> SPOTLIGHT ‘
China is the leading trading region in the world and we could benefit so much from just a tiny, tiny fraction of that business’
“They don’t start with the product or the business offering. They
start by trying to build a relationship over months or maybe years. They work incredibly hard, 24/7, 52 weeks a year – they don’t turn their phones off when they’re on holiday. For us to succeed, we have to have the same level of intensity. Irish tourist businesspeo- ple who think they can go for the craic tend not to get on that well. But the person who’s really into it can get on great.” While Liam Casey, founder of PCH International, which will have
a US$400m turnover this year, has done exceptionally well in China, Brugha says it’s not necessary to have his talent to succeed there “because the market is so big and the opportunities are so immense”. “But you have to have a preparedness,” he stresses. “You have
to have the mindset. If they say ‘we’re all going for a meal’ you can’t say ‘I’m going back to the hotel room to watch Sky’. Forget it, you’re gone! And the morning after, tired or not, you have to be there. And what’s more, you have to be awake – awake to the sen- sitivities, the nuances. And if you are going to make it your busi- ness to be there, you need to learn Chinese.”
Relationship building Of course, it’s not strictly necessary or even advisable to spend large chunks of time in China right at the beginning, explains Brugha. “Yes, it is true that the only way you’re really going to suc- ceed is by going there, but in fact the best network to start with is the network of Chinese people who are here. “I’d say, don’t go immediately. Get to know about it and maybe
start building relationships with Chinese people who are involved in business here. Why not employ Chinese people to start? If you have a company and you’re employing English-speaking Chinese people and start building your relationship, you’ll get to know a lot more about the business you can do there. Then you could be fly- ing out with that person and possibly doing business with their associates.” State agencies like Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, as well as organisations like the Ireland-China Association can also be very helpful at the beginning. “But they’re not crutches that you can rely on all the time,” he says. “You have to go and build the connec- tions and that can be difficult.” Brugha has noticed a growing interest from marketers and busi-
nesspeople in general in doing business with China. “I would love it to grow far faster. When you think of the results of the relation- ship with America, they were laying down patterns for 50 years and all the benefits seemed to come in the last 10 years. “There are companies out there doing really well, like CRH, and discovering they can increase the size of their business enor- mously through one market, through one small part of their busi- ness. So the opportunities are really great, but we’re not really exploiting them anywhere near as much as we could. We have to change our perspective a bit.”
The national view Brugha also believes that some kind of national initiative is required to improve Ireland’s long-term prospects with China. “If you remember when the IFSC was set up, this was done at Government level. You had Government, banks and civil servants all meeting on a Monday morning and looking at what they had to do next. You actually need something like that. Because China could go for a political relationship if we were to say that Ireland could provide a gateway for China into Europe.” He says he sees the will to prioritise the relationship with China
at Government level but not throughout the state organisations. “You will find real marketers within some of the Irish state organi- sations that are working in China, real go-getters. But I think the state organisations have an awful lot of inertia involved in them. Some people in there will be the best; others you wish would be more enthusiastic.” Ireland has many attributes that make it the ideal base for Chinese companies in Europe, not least the fact that it is English- speaking. A similar political history, warm people, commitment to family and adaptability are shared characteristics that also make Ireland an appealing location. “They’d prefer to work with people they could have a real relationship with,” Brugha points out. “Their starting point is relationship building. But they’re pretty much all businesspeople. If you don’t seem to be serious, they want some- where else.” “The Chinese government has money to invest if they thought
Ireland was the right location,” he concludes. “But the Irish have to demonstrate that this is a better opportunity than Sweden or Portugal, for example, that we do have something to offer.”
52 Marketing Age Volume 4 Issue 3 2010
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