Fishburn Hedges

10.06.2011

It’s home to 1.3 billion people and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. The opportunities for businesses expanding into China are tremendous. Yet delivering a clear, controlled - and ultimately effective - communication’s strategy in China remains a perennial challenge for international companies.

With more than 2,500 national and provincial newspapers in circulation, 8,000 magazines, 370 TV stations and 280 radio stations – the risk is that PR campaigns are not targeting and fail to reach the right stakeholders. Social media is today incredibly important in China, adding a new layer of complexity.  Local dialects play another role while domestic politics and myriad of sensitivities create a minefield for spokespeople. It’s one thing to sidestep the “three Ts” (Tibet, Tiananmen and Taiwan), it’s another to avoid offending regulators by innocently saying in an interview that you may expand operations in China, as occasionally occurs. Yet, with 160 cities with a population above a million - and China now home to more than a million millionaires - it’s a market few truly international firms can ignore.

While the media market may not be as clear-cut as the UK, there are a few basic rules about dealing with media in China.

Rule number one: Respect authorities

The Governments’ influence on local media is still pervasive and ubiquitous, yet not as monopolistic as it was in the past. Media organizations’ links to the government may now be less prevalent, yet it still has a solid stronghold. For example, take a story from a recent edition of Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post: “Media prepares for international board launch, Shanghai’s foreign listing facility could be ready in weeks, as journalists instructed to smooth the way” (June 6, 2011). The article, which discusses the imminent launch of the international board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange, quotes a reporter from a Tier 1 financial newspaper Securities Daily as saying, “we were also asked not to write sensitive stories….as a way to help smooth the launch”. This is just one example of a government that takes a proactive role in monitoring, and even controlling, media stories that may impact development and foreign investment into the economy.

Here is another example. I was recently in Shanghai and met with a reporter from 21^st Century Business. The reporter had just spent 6 months researching and writing a feature about a particular piece of development in Guangdong Province.  The reporter made a number of observations about the lax role of government. The story was published online three days before foreign investors were due to inspect the development. In a matter of hours, access to her online story was blocked. The moral of this story is government agenda remains important and it will continue to monitor media representation of social issues, human rights, anti-government sentiment and religion. As signs in airports say “Ignorance Is No Excuse”. 

Rule number two:  Know your provinces

Every province in China has a unique media landscape. This makes it crucial for you, the PR practitioner, to understand exactly which stakeholder you are trying to target through the media. Reporters in Beijing, for example, are more aggressive in their approach and don’t mind whether you are a FTSE-100 CEO or a Head of State. They will pursue an aggressive line of questioning and approach, showing no regard for ‘face’.  Beijing is China’s political hub, meaning this is also home to media outlets that are read by Chinese government stakeholders and regulators.

Reporters in Shanghai, on the other hand, have a softer and friendlier approach and understand the value of building longer term relations. They are more focused on business related angles and therefore tend to reach the business community.

Reporters in Guangzhou, based on our experience, tend to favour sensational stories and pursue negative angles to articles. Yet, these are all major cities. While there are enormous amounts of outlets, the complexities lie further afield. China categorizes cities into administrative levels. There are four municipality directly under the Central Government (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing), there are 27 provincial capitals (Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, etc.) and 310 prefecture cities. The municipality, provincial capitals and prefecture cities' territory have 856 city districts, about 370 county-level cities and 1,600 counties. Why is that important? China's Tier-2 cities, for example, now represent about 80% of the country's GDP. Businesses are draw to growth. PR follows business.

Rule number three: Understanding the media climate is key

By now you may be thinking, this is all very interesting but, as a PR practitioner, what are the ‘hard and fast’ rules I need to know? Well, here goes.

Some media outlets may publish your press releases, but that’s if you are lucky. Before the editors of leading outlets even consider publishing, they need to understand who your client is and why China needs to know about them.  Provide them with a very clear overview in your email, using simple language. Really spell out why your client or story is relevant to stakeholders in China. Local angles with hard numbers are key to generating coverage. Oh, this needs to be written in Chinese as English is rarely used in China.

Mainstream media is being redefined. Online news sites are becoming very influential “aggregators”. It’s worth noting that forums, blogs and social media bodies are all vying for the publics’ attention, in direct competition with traditional media outlets. With over 338 million internet users in China (and growing!), online media channels are becoming incredibly influential and therefore an important distribution point for news.

The media landscape is gradually “westernizing”. We are seeing a growth in more investigative and in-depth reporting. Journalists are reluctant to take stories at “face value.”

There is a new generation of young, hungry journalists. They are savvy, highly educated and aspire to produce factual, intelligent and locally relevant reporting. Times are changing, even though there remains a level of oversight.

Rule number 4: Know how to deal with Chinese reporters

Working with reporters in China is a complex process. There are certainly a few tips to smooth the cultural divide.

Due to language barriers, which in our case is between the reporter and our Western clientele, reporters are often open to email Q&A. Whereby the reporter sends through the questions for the client, the PR practitioner can then manage through translation from Chinese into English and vice versa. So long as the content is editorially sound, you help meet the needs of time-pressed – content hungry – media.

If you are conducting a live interview, quote review is common practice but you’ll rarely have the opportunity to review the entire article. You should also note that ‘travel allowances’ are still commonplace in China. Many business newspapers prohibit the acceptance of cash, yet gifts up to the value of RMB 300, such as fine chocolates and high quality notebooks, are readily accepted. Seek counsel before providing any gifts.

Specific knowledge of financial services is still limited, which is reflective if the relatively immature financial services industry in China. Yet reporters are hungry for an education which is an opportunity for you to build relations.

Ultimately, the success of a communication’s strategy relies on a deep understanding of China’s complexities, a deep respect for their customs and approach to doing business, strong local contacts and plenty of patience. Anything less, invites failure.

 

Laura Goble is a senior consultant at Ryan Financial Communications (www.ryanfin.com), an independent public relations firm which provides innovative communications counsel and strategy development to clients across Asia. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Ryan Financial Communications is a partner agency of Fishburn Hedges in international network www.gfcnet.com