Rural marketing

Many foreign computer makers also might not be as familiar with marketing in rural areas of China.

While urban customers favor stylish products and brand recognition, consumers in rural areas are more easily influenced by promotional events and almost always buy the same products as their neighbors and friends.

Many rural consumers also choose to buy a computer as a "must-have" appliance for a couple getting married.

This has forced many PC vendors to change their product colors from traditional black to red - an auspicious color in Chinese culture.

Jiang Dekun, marketing director of Lenovo's consumer business group, said the company has started to adopt more localized tactics such as painting the Lenovo logo on village walls and scheduling advertising and promotion events via village broadcast stations and local fairs.

She said Lenovo has signed several contracts with village leaders to help organize promotional events in local communities.

"Compared with our traditional marketing campaign, these tactics are much less expensive but very effective for rural consumers, as they are closer to their daily lives," Jiang said.

She said Lenovo since last year has also shifted most of its rural advertising spending from mass media outlets to more than 300 county-level television stations.

Shen Yue, general manager of HP in East China, said the company planed to double the number of consumers reached in the next three months.

HP earlier this year launched an initiative to help rural consumers learn how to use computers in their daily lives. So far, HP has reached more than 50,000 rural customers, Shen said.

"We will listen to our rural customers' demands carefully and provide them with more value," Shen said.

(China Daily September 14, 2009)