail market. Toda,y we are just beginning, but five years later we will see.
B: You've developed an online payment system, AliPay. What are your ambitions in the financial services area?
JM: We have over 160,000 Websites besides Taobao that are using Alipay as an online payment system in , so it has already become kind of a standard in . We are the largest online payment system in , and we also have the largest market share. We will keep on growing and this is my favourite baby today.
B: Do you plan to make it a globally accepted payment system like PayPal?
JM: Yes, that is why I called it Alipay, not Taobao-pay. People know Alibaba but they may not know Taobao. Maybe some day it will be global, but if you have a global view, you need to win first. will be a global market in the future so we want to win the market first.
B: Is setting up an online business in more difficult than in other countries?
JM: To me, I don't think it is difficult in . You see entrepreneurs every day setting up Websites and businesses. Doing business is easy in . But, to be successful, like anywhere else in the world, it is difficult.
B: What are the most common mistakes people make when trying to do business online in ?
JM: Arrogance, maybe. Many multinational companies come to thinking they know everything about business, but the environment is a little bit different in . Also, a lot of people are tech-oriented: They love the technology, but maybe their customers don't like it.
B: It has taken some time for people to get comfortable about shopping on the Internet. How do people in feel about buying online?
JM: That is where the potential lies. You know this is the trend, not the fashion. People in are going to shop online, whether it is five or ten years later. If shopping online is now difficult, then that is an opportunity for us. You have to figure out how do you convince people: How do you make them comfortable with it? We do this little by little. The more you do the more comfortable people become. So I never think of the problems as negative, but rather just the opposite. In , we now have 120 million Internet users, and now close to 30 million people are using online shopping. That still leaves about 90 million people who are not shopping online.
B: What advice would you give to any one thinking of starting an online business in ?
JM: Believe in your dream and believe in yourself. Do it because you want to do it, not because the investor wants you to do it, and not because other people want you to do it. Don't give up the dream and do anything you can to make sure you are getting close to your dream every day. Find good people, get your customers to love you and stick to that. Learn quickly, and learn from others the tactics and the skills, but don't change your dream. I remember in 2000, I said if there are nine rabbits on the ground, if you want to catch one, just focus on one. Change your tactics if you need to, but don't change the rabbit ? just stick with it. There are so many opportunities in that you cannot catch all of them. Get one first, put it in you pocket and then catch the others.
Fierce competition in China's consumer electronics (CE) market looks set to continue. Statistics just released for the first quarter of the year by one of the world's top market research firms identify the latest trends and predict what's to come. In its analysis, the German-based GFK Group focuses on the latest changes in pricing and brand-driven sales in China's LCD TV, mobile phone and laptop markets.
Higher Market Concentration
The polarization of market share by well-known brands is intensifying. Take the mobile phone market as an example: in the first quarter of this year, more brands entered the Chinese mobile phone market, yet powerful brands could still see their shares expanding. Twenty top brands account for 90% of total market share. And 80% of the mobile phone market belongs to only eight top brands, compared to 14 for the same period last year. In the laptop market, the ten bestselling models are made by only a handful of manufacturers, including Lenovo, HP, IBM and Sony.
Lower Prices, Higher Share for Low-end Models
Price is still a major stimulus fuelling consumption on the Chinese market: The prices of handsets, color TVs and laptops are all going down, thereby giving an impetus to market growth. In the first quarter of 2006, the average price of a mobile phone was RMB1,422 (US$178) - down by 9.2%, while mobile phone sales increased by 17.8% compared with the same period in 2005. The color TV market saw especially eye-catching price cuts, as the price of 38" LCD models dropped by 51%.
However, real opportunities are open for mainstream products. For instance, the year-on-year growth rate in laptop sales was 31%, much higher than the desktop market. Low-end mobile phones and laptops are proving to be the most successful in their respective categories, both contributing more than 40% to overall market sales. Another trend worth noting is that in terms of both sales volume and revenue, LCD TV sales account for almost half of the TV market, yet smaller models have experienced a big drop in market share. And in the large TV category, sales of traditional CRT color sets, especially rear-projection models, are decreasing drastically. Now, plasma TV is challenging the dominance of LCD technology in the market, and manufacturers are rushing to cash in on these developments.
Foreign versus Local Brands
International CE heavyweights are gradually realizing that changing the landscape of the Chinese CE market is not all that easy. Now, domestic CE manufacturers, after some consolidation and reorientation, are becoming just as aggressive as industry giants from Japan, Korea and Europe. In the latest bout of competition in the LCD TV market, sales of Japanese brands are dropping, while Korean brands are gaining stronger momentum. An increase in the sales volume for large, domestic-brand LCD TVs has also contributed to boosting overall sales revenue in the market. But the market share of domestic manufacturers is still being threatened by foreign brands, with more price wars in the pipeline.
On March 20, 2006, China GrenTech Corp. Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRRF) got listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange with a P/E of 380. Its stock price closed at US$19 the first day, helping GRRF raise US$112.5 million.
But the day was not as inspiring for some domestically listed companies. Two of GrenTech's former shareholders, Shenzhen Universe (Public, SHE:000023) and Nanning Chemical (Public, SHA:600301), excluded themselves from sharing GrenTech's profits after selling their combined 42.69% stake in the company years earlier.
Last year's NYSE listing of Wuxi-based Suntech (NYSE:STP) followed a similar trajectory. Its former major shareholder, Jiangsu-based Little Swan Group (Public, SHE:000418), was tired of the solar energy company and transferred all of its shares long before its bright overseas listing.
For Shenzhen Universe, Nanning Chemical and Little Swan, continued investment in GrenTech and Suntech could have been no less than an illuminating experience. But there is more to their hasty sell-offs than meets the eye. Many more domestic investors will be excluded from sharing the benefits of listing in overseas markets if proper rules aren't worked out soon.
Par Value Deal
China GrenTech Corporation was jointly founded by Gao Yingjie and Zhuang Kunjie in 1999. It specializes in the development, production and marketing of radio frequency (RF) products and wireless communication systems. Since starting, it has become China Unicom's largest network optimization equipment supplier and the leader of China's RF technology market.
GrenTech got off to a rough start. By the beginning of 2000, the company was badly in need of more startup funds. But in December of the same year, Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical respectively announced plans to buy large stakes in the struggling startup. In mid December, Shenzhen Universe bought 28.169% of GRRF from its shareholders for RMB60.37 million (US$7.56million). Meanwhile, Nanning Chemical spent RMB36 million (US$4.5 million) purchasing a 14.52% stake in the company, making it the third largest shareholder. GrenTech's registered capital swelled from RMB10 million (US$1.25 million) to RMB112 million (US$14 million) after the deal.
Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical were initially optimistic about their investments. Universe estimated that prospective annual returns would exceed 20% of their original purchase price, making GrenTech a new source of profit. The company's market prospects surfaced again in a 2000 annual report, which specified that GrenTech network optimization products had done well across China.
Holding up its end of the bargain, GrenTech did not disappoint its domestic shareholders. The company's net profit reached RMB43.21 million (US$5.4million) in 2001. The following year, Shenzhen Universe received dividends totaling more than RMB3.56 million (US$446,000) from GrenTech, while Nanning Chemical received RMB3.6 million (US$451,000).
The returns for all companies were, without a doubt, fat: before investing in the wireless and RF provider, its annual profits amounted to little more than RMB8 million (US$1 million).
But this was the first and the last time the two investors enjoyed such returns. From 2002 to 2003, Shenzhen Universe sold its GrenTech holdings in two lots, with a 14.013% stake first going to Shenzhen Hengxingyue Industry Co., Ltd for RMB30 million (US$3.76 million) in May. Another 14.156% share was offloaded to Shenzhen Lingxian Network Optimization Equipment Co., Ltd for RMB30.3 million (US$3.8 million). Also catching the wind of change, Nanning Chemical transferred its 14.156% share to Lingxian in October, 2003, for RMB36 million (US$4.5 million).
The transactions, however, are much more interesting after reading the fine print. Hengxingyue is GrenTech's original shareholder, while 90% of Lingxian's equity already belonged to GrenTech. The transactions were actually a share repurchase maneuver two or three years after the dividends were sold.
Strange as it may seem, the two investors did not gain from their partnership with GrenTech. Shenzhen Universe sold their shares for RMB70,000 less than their original purchase price, while Nanning Chemical just managed to break even.
The legal procedures governing listed companies were followed when GrenTech's shares were sold. Both companies issued announcements as stipulated by the exchange, and Shenzhen Universe's board of directors even released GrenTech's impressive financial statements for Lingxian to peruse.
Listing Matters
Was GrenTech past its prime? Or did internal problems affect decision making at Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical? The latter clearly seems to be the case given the strategic importance of the GrenTech investment for both companies.
Around the time that Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical were offloading their stocks, GrenTech was quickly becoming the second largest wireless equipment supplier in China. Odd, then, that both companies would sell their shares when profits were clearly rising. A brief look at GRRF's reported sales revenues shows fantastic growth: in 2002, when the sell-offs first started, revenue stood at RMB350 million (US$43.8 million). A year later, after both companies had washed their hands of GrenTech, revenue rose to RMB360 million (US$45 million). But the years that followed saw more dramatic growth, with revenues reaching RMB560 million (US$70.1 million) in 2004 and RMB716 million (US$90 million) in 2005. It is safe to say that the sell-off was hasty at best; larger profits were clearly there for the taking.
A flurry of questions surrounding the early retreat lingered for a time, but for Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical there was only one answer: GrenTech was planning to get listed in the overseas market. To achieve this, GrenTech tried its best to encouraged Universe and Nanning Chemichal to withdraw.
Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical's departure from GRRF made it easier for other institutional investors to enter into the mix. Just two months after their withdrawal, led by the leading private equity investor Acris Capital and Standard Chartered Bank, GrenTech received US$26 million from the overseas investors. The company also stated that its transformation into a foreign-invested company was prompted by lower taxes and other incentives offered by the Chinese government to firms using overseas capital.
After helping GrenTech through its growing pains, Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical became an obstacle to its overseas listing and chose to withdraw. The two original investors did not reap the gains that their later arriving foreign counterparts did, and also did not receive any compensation for their losses.
Chinese companies controlled by domestic investors usually face more complications than Sino-foreign joint ventures when applying for overseas listings. But this does not mean domestic-investor-controlled companies stand no chance of listing on US capital markets. Operations like Brilliance Auto, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) have already proven this isn't the case. Then why do domestic investors opt out of working with Chinese companies when they list overseas?
Shenzhen Universe and Nanning Chemical are not the only domestic investors that have chosen to withdraw. When SunTech listed on the NYSE in December 2005, its US$15 issuing price rocketed and closed at US$23. All of SunTech's domestic investors sold their shares overnight in early 2005, which was said to have been done under local government pressure.
Why, then, are investors from state-onwed enterprises bumped out of overseas listings? Sun Li, the senior partner of Syno Capital Inc. believes the problem has a lot to do with the complicated investment control mechanisms the government places on state-owned enterprises.
That's not to say success is impossible to come by. Chinese companies have, in fact, been very successful in overseas stock markets. The Bank of China's US$11.2 billion IPO is one of the most recent examples, and is preceded by a long list of other bank and natural resource listings. The gap, however, between the high-risk modern market and the state-owned model is huge, and by no means complimentary. Sun Li echoes this statement with his belief that a marketplace dominated by state-owned companies can not meet the high demands of a market economy. Or even contend, for that matter: with state control over assets, politics more often than not play a strong roll over where funds are allocated and who allocates them, reducing efficiency and creativity.
In addition, the government requests that 10% of funds raised by domestic stock market listings be handed over to China's social security system. And further complications may arise if a business lists abroad. Risk accountability for selling shares, what price to sell shares while securing state-owned assets and how to transfer hard currency back to China are only some of the problems left unresolved. Instead of developing proper solutions to the problems, the government has created rules that restrict domestic venture capital from enjoying big returns from overseas markets.
Sun Li also recognizes that an effective IPR protection system needs to be established. But there are some barriers. "The complicated system and human factors have made it difficult for China to build a comprehensive IPR system," Sun Li notes. "This, of course, makes it much easier for overseas venture capital investors to acquire state-owned businesses, pushing domestic investors out of the overseas capital market."
by CBfeature
To safeguard the future of UFIDA, the group's chairman and president, Wang Wenjing, resorted to a secret weapon last year. His company renovated rented space on a floor in the Huasheng Building, located in Beijing's Shangdi Hi-tech Industrial Zone. It quickly became a round-the-clock home for UFIDA's U9 development team, made up of several hundred engineers. "Competition with international suppliers will come sooner or later, but the competence of local suppliers is not as it used to be," says a confident Wang. "Our management software differs greatly from the purely technique such as operating system, database and middleware products on the market. We concentrate more on the demand for localization and service quality." He infers an innovative way of development for UFIDA.
Although Wang avoids revealing more details about U9, it's certain that U9 fully supports internet applications, which is actually the trend of the global software industry. Software application programs are evolving in an internet age, and enterprises in the future will all increasingly access key applications via the Web. According to technical leaders, all jobs in the future, ranging anywhere from customer relationship management to distributor coordination, could be handled via internet services instead of by traditional software programs. This change in business practice could also trigger new changes in IT applications and deployment, which would make it essential for license-dependent software companies to constantly update services and adjust their profit base accordingly. To some enterprises, such changes signal impending crises, while to others, they offer exciting opportunities.
As a matter of fact, the existing economic structure and business model of the software industry has already encountered challenges. The number of profit-making manufacturers in the software industry has been dwindling over the past several years, boosting profits at the world's three software giants - Microsoft, IMB and Oracle. The "big three" now account for 80% of the whole industry. A former executive of Oracle indicated at the SOFT 2006 Annual Meeting that the present development pattern of the software industry was unsustainable, and the need for software enterprises to find new forms of development was pressing. Some software firms need to figure out brand-new, user-oriented design methodologies in their innovation processes, instead of simply modifying those existing enterprise application programs based on old frameworks. Only by doing so can their products be optimized in performance and utility, so to satisfy the needs of demanding users and an ever-changing environment.
Not long ago, two major Chinese management software suppliers, UFIDA and Kingdee, released their respective accounting reports of 2005. UFIDA realized an expected RMB1 billion (US$125 million) in sales volume, while Kingdee saw a 19% increase in turnover and a 40% jump in net profit. But in terms of overall strength, the two groups' recent success pales in comparison to that of international rivals. Therefore it might not be advisable for them to try their luck on the international stage, at least not for the next five years. They should learn from the lessons of their foreign counterparts before making a major move.
Technical leaders anticipate that all work in the future, from customer relationship management to distributor coordination, will be handled through internet services instead of traditional software programs.
"Everything is changing, from the customer profiles of software suppliers to the motivations affecting the design methodologies of developers. Problems that previously could be solved just by software now must be solved by software combined with internet services", says Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's CTO. With its grass-root diffusion model and a high cost/performance users' experience, this massive tide of booming software services around the corner might either expedite the emergence of a number of new large enterprises, or smash some former software sharks. Therefore the latest developments in the global management software industry and the changing focus towards Service-Oriented Architect (SOA) are good news for Chinese management-software suppliers.
The Chinese market has become a coveted cake for the global software industry, where legions of international competitors vie with each other in layout schemes and strength accumulation. As a result, local SMEs of software suppliers are losing ground and facing mounting pressure.
On March 7, Oracle China declared it was tapping the SME market in China with unprecedented force, planning to expand its business to 26 medium-sized Chinese cities and invite more local partners. "The SME business is critical to the growth of Oracle China," says Li Hanzhang, Oracle China's North Region General Manager. He believes Chinese SMEs are transforming from a labor-intensive to an automation-focused management mode, incorporating upgraded productivity and lower costs via information technology. Herein lies a huge window of opportunity for Oracle.
Only two weeks after Oracle's announcement, SAP, the world largest management software supplier, unveiled SAP Labs China in Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Shanghai. With a US$20 million investment, this institute will have housed 1,500 employees by 2008. It will specialize in developing solutions for SMEs. During the unveiling ceremony, SAP Executive Board member Claus Heinrich said his group's main aspiration for the SME market would be bringing R&D closer to the customers and the market.
However, a fact that Heinrich concealed was that he had come to China with several other colleagues from Germany. Besides Shanghai, they visited Southwest China's Chengdu City, where SAP was to launch another new research institute. "Most of the world's 'Top 500' companies are our loyal customers, and we will maintain stable growth in this top-end market. But to reach our next expansion objective, SME-oriented development will be a must," remarks Rui Xianglin, head of SAP Labs China.
It seems to be a case of "survival of the fittest": to adjust themselves to the new changes as soon as possible, domestic management software companies have to make the best of their natural advantages. In Shanghai, the center of the Yangtze Delta and the most active economic zone in China, UFIDA unveiled an advanced software application research center in April. The center's general manager, Professor Yang Baogang, says that, by learning from the best practices of domestic and foreign enterprises, UFIDA will design a series of advanced application models and management guideline systems for local enterprises.
Meanwhile, Kingdee is intensifying its investment in network and mobile commerce. Xu Shaochun, the group's chairman and CEO, notes, "The trend of software as a service in China should be closely linked to local applications." Quite noticeably, exploration relating to new business models is changing the approach of many small software companies in China.
Beijing Emay Softcom Technology Ltd., a company that develops mobile commercial software, combines SMS and enterprise applications. It has pinpointed profitable opportunities in three fields: selling mobile commercial software to customers; charging for communication services and sharing profits with mobile communication operators as an SMS provider; and offering a variety of features such as mobile real name, mobile searches and mobile payment. This different business model has attracted attention from risk investors, such as IDG, which has invested over US$10 million in two rounds within one year. Until now, Emay has developed its customers to around 30,000 corporations, such as Mengniu, HP, L'oreal and other top domestic and foreign firms.
In view of the present situation, Chinese software suppliers could not yet become menacing rivals to global software giants. "I think it possible that Kingdee or UFIDA could seize current opportunities to leapfrog into the application of a new generation of technology on a new platform, and eventually reach international levels of competition. Either of them could be an Oracle, IBM or Microsoft," remarked Xia Jiaxi, Member of SAP Executive Board and SAP's CTO, during a recent interview in Shanghai.
SAP COO Leo Apotheker made a similar comment in an interview with Reuters in Paris, saying that a "more threatening rival" would rise from within China over the next five years. Meanwhile, he listed Oracle as his group's largest future rival.
Although such comments do not offer any substantial help to management software providers in China, they are testimony to the potentially explosive power of latecomers. Judging from various factors, a great opportunity is beckoning for Chinese software suppliers, which could be grasped either by UFIDA, Kingdee, Inspur, Neusoft or other existing software companies. But it's also not too late for a rank outsider to come in and steal the show.
CBfeature (China Business Feature) is powered by CEOCIO China magazine, a leading Chinese business and management medium for the last nine years. Today, the bi-weekly publication enjoys a readership of more than 130,000, in addition to millions of online readers. CEOCIO China is widely recognized by Chinese companies and multinationals in IT, Internet, automobile, retail and other sectors, as well as in the fields of corporate management and investment.
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| December 4, 2006 - On November 29, Alibaba.com held its first "Open Sesame" event in Philadelphia at the Rittenhouse Hotel in conjunction with MeetChinaBiz.org, a consortium of thousands of constituent companies... More
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| August, 31, 2006 - Alibaba.com hosted a recent "Open Sesame" event, its first in Germany. The gathering brought together more than 189 Alibaba members, international buyers and Tendence show visitors. |
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| August 29th, 2006 - Alibaba.com hosted an "Open Sesame" event at the MAGIC show in Las Vegas for the first time. The member event was designed to help teach buyers how websites such as Alibaba.com can help grow businesses. More
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| July 24 2006 In collaboration with the Italian Association of Foreign Trade (AICE), Alibaba.com hosted its first "Open Sesame" event in Europe. The seminar attracted 80 Italian buyers who came to hear about the e-sourcing tools.... |
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| August 4, 2006 Alibaba.com hosted its second “Open Sesame” China event, this time in Shanghai. The training seminar was designed to help buyers learn more about the power of e-marketplaces... More |
Hangzhou, CHINA - How sourcing online can improve your business June 23, 2006
Alibaba has launched the 2nd round of marketing campaign in Hong Kong in March and April 2006 to promote the Alibaba.com brand and service to international buyers. March and April are the selected time period because these 2 months are the peak tradeshows months in Hong Kong with lots of foreign visitors coming to Hong Kong to visit series of international tradeshows covering wide range of industries like leather, electronics, gifts, housewares, etc.
Outdoor promotion is the key strategy. Various transport spots and vehicles where foreign and local show visitors must come across are selected.
1. Hong Kong International Airport
Most foreign visitors coming to Hong Kong must stop by the airport and we dominate the baggage reclaim area where they must pass and stop by to pick their luggage. We wrap all the baggage reclaim carousels with orange sticker, together with lightboxes on the carousel tops, and a big bulkhead lightbox at the baggage reclaim concourse.
Also, in the auto-people movers running between the airport terminals, we have the in-train panels. Together with the luggage trolleys, there are plenty of Alibaba orange spots in the airport.
Baggage Reclaim Hall
Auto-People Mover – In-train sticker
2. Airport Express
The Airport Express train is the key transport for business travelers to take from the airport to the urban areas. We again dominate the inside compartments with stickers on windows and facing seat panels.
3. Airport Express – AsiaWorld Expo station
AsiaWorld Expo is a new exhibition center in Hong Kong where new international tradeshows, including the Global Sources Sourcing Fairs are held. Most show visitors take the Airport Express and stop at the AsiaWorld Expo Station to reach this new venue. And we dominate the arrival & departure concourse of this station with stickers at both the glass panes and wall panels facing each other. Visitors walking through the concourse cannot avoid seeing us.
4. MTR Wan Chai Station
MTR Wan Chai Station leads to another key exhibition center, the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center in Wan Chai, where high trafficked tradeshows are held. Most visitors going to this exhibition center take MTR as their key transport means and must stop by Wan Chai Station. Alibaba again dominates the concourse and upper platform by wrapping most of the pillars in orange.
5. Lightbox on O’Brien Road, Wan Chai
O’Brien Road is the key path from the MTR Wan Chai Station to the HK Convention and Exhibition Center, where we have a bulk lightbox round the corner to draw the visitors’ attention.
6. Taxi
500 Alibaba taxis are running around the Hong Kong Island. All of them are having stickers on the body and 100 of them are even having the lightboxes on top.
On 16 tradeshow days in March and April, we specially arrange our Alibaba taxis to run into the convention center so that there are always lines of Alibaba taxis and tradeshow visitors can surely see us!
Alibaba has launched the 2nd round of marketing campaign in Hong Kong in March and April 2006 to promote the Alibaba.com brand and service to international buyers. March and April are the selected time period because these 2 months are the peak tradeshows months in Hong Kong with lots of foreign visitors coming to Hong Kong to visit series of international tradeshows covering wide range of industries like leather, electronics, gifts, housewares, etc.
Outdoor promotion is the key strategy. Various transport spots and vehicles where foreign and local show visitors must come across are selected.
1. Hong Kong International Airport
Most foreign visitors coming to Hong Kong must stop by the airport and we dominate the baggage reclaim area where they must pass and stop by to pick their luggage. We wrap all the baggage reclaim carousels with orange sticker, together with lightboxes on the carousel tops, and a big bulkhead lightbox at the baggage reclaim concourse.
Also, in the auto-people movers running between the airport terminals, we have the in-train panels. Together with the luggage trolleys, there are plenty of Alibaba orange spots in the airport.
Baggage Reclaim Hall
Auto-People Mover – In-train sticker
2. Airport Express
The Airport Express train is the key transport for business travelers to take from the airport to the urban areas. We again dominate the inside compartments with stickers on windows and facing seat panels.
3. Airport Express – AsiaWorld Expo station
AsiaWorld Expo is a new exhibition center in Hong Kong where new international tradeshows, including the Global Sources Sourcing Fairs are held. Most show visitors take the Airport Express and stop at the AsiaWorld Expo Station to reach this new venue. And we dominate the arrival & departure concourse of this station with stickers at both the glass panes and wall panels facing each other. Visitors walking through the concourse cannot avoid seeing us.
4. MTR Wan Chai Station
MTR Wan Chai Station leads to another key exhibition center, the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Center in Wan Chai, where high trafficked tradeshows are held. Most visitors going to this exhibition center take MTR as their key transport means and must stop by Wan Chai Station. Alibaba again dominates the concourse and upper platform by wrapping most of the pillars in orange.
5. Lightbox on O’Brien Road, Wan Chai
O’Brien Road is the key path from the MTR Wan Chai Station to the HK Convention and Exhibition Center, where we have a bulk lightbox round the corner to draw the visitors’ attention.
6. Taxi
500 Alibaba taxis are running around the Hong Kong Island. All of them are having stickers on the body and 100 of them are even having the lightboxes on top.
On 16 tradeshow days in March and April, we specially arrange our Alibaba taxis to run into the convention center so that there are always lines of Alibaba taxis and tradeshow visitors can surely see us!
