Beijing, June 6 – The Cheung Kong Open Lecture Series is hotting up this summer with a lecture on Asian Rivalry next Wednesday 11 June, by Bill Emmott. Formerly global editor of The Economist, Bill Emmott has spent the last two years exploring ‘the legacies of history, the likely future trajectories of China, Japan and India, and the potential collisions and intersections between them which will shape the twenty-first century,’ in his book, Rivals: How the power struggle between China, India and Japan will shape our next decade. The lecture on Wednesday is billed as Rivalry for Breakfast, an apt description of Mr Emmott’s first appointment on his Beijing speaking tour. Attendees from Indian, Japanese, Chinese and multinational companies will be treated to a Grand Hyatt continental breakfast in the 12th floor Oriental Plaza campus, allowing them time and space to network with peers while overlooking Beijing’s trading district.
The Brand Essence of Starbucks
Marketing Professor Zhao Hao told potential MBA students on Saturday 26 May that despite coffee not appealing to Chinese tastes, Starbucks is a great success in China’s flourishing cities. Commenting on the branding success of a company that opens stores in places such as the Louvre and the Forbidden City, Professor Zhao made it clear that Starbucks appeals to the Chinese for its environment and not for its coffee. Coffee, eternally linked with bitterness in the Chinese mind, is unlikely to replace tea as drink of choice for 1.3 billion people, he said, despite being watered down for Chinese drinkers. The essence of the Starbucks brand is individuality, sophistication and worldliness, aspects missing in many local venues. The question remains, will Starbucks cafes, with alternative music and high quality service, be able to stay in the game long enough for Chinese consumers to catch the global coffee habit?
Tibetan controversy
Last Wednesday, Professor Tu Weiming told the 70 strong breakfast lecture audience that China is searching for a cultural identity not super-imposed by a ‘culture-blind’ government, but generated from multiple Chinese cultural spheres. Tu Weiming explored three spheres – core Chinese society, Chinese communities worldwide, and foreigners who interact with China. He noted that the Chinese value their long history, yet have an active forgetfulness when it comes to modern times. As a result, much cultural momentum now comes from peripheral cultural China. Crises such as the recent Tibetan protest caught out the Chinese establishment, but would not have done had China been more attuned to the whole Chinese cultural picture. Professor Tu is head of the Cheung Kong Humanities Committee and Honorary Professor, teaching EMBA students the values they need to take their companies to the top of global brand rankings.