The Negotiation

In this episode of The Negotiation, we bring back Jacob Cooke to discuss another record-breaking Singles Day shopping extravaganza. We ask Jacob whether his expectations were met, and how the day performed relative to his expectations. We also discussed the nuances between the various platforms and their individual performances, and call out some of the successful marketing tactics used this year. We also discuss this year’s GMV compared to 2020, whether there is room for foreign brands to be successful going forward, what to know about China’s Personal Information Protection Law, or PIPL for short, and the demographic differences and influences in China vs. Southeast Asia. Enjoy!

Show Notes

Topics Discussed and Key Points:
●      How Singles’ Day performed relative to Jacob’s expectations
●      Platforms that will gain traction at next year’s 11.11
●      Notable creative or marketing tactics used at this year’s festival
●      How this year’s GMV may compare to 2020s
●      Whether there is still room for foreign brands going forward
●      What to know about Pipl (Personal Information Protection Law)
●      WPIC’s plans for Southeast Asia
●      Demographic differences in China versus Southeast Asia
 
Episode Summary:
Today on The Negotiation, we speak with Jacob Cooke who shares his observations on Singles’ Day in 2021 and how closely the festival met his expectations.
In his words, how 11.11 unfolded was “almost bang on” with what Jacob anticipated, with a couple of categories “going a little bit over” and toys being the only underperformer.
It was a “Tmall-dominated shopping festival” that was largely untouched by the influx of new government regulations this year which, again, Jacob expected. He predicts more platforms gaining traction at next year’s 11.11 as Walled Gardens continue to come down and cross-platform functionality increases in scope.
Platforms also doubled down on live streams which had already been immensely popular in the Chinese market for some time, precisely because they know that live streams have become such an effective way to move product.
In many ways, “China is starting to become comfortable in their skin,” pushing for local champions in each of the different categories. While the country had been playing catch-up as recently as a decade ago, today local brands have been dominating in the market.
Finally, Jacob gives his thoughts on how companies will have to deal with the legal implications of Personal Information Protection Law, WPIC’s budding work in the Southeast Asia market, and demographic differences between the China market and that of Southeast Asia.
 
Key Quotes:
“There are a lot of misconceptions about why local brands are doing well. In a lot of cases, they have an easier time because they’re focused solely on China. Very few of them have global ambitions because the market is so large here.”
 
“I don’t think we’re done with regulators in terms of what’s done with personal data. I think that’s actually going to be further enhanced. [...] I think that what’s happened this year [with Pipl] is that the regulators have started to take action to make people take these new laws seriously.”
 
“eCommerce has normally been adopted by younger consumers. China’s done a really good job at making eCommerce universal.”

What is The Negotiation?

Despite being the world’s most potent economic area, Asia can be one of the most challenging regions to navigate and manage well for foreign brands. However, plenty of positive stories exist and more are emerging every day as brands start to see success in engaging and deploying appropriate market growth strategies – with the help of specialists.

The Negotiation is an interview show that showcases those hard-to-find success stories and chats with the incredible leaders behind them, teasing out the nuances and digging into the details that can make market growth in APAC a winning proposition.