Document 6505080

A6
Business
June 3 – 9, 2010
The Epoch Times
Trade Imbalance: Western Companies
Losing Know-How to China
SOCIAL NEWS: A snapshot of the social media site Twitter taken earlier this year.
Consumers’ first source of news is often from a social media platform such as
Twitter. LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images
CHINA Continued from A1
Social Media and Consumers
By ADELE LASSERE
COMPETITOR: This picture taken last December in Marignane, France, shows the new helicopter EC175 of Eurocopter, a
subsidiary company of global aerospace and defense company EADS, manufactured in cooperation with Aviation Industry
Corp of China (AVIC). The aerospace industry has quickly grown in China and is no longer in its infancy, thanks to joint
ventures such as this one. ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images
United States in world markets.
He referred to Japan as an example. The Japanese used the same
techniques as the Chinese use
today, namely replication and reverse engineering. At the time, no
one would have believed the rise
of Japan in the world’s commercial
markets. Yet within a few years,
Japan became a major competitor,
and America lost much ground in
world markets.
Global companies claim that
China has a long way to go to be
able to compete effectively with
the United States. But according
to Herrnstadt, “Skeptics made the
same argument years ago with respect to Japan, only to see the ‘made
in Japan’ label become sought after
by consumers who believed it represented high quality, technologically
advanced goods.”
China the Competitor
China’s aviation manufacturing
industry has grown out of infancy.
As of today, there are 200 firms that
produce almost every part needed
in the production of aerospace products, including aircraft engines, aircraft bodies, and helicopters. Two of
China’s leading aerospace companies, China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I), and AVIC II,
together employ 491,000 people.
Companies forming joint ventures in China include Airbus,
Boeing, and Eurocopter. United
Airlines has contracted China to
perform maintenance for 52 of its
Boeing 777s and 24 of its B747 commercial aircrafts.
China subsidizes its aerospace
and civil aircraft industry, but the
extent is not known. In her testimony before the commission, Mary
Saunders, deputy assistant secretary for the Manufacturing International Trade Administration,
aired concerns about China’s connections between civil and military
Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years
experience, freelance writer and soon
to be published author of “Elements
of Buying: An Advertising Reference
Guide for Business Owners.” Contact:
lassere@bellsouth.net
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manufacturing firms and the lack
of transparency on the support of
such industries.
Herrnstadt quoted an Airbus representative as stating that the “A320
assembled in China unquestionably
demonstrated the same quality and
performance as those assembled
and delivered in Hamburg or Toulouse,” which shows clearly that
China’s aerospace industry is not
in its infancy, but has caught up
rather quickly to the West.
In 1985, a joint venture between
a Chinese company and McDonnell Douglas experienced “apparent lapses in the process, including the transfer of a commercial
machine tool technology to a Chinese firm by McDonnell Douglas
which was apparently diverted to a
Chinese plant that manufactures
military aircraft and cruise missile
components,” Herrnstadt quoted
the U.S. Government Accounting
Office.
Yep, there sure are a lot of social
media advertising choices out there.
So much so that it’s a wonder if anyone really uses these vehicles that
much.
Well, let’s set the record straight.
Consumers have embraced and in
many cases could be seen as obsessed with a variety of social media
platforms. They can’t live without
them! Consumers not only use Twitter and check Facebook regularly. In
many cases, they will use these platforms before going to bed or when
they first wake up.
Therefore, their first consumption of news is from a social platform. These consumers will also use
these social platforms many hours
throughout the day. This is especially true with those users under
25 years old. Additionally, if these
users own an iPhone, they have a
higher propensity to constantly engage these platforms from a variety
of locations traveled in the course of
their day. Remember that younger
users will always consume more of
such social platforms. These users
consider these platforms a part of
their lifestyle.
What about message interruption?
Well, believe it or not, younger social
platform users don’t mind a Tweet
or Facebook message interrupting
them during the course of a day. Of
course, older social platform users
do not quite have the same tolerance
level as their younger counterparts.
As for all forms of online advertising, social platforms offer an opportunity to have an extended dialogue
with consumers who can become
“brand ambassadors.” A “brand ambassador” makes recommendations,
validates, and in some cases can
nullify a product offering to their
friends and family.
This is what makes up the “viral”
effect of social platforms. Consider
your business offering and whom
you are targeting to determine if
this vehicle should be a part of your
marketing plan. Be mindful of the
age group because messages need
to be tailored to whom you are trying to speak. Remember that first
impressions are lasting. And, with
this platform, the word—good or
bad—can spread fast.
Alan Morgan
Closing Borders to Fair
and Equitable Trade
On one hand, China is actively
acquiring foreign companies and
technologies, while closing its own
markets from foreign competition.
But many multinational corporations are all too eager to outsource
technologies and production without realizing the long-term ramifications, according to testimony
before the recent U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Hearing.
“The outsourcing of aerospace and
related work to China poses a threat
to U.S. aerospace workers and the
U.S. industrial base,” said Owen E.
Herrnstadt, director of Trade and
Globalization International Association of Machinist and Aerospace
Workers, in his testimony.
Herrnstadt went on to say that not
only are jobs lost, skills in producing aerospace products will be lost,
and innovation will stagnate. The
transfer of technology will lead to
China developing its own aerospace
industry and competing against the
The Marketing Corner
C
Media reports claim that most
companies that experienced Chinese cyber attacks were in what
the Chinese consider “strategic
industries.”
The 2009 Report to Congress
quotes a May 2009 statement by
the office of the Director of National
Intelligence, “The Counterintelligence community considers the
People’s Republic of China to be
one of the most aggressive countries targeting U.S. military, political, and economic secrets as well
as sensitive U.S. trade secrets and
technologies.”
Stressing the severity of the problem, the statement continued, “For
a number of reasons, we believe
China poses a significantly greater
foreign intelligence threat today
than it did during most of the cold
war era.”
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