Just for China
Red is THE hot color in China since ancient times, during the Chinese revolution, and until today : Red is an active participant in Chinese society and history. In Chinese, the very word “Red” also means “Hot” as in a “Hot trend”.
Chinese luxury market is so hot Van Cleef & Arpels introduced a red China-exclusive collection earlier in June.
Pure poetry : a dedicated line of sparkling diamonds and rubies, and the coral red stone studded Magic Alhambra series for those – like me, who affectionnate the four-leaf clover.
Van Cleef entered China 3 years ago with only one store in Beijing, but the company is planning to open two stores in Hangzhou and Shanghai later this year.
To be continued…
Fortune just released the results of a study evaluating worldwide e-business companies with the fastest growth. The study was lead on more than hundred companies to rank the ones with the fastest growth
Ranked next to famous companies like Google (#10), Amazon (#8) and Apple (#7), we find 3 Chinese companies out of 10, not really a shocker when we look at the online population growth in China which basically doubled in the last 2 years to reach 338 millions users this year.
So who are the winners?
Ctrip.com, the number one online travel service provider, is ranked number 6 with an increase of its turnover of 26% in 2009 second quarter only. On the 3rd position, Shanda is the first local player for online multi-players gaming. The group claims 6 millions of active paying accounts. Number 2 : Sohu, also ranked #3 in “Fortune 100″. The groups controls portal Sohu.com, search engine Sogou.com and social network Chinaren.com and its 77 millions members.
Worth to mention is ranked #9 based in Taiwan Gigamedia, one of the leading player worldwide for online gaming.
#1 is Blackberry fabricant Canadian Research in motion with an impressive 11 billions turnover on its last 4 quarters despite the Iphone success.
Guess where are we heading now?
Sources Fortune, CNNIC In French JournalduNet
Yes please
The coming of World Expo in Shanghai is not only bringing joys such as the multiplication of construction sites. It is also a time where the government takes serious decisions : lately, Chinese authorities decided to kill Chinglish. For those who don’t know what that is, well the answer is in the name itself : Chinglish = Chinese + English, a mysterious mixed child that was born in China with the apparition of English names in an attempt to translate signalization and restaurant menus. So, is Chinglish really threatened?
I do not fear for its death, because this beautiful and unique “english words meet chinese grammar” phenomenon could not be cleaned out even if every single misspelled roadsigns were to be replaced – which would take a long time and be very expensive too.Who would do it anyway and how?
Even if it was to disappear off the streets of China it has a already a virtual life of its own, 8000+ members group on Facebook, thousands of pictures witnessing its existence on Flickr and now a real buzz on the net.
Why is Chinglish so popular? Well, maybe because we all make mistakes and there is something incredibly cute in this awkwardness. It is not about mockery even though there must be something satisfying as a Foreigner living in China to face the reversed situation : being able to spot incorrect spelling in a country where you are reminded constantly how far you from speaking correctly Chinese. People who really speak Chinese dedicated a LOT of time to learn it and know what I’m talking about.
As for myself, Chinglish really makes me smile, often when least expected. Lately, in a very stressful situation in which I was inquiring if my last love-at-the-first-sight-dress was ready to be picked up at my favorite shop, I received a text message from the store owner “No porbom”.
Who can make you smile and laugh like that everyday ?
"Objectifying Men" © Kristina Sinutko
Recently I was talking with a man friend and he caught me by surprise when he said :
“You are advantaged as a woman because it is so much easier for you to make contacts”
Really?
I do admit being a woman helps me in some situations, generally involving a door opening or a drink offering (ain’t it appeasing?). Also, I have less dinner expenses than other male colleagues because men tend to take charge - this should be interesting for companies : when you think about it, hiring women will lower your expenses..Ok, let’s be serious.
Even in our westernized work environment, being a woman is not easy. A woman has to win professionnal respect through a long, long way full of obstacles especially in the early stages of her career. She has to be careful about what she wears, how she talks, how she reacts to sexist comments/jokes without appearing like an uptight feminist. She has to be in control without looking like a Russian soldier. If she’s decent, she has to be smart enough to politely reject powerful jerks without compromising her career.
In this game, a woman has to master skills a man will never have to.
So please Gentlemen, try to treat a woman with the same esteem you’d give if she was a man – but keep on opening doors.
Ladies, any comments?
This morning checking my emails :
“Hi,
I was glad to meet you yesterday at the Web event. I hope to see you again next time. I would like you to invite you to join my Linkedin network.”
What a nice message, so polite and all. Except that I changed my plans that night – how unpredictable of me, and didn’t go to that event, therefore never met that guy. So I thought :
- My identity was usurpated by someone networking in my back and using my personal email address.
- The guy has a networking disorder. Symptoms show a compulsive tendancy to copy-paste similar messages and send to mailing lists of participants to an event.
Man, I feel sorry for you. Next time make sure you actually met the person.
PS I haven’t replied yet, should I?
The other day I was in a meeting with someone who was supposed to sell me the services of his – quite – important company.
Shortly after it started, I felt like being on a bad date : stuck with someone who doesn’t know me and keeps talking about himself. At some point, I was nodding without listening and thinking “Can’t he tell I am bored out of my mind?”
After being forced to look at the complete company portfolio, I had ten minutes left and very little patience to hear more. I just cut it off and thanked the guy politely. I don’t think I’ll ever buy anything from him.
So I figured it can’t hurt to remind a few tips for client meetings
- Do your homeworks : get information about the brand/company you expect to sell to
- Tell a story. People engage to stories and to other people. Not to powerpoints with no soul.
- Keep the introduction of your company short.
- Listen and ask questions. Be curious and customer-oriented.
- Pick up and introduce case studies. We, clients, care about measuring actions.
- Be ready to provide accurate answers to questions.Know your business.
- Don’t assume the person you’re talking to knows less than you do.
- Be aware of the fact you are not the only one in competition.
- Don’t try too hard. It’s just a turn-off.
Otherwise, you’d be ruled out just like in the dating game : “Next!”
