In concert with renowned faculty and alumni, CKGSB hosted three branded sessions at one of Asia’s most influential forums, The Asian Leadership Conference, delivering insights on the O2O and media industries in China.
With the rise of internet and mobile technology in China, the O2O and media industries have become extremely hot in recent months. To fully explore the phenomenon, CKGSB hosted three exclusive sessions during the session track ‘Focus on China’ at The 7th Asian Leadership Conference (ALC) at The Shilla Hotel in Seoul on May 18th. More than 300 people participated, showing keen interest in the global thought leadership of CKGSB’s faculty and alumni.
The O2O market in China, the hottest issue, was covered in the very first CKGSB session, “Watch Out! Chinese O2O is Coming!”. With Professor Zhang Weining as moderator, Melissa Yang, Co-founder & CTO of Tujia.com, and Bob Cao, Chief Analyst of iResearch Consulting Group, discussed the socio-economic backdrop of the O2O business boom in China and suggested strategies for overseas service providers to enter the China market.
“Chinese enterprises’ businesses have become good examples for global companies, since they have moved from ‘C2C’ (Copy to China) to ‘CFC’ (Copy from China). The services industry in China has lagged far behind its demand and, given the high willingness to pay, that gap has triggered growth in the O2O industry. In others words, O2O has fulfilled the ‘pain point’ of customers.”
-Bob Cao, Chief Analyst of iResearch Consulting Group
”Translating your business to other country isn’t just about localization. You have to understand the cultural differences in the target markets.”
-Melissa Yang, Co-founder & CTO of Tujia.com
Melissa Yang also highlighted the ‘autonomous’ aspect of controlling regional branches of multinational corporations in order to maintain an immediate and flexible response to market changes. She shared her experience and secrets for building successful startups through her own presentation “How to startup”, as described further in this interview conducted by The Chosun Ilbo.
CKGSB alumni Chen Hang (a member of CKGSB 9th CEO Class), CEO of China Culture Industrial Investment Fund Management Co., delivered the keynote speech in the “Killer Content in the Chinese Internet Space” session. He mentioned that the combination of China’s internet technology and film industries has resulted in both the higher quality and quantity of media content and the distribution channels are getting more advanced with SNS. Integrated channels and production tie-ins are other key changes, he noted.
Allen Zhu (an alumnus of CKGSB’s EMBA 25th intake), Vice President of Heyi Group & CEO of Heyi Film, and Chen Zhixi, Producer & President of Ruyi Films, shared their experiences and knowledge about the content industry in the last session “Chollywood over Hollywood?”, for which CKGSB Professor Zhang Weining served as moderator. Regarding the cooperation between Korea and China, the two panelists commonly emphasized “empathy” as a key feature of success.
“We are contacting major Korean film companies such as CJ and Lotte. Korean movies should have localized plotlines that Chinese consumers can fully empathize with.”
– Allen Zhu, Vice President of Heyi Group & CEO of Heyi Film
”Chinese investors must understand the quality of movie production before they invest.”
– Chen Zhixi, Producer & President of Ruyi Films
The session was recorded in a video clip and shared on You Tube as well as the online platform of The Chosun Ilbo.
CKGSB has attended the ALC for four consecutive years, sharing knowledge about China and global issues as an official knowledge partner, thanks to years of close cooperation and communication with the Chosun Media Group. CKGSB is the first global business school to partner with the ALC and the first company or school ever to brand a session at the conference.
Numerous global leaders such as George W. Bush, former President of the United States, Gerhard Schroeder, former Chancellor of Germany, and Yang Lan, Co-founder & Chairperson of the Sun Media Group came together for the 7th ALC. More than 2,000 people from all around the world, including C-level and senior executives from industrial and financial companies, senior government leaders and officials, scholars and students took part.
For further information about the ALC, please click here.
