Curiosity China: Start a Business

By staff reporter MA HUIYUAN



Curiosity China: Start a Business

By staff reporter MA HUIYUAN

T O smartphone users in China, WeChat is an indispensable instant messaging tool. However, WeChat public accounts now also offer companies and brands ways of promoting themselves here. Growing numbers of international brands have opened WeChat public accounts to explore the Chinese market and get closer to local consumers. This accomplished, they then discover Curiosity China, an Internet-based business whose purpose is to establish and operate public accounts for international fashion brands. Once again, social networks are revolutionizing the brand-consumer relationship.

Alexis and Judy, a French-Chinese couple, are the founders of Curiosity China. Their head office is in Sanlitun, the embassy area in eastern Beijing popular among expats for its bars, clubs, and international clothing stores. Alexis and Judy shared with China Today the story of how they created their business in China, and gave an introduction to marketing via social networks in this populous country.

Alexis: In Love w ith China

Alexis Bonhomme, 33, from Paris, was originally a lawyer. “Asia has held a fascination for me since childhood. I am passionate about the region, its culture and history, so naturally took the step to come and live in China,” Alexis said.

The head office of Curiosity China in Sanlitun, the embassy area in eastern Beijing.

Intending to continue working as alawyer, Alexis found a business partner in Beijing at the end of 2010. He arrived in the capital two months in advance of starting his new job and rented an apartment in readiness for his new life. But then a friend from Gaopeng, a joint venture between American leader in group buying Groupon and Chinese Internet giant Tencent, approached Alexis. His company needed someone responsible for developing international brands in China. “My expertise was in the field of intellectual property, so this was completely new to me,” Alexis said. “However, it seemed to me that the two fields do have in common their emphasis on client relationships. So, as I still had eight to nine weeks before starting my new job, I decided to give it a try.”

A team of young, keen workers.

Alexis remembers well his interview at Gaopeng. “Their office is right next to Sanlitun. Dressed in customary lawyer garb – black suit and tie – upon entering I became part of a throng of around 300 people, all wearing T-shirts and sneakers, buzzing about amid stacks of unopened parcels scattered throughout the office. I felt drawn to this casual, energetic environment. Although not sure in what capacity, I knew I wanted to be part of it.”

Through the window of the Internet, we are able to observe the social, cultural, economic, and political development of 20 percent of humanity.

This was a career-changing interview for Alexis. “The person who interviewed me said that although working in a law firm is stable it’s also a bit tedious. You earn well but pay high taxes, and know exactly where you’ll be in five years’time. But with a job at a start-up in the Internet sector you have no idea what tomorrow will bring. China represents 20 percent of the global population. Through the window of the Internet, we are able to observe the social, cultural, economic, and political development of 20 percent of humanity. This was not possible 20 years ago,” Alexis said. He went on to recall the social environment of that time. “In 2010, a large number of Chinese people had microblogs, and many consumers either participated in group buying or shopped online. All this highlighted China as a paradise for Internet economy and e-business.” Alexis accordingly stayed with Gaopeng for two and a half years. It was there that he met his wife Judy.

Judy is a talented and attractive young Chinese woman. Although the same age as Alexis, she has 10 years’ experience in the Internet field under her belt. They recently had their wedding in Paris. “We knew each other a long time as colleagues, but our relationship changed when I took a trip to Paris and Alexis volunteered to be my tour guide. He knows how to express his affection and passion but at the same time respects me and gives me space. Before the wedding, his mother studied Chinese for two months. And at the wedding ceremony, she gave a speech in Chinese! This was a wonderful surprise for me!”Judy said.

Realize a Dream:Be an Entrepreneur in China

“I always wanted to open a business in France, but never had the courageor the opportunity,” Alexis said. But it was shortly after arriving in China that he realized his entrepreneurial dream. In early 2013, the couple founded their company and named it Curiosity China. Two years later, Curiosity has 30-odd employees of various nationalities. In addition to its headquarters in Beijing, Curiosity has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Paris.

Judy explained their initial idea. “At that time, WeChat was already popular in China and offered the closest way of communicating and interacting with consumers. Tencent, which developed WeChat, is a technology company, and does not provide customized commercial products. Also, although WeChat has many functions and features, it is not equipped with the turnkey solution that a brand needs to interact with its customers. As there was a clear demand for this in the market, we pounced on the opportunity. Our aim was to offer our clients a platform and to build and operate a management system based on the WeChat technical interface. The WeChat public accounts we established for different brands offer high added-value functions and also scope for our creative ideas. What we do is quite new in the sector. We have since integrated with and optimized other resources related to social media. We intend to develop our own app and transform our operation model from B2B (Business-to-Business) to B2C (Business-to-Customer).”

In the course of all this the Chinese and Western cultures collide and inspire one another. Two key words in Curiosity’s corporate culture are “direct” and “share.” “We are dealing with international high-end brands, which demands thorough knowledge and understanding. On this point, Alexis has an innate sensitivity that gives him a deep cognition of such products. Our company cooperates with about 50 international brands, most of which are European, especially French and Italian,” Judy said.

Curiosity recently launched Curio, a brand marketing software. With the help of social media, Curio passes messages to customers and potential customers in a targeted and individualized way. Moreover, Curio interacts with offline brand loyalty programs. Take the American brand Coach as an example. Curiosity has established for Coach a public account through which subscribers can read about the history of the brand and its promotional events. By connecting with Curio, customers can also pinpoint the Coach store nearest to them and go online shopping there if they wish. The public account connects with the loyalty program, whereby customers’ WeChat accounts act as their membership cards, carrying all their information and history of purchases. Messages are also sent to customers according to their profile and perceived needs. Curiosity provides technical support for and is in charge of operating the public accounts of these brands.

Our aim was to offer our clients a platform and to build and operate a management system based on the WeChat technical interface.

In 2014, the company generated tens of millions of yuan in sales volume. “The Chinese government encourages entrepreneurship. Administrative procedures are therefore simplified, financing is more accessible and qualified staff is easy to recruit,” Judy said. China’s favorable environment has prompted the couple to register their business here.

Social Networks,New Marketing Frontier

In mid-2015, Curiosity drew up a report on the behavior of WeChat users based on statistics published by Tencent. It reveals that WeChat has been installed on more than 90 percent of smart phones in the country, so becoming an indispensable tool in everyday life. By the end of the first quarter of 2015, WeChat had 549 million active users in almost 200 countries, using 20 different languages. Moreover, public accounts opened by various brands already exceed eight million. WeChat also has the flexibility to connect to 85,000 other apps. About 400 million users use its payment feature. In China, 80 percent of high net worth individuals use WeChat.

Statistics show that WeChat has generated RMB 11 billion of consumer purchases, mainly in the entertainment sector, a scale of RMB 5.89 billion. The public account is one of the feature services WeChat provides. About 80 percent of users subscribe to one or more public accounts, mostly in the business and media sector, which account for 73.4 percent of them.

Social networks such as WeChat indeed create new opportunities for marketing brand names. Alexis is convinced that WeChat is the closest way of interacting with consumers. Through WeChat, companies can more precisely target their potential customers, among whom are the much sought-after “Henrys,” – “high earners, not rich yet,” of which there are large numbers in China. Through their public accounts brands can send personalized messages to such Henrys and thus integrate the online store with the traditional shop network.

J udy has observed that foreign brands planning to enter the Chinese market increasingly opt for online promotions, to cut costs and optimize gains. Those that have already entered the Chinese market tend to boost their online business development. “Chinese consumers today are more mature. They no longer follow the herd in buying according to logo. They instead choose what is best for them according to their specific preferences. We also observe a trend of Chinese consumer loyalty to favorite brands. International brands now pay more attention to the Chinese market, and seek to publicize their history and values as well as promote their products. Many of our customers have such demands,” Judy said.

Today, as the Internet industry booms in China, more and more young entrepreneurs like Alexis and Judy are appearing. The new developments that await tomorrow’s China will be fabulous beyond our imagination. That is why Alexis and Judy named their company Curiosity China.