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Magazine: A Strategic Component of Serving Clients

In 1971, Asian Sources published its first comprehensive trade magazine, Asian Sources. At that time, the global electronic industry trade pattern was already taking shape. Japanese companies that were the first to successfully develop and export electronic products are relocating factories to lower-cost countries such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. However, as products enter new markets, it is difficult for buyers to quickly identify suppliers and supply trends. This information vacuum will be filled by new Asian Sources publications.

This suggests that the Asian resource team should dig deeper into specific "vertical" product markets and take the path of specialization. At the end of 1973, the company launched its first professional magazine, Asian Sources Electronics. However, the magazine was not an immediate success, with an estimated 100 pages of paid ads per month to break even, but the first issue had only 16.5 pages of ads. Nonetheless, Asian Sources Electronics' long-term goals remain unaffected. The company team saw market needs, cultivated specialized markets, and convinced buyers and suppliers of the enormous potential that the magazine held.

After a prolonged economic downturn caused by the oil crisis of the early 1870s, the electronics industry saw a recovery in 1974. Asian Sources Electronics, a reputable reference source for the electronics import and export industry, has also ushered in an opportunity to grow. In June 1977, the magazine took on the enviable challenge of producing a 420-page magazine, the largest in the company's history at this stage.

Later, Asian Sources spawned Asian Sources Electronic Components, a fast-growing magazine that eventually exceeded 700 pages. Another spin-off, Asian Sources Computer Products, subsequently reached 850 pages.

The success of each spin-off depends on a natural transition from parent to child, as well as product category segmentation based on buyer demand patterns. New professional magazines only need to select a group of readers and advertisers from their parent magazines to have a foundation for growth and development. The development path of Asia Resources Professional Trade Journal is getting smoother and smoother.

In 1993, the company launched regional editions for its main trade magazines, which can be customized for different language editions and cannot be targeted for promotion and marketing for specific overseas regions. The selection of different editorial content for different editions also makes the magazine more professional and diversified, which conforms to the industry trend of increasingly diversified buyers.

As of January 2010, Global Sources has published 14 professional trade magazines. Sarah Benecke, former CEO emeritus, once said: "We have a long-term plan. For example, "International Electronic Business" has not been profitable for five years, and "Electronic Engineering Album" has taken some time to become profitable, but we continue to invest in these publications, because every publication of a company is a strategic component of customer service.”

Websites: A Cheaper Access to Information

The rapid development of the Internet in the 1990s caused the industry to pay attention to how the Internet can be used in Business-to-person (B2C) business areas.

By the mid-1990s, the company's sales force in mainland China had laid a solid foundation. While not every new magazine launch is a success, the business of eight major trade magazines continues to grow. At this time the company decided to enter the field of network services.

After careful preparation, Asian Sources launched the Asian Sources website in 1996 as a complement and complement to the trade magazine. Since then, the Asian Sources website has continued to grow, and in 1999 it was renamed the Global Sources website. Their goal is to make it a hub for Asian trade. Asian Sources has actually created a new model of trade promotion that exposes Asian exporters and their products to international buyers via the Internet.

The creation of this new trade promotion model involved the hard work and hard work of the entire team. "It was no less than a drop," recalls Bernie Holmbraker, who was in charge of the South China business at the time. "We've been working hard for three years to get everyone familiar with the magazine sales business; the launch of the website forced each of us to Not learning new things from scratch”

The company trained team members on the website business as much as the original magazine sales training. In addition, the company faces more challenges. Fraudulent internet companies have emerged, trying to sell their websites to unwitting businesses. This makes it difficult for factory managers to distinguish between good and bad. The company also faced other problems, such as how to get people online.

Mark Saunderson, president of the electronics business unit, recalls the early days of the Internet: "A lot of times we helped customers buy and install computers, and then taught them how to get online. Some customers advertised and told us: 'We don't get any inquiries! ' We would ask: ''Have you checked your e-mail?' We had to teach our customers how to check e-mail."

Unlike Hong Kong and Taiwan, Internet access in mainland China was completely controlled by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications at that time. . The speed of Internet access depends on relevant policies and the charging standards of various post and telecommunications offices.

To solve this problem, the company's account executive tried to work with the local post and telecommunications offices. Bernie recalls: "Generally, we will provide the customer with the application form of the post and telecommunications bureau, help them fill in the form and go through the relevant procedures, so as to obtain an Internet account."

After the customer obtains the Internet account, the salesperson will immediately assist the customer. They install software. The company also invites customers to attend training sessions that teach them how to use the browser and how to respond to buyer inquiries. This is a full service.

Bernie takes pride in recalling those years: "I think we made an important contribution to the internationalization of many companies, especially those in small and medium-sized cities. Without our Help, they may have to wait years before they can create a marketing channel to enter the international market."

One of the key elements of the website is the value-added service Product Alert. The service notifies buyers via email whenever a new product is posted on the page. Buyers will only receive updates on the product categories they have indicated interest in. The system will also forward new product categories to buyers at the first time according to the product categories that buyers are interested in. This concept seems very common now, but it was a very innovative service at the time.

Once the Asian Sources website went live, the website's development team began working on ways to take the process to the next level and strengthen the connection and communication between the buyer and supplier community.

In the beginning, each supplier posted information on the website in a basically similar form, with nothing more than a brief introduction to the company profile, business content and products. When some suppliers expressed their desire to have more information on the website, Asian Resources responded immediately by launching the Gold Website.

In this important and enhanced service, new information on company production capacity, quality control procedures, a list of trade shows the company has attended, and company management and philosophy has been added. Before long, buyers will be able to request samples from suppliers via the website at the click of a button.

The Global Sources website is equipped with a powerful search engine and as of May 2010 contained nearly 4.5 million products. Every month, more than 888,000 buyers log on the Global Sources website to search for the products they need. Global Sources' research team pays close attention to the online trading market, understands market dynamics, collects information and analyzes market conditions, so that our clients can benefit a lot.

Exhibition: Tailored Sourcing Services

From its inception, Global Sources has maintained good relationships with major retailers around the world. These relationships deepened in the 1990s as the company moved into areas such as trading software and "dedicated buyer directories." Global Sources' partnership with the Worldwide Retail Exchange and Agentrics brings more major retailers into the community. At the beginning of the new millennium, many large retailers also began to subscribe to the China Sourcing Information Report. Global Sources saw a big opportunity.

In 2004, after some testing, Global Sources launched a series of innovative special sourcing events for some of the world's largest retailers. Brent Barnes, general manager of content and community, who has been managing the special sourcing campaign since 2005, said: "We reached out to 60 major retailers in Hong Kong and Shanghai. At the time, nobody in Asia had this service, so selling the program was a real deal. It's easy. We discuss product purchasing needs with the buyer's designated purchasing manager, and then provide the introduction materials of advertisers who meet their requirements. Then the buyer will select the supplier he wants to meet, and we will arrange it in the most reasonable place One-on-one negotiation, usually in China."

At first, there were concerns about Global Sources' ability to find suitable suppliers for the specific needs of buyers. But buyers who have used the service are generally satisfied. Each buyer representative can meet approximately 4 to 6 pre-screened suppliers per day. "Usually after the event buyers find at least one new partner," said Brent.

The project has grown rapidly. By 2009, the company arranged more than 2,000 face-to-face meetings with the world's largest retailers and select suppliers each year. The total annual sales of participating buyers exceeds $1 trillion, a number that far exceeds the size of many countries' economies.

Brent added: "Our success is in the attention to detail, making sure buyers have read the vendor presentations and selecting their suppliers in advance; also making sure that the suppliers are well-prepared to provide samples and demo materials. , of course, first of all to confirm whether the supplier has the corresponding capabilities. Only our verified suppliers can participate in the event, which alone can filter out suppliers who do not take export business seriously or have inexperienced.”

Global Sources It's far ahead in sales, in part because the company has deep relationships with the world's largest buyers. For example, in 2010, the company launched an innovation for the users of the "Special Buyer Directory". Among the top 25 retailers in the world, 23 participated in the buyer's special purchasing meeting held by Global Sources. As a result, top buyers and high-quality suppliers Being able to come together and meet face to face in a private setting.