We arrived in Shanghai late Saturday evening, and although tired from the long flight, everyone was eager to explore the night life! Shanghai is well-known for its high class bars, which are often located in major hotels so what better place to start than in our very own– the Radisson Hotel Shanghai New World - in The Sky Lounge Bar located on the hotel’s 47th floor. Here, the group gathered for ‘Welcome drinks’, with the buzzing city lights and surging skyscrapers in the background providing the perfect setting for getting to know each other. The group bonded well, and considering the diverse range of industries, companies and work and life experience among the group, it was a great opportunity to trade stories and prepare for the company visits in the weeks to come.
Sunday 24 August
As the group’s first free day, a series of Chinese cultural visits were planned. The first stop was a guided tour of the Jade Buddha Temple. The temple is home to two Jade Buddha statues, which were imported from Burma; a sitting Buddha and a smaller reclining Buddha that symbolises death. The peaceful atmosphere and beautiful gardens made it easy for us to forget the hustle and bustle of the world outside the walls. We then made our way to The Bund – Shanghai’s most popular tourist area. Here, we enjoyed beautiful waterfront views of Shanghai’s ‘New’ and ‘Old’ cities and its historical colonial buildings, while warding off the many locals selling fake designer products! The group then travelled to Yuyuan Gardens, located in the centre of Shanghai’s Old City. We spent the rest of the morning exploring the souvenir shops located in brightly coloured alleys and finally ended the early afternoon with a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. The remainder of the afternoon was spent in smaller groups exploring the retail offers along Nanjing Road and Plaza 66. In the evening, the group enjoyed our official Welcome Dinner at Crystal Jade Restaurant in the famous Xintiandi precinct, where we were presented with an endless banquet of unique and interesting local Chinese cuisine.
The Jade Buddha Temple
The Bund
Yuyuan Gardens
Yuyuan Gardens
Tea Ceremony
Welcome Dinner - Crystal Jade Restaurant
Welcome Dinner - Crystal Jade Restaurant
Welcome Dinner - Crystal Jade Restaurant
Welcome Dinner - Crystal Jade Restaurant
Monday 25 August
Upon our arrival to KPMG, we were met by Anson Bailey, KPMG Business Development Asia Pacific and Ainsley Mann, CEO of Coca Cola Bottling in Asia. The Chinese market has rapidly developed over the last 20 years, and through these market-specific presentations, we learnt the growth can be attributed to China’s outbound investment, the rise of Asian economies, China’s globalisation potential, private equity investment, and government regulations such as labour law reforms. From a marketing perspective, we learnt that the Chinese market is highly fragmented and, as a result, Coca Cola has adopted a localised marketing approach using different marketing strategies in each province as a means of targeting consumers. The biggest challenge with this approach lies with Coca Cola’s employee base; although the talent is available, employees are reluctant to make decisions and they have little loyalty to the company.
After our visit to KPMG, we made our way to B&Q, the UK’s leading DIY and garden centre retailer. B&Q offers 50,000 products across 15 categories and employs 10,000 staff in 27 cities. The presentation outlined B&Q’s marketing strategy in China, which aims to communicate ‘Every day low price’ to local customers and does so by operating on the basis of four marketing pillars: worry free, convenient, value for money, and new ideas. Interestingly, upon entering the Chinese market, B&Q had to adapt its proposition from “Do-it-Yourself” to “Do-it-for me”, which resonated with the home hardware, furnishing and gardening needs and preferences of the Chinese consumer. Advertising efforts account for 1 percent of total sales and predominantly include newspaper advertisements, magazines and catalogues. B&Q has established a team in China that is responsible for product sourcing as a means of ensuring a relevant and attractive product range, competitive prices and delivering the brand promise to consumers.
That evening, we enjoyed our final dinner in Shanghai at The Bund at the famous ‘M on the Bund’ restaurant, where we could see the entire city by night from the rooftop. The view was spectacular, with a rainbow of bright lights illuminating the Huangpu River and the New Shanghai City skyline.
KPMG Visit
B&Q Visit
B&Q Visit
Dinner - M on the Bund
Dinner - M on the Bund
Tuesday 26 August
This morning we made our way to the airport on the Maglev Train, where 30 km can be travelled in just 7 minutes and 20 seconds! Shanghai boasts the first commercial high speed maglev train line in the world, reaching speeds of up to 350 km/h within 2 minutes and a maximum normal operation speed of 431 km/h reached thereafter. The rest of the day was spent in transit to Dubai, which was one of the most anticipated cities of the tour given the majority of the group had not visited Dubai before. Upon arrival at the airport, we were greeted by our ground operator who took us straight to the Radisson SAS Deira Creek Hotel. As we made our way through Dubai to our hotel, it was evident why people portray Dubai to be the hidden city of tomorrow; the city boasts remarkable skyscrapers, while the planned construction and development are a sight to see!
