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China-facing businesses need to "connect, share and learn"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 19, 2016

China-facing businesses need to "connect, share and learn" for greater success

New online network launching Oct 26th builds global connections for China-facing businesses

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Companies selling to China face great opportunities, but also many challenges. That's the motivation for a new business network called The Red Circle, launching in Auckland next week.

The launch event, on Wednesday 26th October, will also see the launch of the Digital China Podcast, a weekly insight into the China market.

The Red Circle is the brainchild of Auckland-based consultancy syENGAGE, which "helps kiwi companies do Chinese marketing", according to cofounder Simon Young.

"We've been in the China marketing space for several years now," says Young, "and we've noticed that, for big and small companies, whether they're from New Zealand, Australia, Canada or the UK, the issues with China are many and they are usually nuanced.

"China-facing business people have a big challenge on their hands, and sometimes the answer is training," says Young. "But more often, we've found that the advice of peers is even more helpful in defining success for foreign companies in China."

This revelation, gleaned from five years working in New Zealand and China, helped form the vision for The Red Circle - an online network of China-facing business people from various industries

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The network will give members access to the insights and experience of marketers and business people at all experience levels in China, from their own industry, and also from other industries.

"For someone exporting to the China Market, the Red Circle is an amazing network of Chinese and English speaking people," says founding member Tony Falkenstein, CEO of Just Water. "as a new exporter to China, I am able to use the Red Circle as a sounding board for new products, with input from other exporters, as well as the Chinese members.

"The Red Circle fulfils a networking need that no other business group provides adequately," explains Falkenstein. "It is quite openly a network, with members encouraged to meet and hear about the businesses of other members. It is both inspiring and fun to be with a group of different cultures, all open to share their experiences, and ready to help each other pursue their own goals."

Young says, "We've found that some of the most experienced China hands show the most enthusiasm for the network. They've discovered that China is complex and changes fast, so it's important to know a lot of people and get multiple sources of up-to-date information."

Young acknowledges there are already a great deal of organisations dedicated to helping foreign businesses succeed in China, but stresses this is the first global, born-digital network specifically for marketers and business people outside of China, but with responsibility for China.

The launch event will be in Auckland next week, on Wednesday October 26th, which will be the first of many events, online and offline, to facilitate conversations, connections and insights. In the meantime, online groups and the weekly Digital China Podcast will keep marketers in touch with market developments and insights.

"It's roughly 10,000km from New Zealand to China, but the cultural distance is often further," says Young. "I hope The Red Circle can close that gap."

-ENDS-


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