Dalong: Subverting China's PR Industry

A Swede, but he speaks a little Beijing-style Mandarin; a Swede, but has a Chinese nickname - "Dragon"; a calm-looking Swede, but loves manic heavy metal music , This person full of contradictions is Bai Shihua, the general manager of Yiwei Public Relations Company, who is quite famous in China's public relations industry and has more than a dozen world-renowned multinational corporate clients.

This Swede who combines East and West, whose real name is Johan Bjorksten, translates into Chinese as the stone in the birch forest, so his Chinese name is Bai Shihua. But everyone called him "Dragon." "It was given to me by a tour guide when I first traveled to China because I belonged to the dragon."

What is real PR?

Easy Public Relations provides a series of services such as public relations strategy and analysis, crisis management, media relations and event management for many Fortune 500 companies. Long-term clients include Electrolux, IKEA, Absolut Vodka, Sony, Saab, Porsche, etc. Famous brand, market competitiveness is evident.

"This is because my PR agency has a clear positioning." Dalong said. Four years ago, Dalong interviewed more than 70 PR managers of the Fortune Global 500 about the types of PR companies. Most of these interviewees only divided PR companies into two types: foreign and domestic. Foreign public relations companies charge high prices, are arrogant, but are professional and strategic; while domestic public relations companies do not have the concept of strategy, but they are fast and can quickly produce media results and have a good service attitude. Although each has its own characteristics, no public relations company has its own clear positioning.

“Positioning is very important for companies in any industry. Take a car, when it comes to safety, it is Volvo. When it comes to driving comfort, it is Mercedes-Benz. When it comes to sitting comfortably, it is BMW. Customers will choose according to their needs. Buying which brand of car, no positioning will only lead to price wars between enterprises."

Dalong positioned Yiwei's public relations company as "knowledge-oriented media relations". This position was decided after he interviewed many companies and media reporters. He once heard an IT company complain that their PR agency couldn't provide the services they wanted. Dalong is very strange, how can a professional doing public relations for IT companies fail? Enterprises say that their company is different from other IT companies, and each company has its own characteristics. Therefore, Dalong believes that public relations consultants should really understand the needs of customers they serve, and must know what business goals customers need to achieve, so that they can provide services. Maximum value-added services.

He has also contacted hundreds of reporters. The one that impressed him the most was a senior editor-in-chief who said that he did not like public relations companies, because public relations companies handed over clients' promotional manuscripts to the media, and charged a high handling fee in the middle. Public relations companies do not provide any value-added services at all, they are actually a special kind of advertising company. In this way, Dalong summed up the contradiction in the public relations market, that is, public relations companies neither really understand the needs and characteristics of enterprises, nor do they understand what the media really want to write. Therefore, Dalong positioned Yiwei PR as "knowledge-oriented communication, allowing the media to truly understand customers and be able to report in more depth."

"Communication (communication) is very important", Dalong believes What a public relations company needs to do is not simply to publish the company's information, "the most important thing is to make consumers believe that the company can fulfill their promises." Once, Yiwei Public Relations served an English training school, Dalong I found a very interesting phenomenon: they tell consumers about the advantages of schools, although everyone agrees, but they do not believe that schools can do it. "So, our most important job is to prove that the school can do it, and we must communicate." But for specific communication measures, which may involve commercial secrets, Dalong refused to disclose.

In order to get a solid understanding of the needs of clients and consumers, he also asked his PR consultants to intern at client companies that needed services. "Our consultants serving IKEA now have all been wearing the yellow uniforms of IKEA salesmen to sell things in the mall. After two weeks of sales, they are eligible to be IKEA consultants." Yiwei PR can have 60%- 80% of the growth rate, accurate positioning is indispensable.

Compete for talents, select customers

"We compete for talents, not customers." Dalong's perspective on China's public relations market seems to be closer to the essence. It is true that China's public relations market is still very young, many of which are immature and imperfect, but now it is developing at an annual growth rate of 30%, and public relations practitioners are in short supply. 10%-20% of the services the company can provide."

Dalong wants to emphasize the importance of talents. The business of a real public relations company should include event management, media relations, audience analysis, product planning, investor relations, and the enhancement and clarity of corporate image. interactive. Dalong believes that these jobs require considerable intellectual investment, and it is difficult to do without a sufficient number of excellent publicists.

Intense competition has made the competition for customers among peers intensified. But Dalong put forward the slogan of "Choose Customers". He believes that public relations is an emerging industry in China, and many concepts are still vague. Although Chinese entrepreneurs and marketing managers have a preliminary understanding of the role of advertising, they rarely understand the true meaning of a brand and do not know how to use it. More subtle ways to make the brand very strong.

Dalong believes that there is a misunderstanding in the minds of Chinese business operators: they believe that advertising investment and revenue are equal, equating 100 million worth of parts and 100 million worth of public relations services. In fact, the establishment of a brand requires a very complex process, which involves a series of links from the company's entire environment and information communication, sales force, products to media image, advertising (actually a very small part of public relations).

Therefore, Yiwei PR always chooses customers who understand brand value such as Porsche, Sony and IKEA. "They know how to add value to their brand, and we have a very deep understanding of consumers, media and the market where the client is, so we hit it off."

"Actually, clients should trust the PR firm they choose. It should be that the user does not doubt it, and the doubter does not need it." An idiom uttered from the mouth of a foreigner made the reporter stunned for a moment. "Companies should be sure that the public relations consultants they find are professional, skilled, and understand them, and then communicate the needs of the enterprise with the consultants well, so that everyone will cooperate well and the ability to add value will be strengthened." But He admits that this needs to be done when the corporate market is mature and experienced.

Business transformation of part-time DJs

Dalong showed his business acumen when he was 16 years old. He saw a business opportunity in his father's work where he needed to draw diagrams by hand when publishing scientific papers, and he signed up for a graphics company. "At that time, home computers were not yet popular, so I made more money than many adults at that time, which was very impressive for a high school student." In 1994, Dalong obtained a master's degree in chemistry from UPPSALA University in Sweden. The young man who had studied at Peking University for two years began to have the idea of starting a business in China.

In the beginning, he registered a company to import miniature golf equipment and took the "first step on the long march". Later, a friend from a radio station chatted with Dalong about Nordic music. The friend found that Dalong has a lot of research on music and speaks fluent Mandarin, so his friend took him to the music station to host a special Nordic music program, so this The young Swedish man worked part-time as a radio and TV host for 8 years.

Going from the media to the PR industry seems like a natural progression. "Maybe I was famous as a host, and some people came to me to introduce them to some people to do the opening ceremony or something. I thought this might be a business opportunity at the time." Later famous brands Electrolux and Omega watches Find Dalong and hope Dalong can help them with media relations. In this way, he began to devote himself to and operate public relations, consulting business.

Da Long said, "I like Chinese culture, especially food culture." The first time he came into contact with Chinese culture was when he was seven years old. His father took him to eat Chinese food. Dalong learned to use chopsticks and went to his classmates. This contact made Chinese culture like a huge magnet attract him firmly, and he would often go to museums and other places to see Chinese cultural relics, calligraphy and painting.

A few years ago, Dalong's father was in Estonia, his mother was in Australia, his eldest sister was in Switzerland, and his younger sister was in Scotland?? "Our family likes to go out and broaden our horizons." Dalong said. China's huge market prospects and rapidly developing economy are extremely attractive to entrepreneurs like him. "I have no hesitation in starting a business in China." Dalong is full of confidence in his choice.