``Attack 1.3 Billion Chinese Market With Differentiated Marketing``

As the competition around the Chinese market becomes intense, the major business groups start to attack China with `the differentiated marketing strategy` which makes the use of the idiosyncratic Chinese market and the corporate culture. It is because that, in addition to the geographical advantage, those business groups felt keenly the necessities of maximizing their own merits and heightening the favors of the Chinese consumers in order to survive in the Chinese market which will became the arena between the world`s major business companies.

▼ Find the way with the localized marketing

The LG who have tried to attack the Chinese market with its all-out efforts in the group level is operating the local business following the `win-win principle` to `share the profits and to contribute the development of China`. Thus far, the LG has educated 1,750 Chinese technicians in Korea. And it has actively utilized the parts that have been produced within China so that the localization rate in China could pass beyond 80 percent.

The SK pledged `to make the best company in China by the Chinese`, and appointed the Chinese information technology expert as the representative of the local subsidiary in China. And within this year, it plans to exert the rotating system by which it selects the 50 superior Chinese workers in order for them to work in the major subsidiaries in Korea such as the SK Telecom in the same condition with the head company workers, and returns them to China.

▼ Increase the added value with the high-rank brand

The Samsung has concentrated its marketing strategy on drawing to the regular customers, the 60 million high-income earners who reach the five percent of total population. An official of the Samsung explained that ``the high class of China has the larger consumption scale than the total domestic market in Korea. The Samsung has attacked the wealthy classes by offering the products with the newest design in the consumer goods such as the electronics and the textiles, which are not able to be produced by the Chinese companies``.

The price of the Samsung`s mobile phone, `Anycall`, is $1,000 (about 8,000 yuan) which corresponds to the sum of six-month salaries. The `Galaxy`, the men`s suit of the Cheil Industries, also has gained the popularity.

▼ Make China the second domestic market

The Hyundai Kia Motors, who launched the head office in China last December, plans to attack the younger generation by producing the compact car, `Rio` from the second half of this year. And it will invest $300 million in order to increase the yearly production capacity from currently 25,000 units to 150,000 units.

The Posco declared the plan to strengthen the local business ability by reinvesting all the profits that have been earned in China.

The LG Electronics will increase the production scale of the Plazma Display Panel (PDP) TV and the Projection TV to 60,000 units a year. And the Samsung Electronics will build up the production line of the PDP TV in Tianjin plant at the beginning of next year.

Park Won-Jae parkwj@donga.com