The Negotiation

This episode of The Negotiation is part 2 of our conversation with Charles Lavoie, VP of Marketing & Head of Creative Labs at WPIC Marketing & Technologies. This half is where we talk about creativity and the role it plays in marketing in the Asia Pacific region. We discuss the growth of digital commerce, evolutions in that space, why it might be necessary to create cartoon characters for brands, gamification and the digitalization of the shopping experience in Asia. Charles also gives insights into brand localization and how best to activate a multi-market strategy. Enjoy!

Show Notes

In this episode of The Negotiation podcast, we continue our conversation with Charles Lavoie. We talk about creativity and the role it plays in APAC marketing. Charles is the VP of Creative & Head of Creative Labs at WPIC Marketing + Technologies. Among other topics, we discuss the growth of digital commerce, evolutions in that space, why it might be necessary to create cartoon characters for brands, gamification and the digitalization of the shopping experience in Asia. Charles also gives insights into brand localization and how best to activate a multi-market strategy. Enjoy!
 
Topics Discussed and Key Points:
  • The growth of digital commerce
  • Casework example with Xero shoes and the notion of barefoot running 
  • Why it might be necessary to create cartoon characters for brands, which can personify hero products
  • Gamification and digitalization of the shopping experience
  • The different layers of brand localization
  • How to activate a multi-market strategy
Notable Quotes
[00:00:11] “Where social commerce hasn't actually taken off, e-commerce has still had massive growth.”
[00:00:43] “People are appreciating the convenience of online shopping for pretty much all categories. But unlike China, there may still be a little bit of apprehension [regarding fully shifting to digital commerce].”
[00:01:50] “Technologies are getting more and more sophisticated. We've seen a really cool integration of augmented reality that is being tested.”
[00:07:32] “Everyone is busy in Asia and everyone's working lots. And basically, the thing that you can’t buy is time. But a product like Vitamix can help you buy time.”
[00:13:09] “[A mascot] is not going to make or break your brand, but it's definitely an addition you have to have a really, well, I do at least, a really strict schedule of what your day looks like, how your prospecting business, what your timeline looks like to have a mascot that can go online or offline, can stick to the minds of consumers, and thoroughly represent your brand.” 
[00:21:09] “You can't teach customers to buy in a different way than what they’re used to. It is too time-consuming to teach a customer to buy in a new marketplace that they're not used to.”


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.