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Dalziel and Pow is a well established, high profile retail design agency based in London, with a portfolio of client projects across the world. By 2007, the company had begun to explore the possibility of working in China and was considering opening an office there. Although Dalziel and Pow staff had started to visit China regularly, the group really needed a more detailed understanding of the structure of the Chinese retail market in order to make sound decisions and maximise its overseas investment. It needed information about key players and sectors, as well as a clearer idea of how and where its own design offer might make the most impact. To put such a well-informed entry strategy into place, Dalziel and Pow engaged Creative Connexions to carry out detailed market research, as well as provide strategic advice and deliver valuable local knowledge through its offices in Shanghai and Beijing.‘We wanted to set up an office in China, so we looked at Creative Connexions’ range of services to see what they could do for us,’ says Dalziel and Pow associate director for marketing David Wright. ‘We saw an opportunity for them to help with this by putting together market entry research and information on potential clients in what is a really vast place to approach otherwise.’
Over a six-week period in spring/summer 2008, Creative Connexions analysed 18 retail sectors across China, compiling information about each sector’s structure, key companies and important developments. The research also included an assessment of the top 20 cities in China, giving Dalziel and Pow information about the composition of their markets, as well as an analysis of the country’s top 200 retail companies. Undertaking such detailed and tailored research without Creative Connexions’ local knowledge would have taken Dalziel and Pow a great deal more time, also requiring the agency to commit its own staff to the project. ‘This research into a number of different retail sectors - what they would call ‘verticals’ in the US - told us what’s going on, who the key players are and all the important trends. They also helped by setting up speaking opportunities for Dalziel and Pow in China, which raised our profile there,’ adds Wright.
The final document produced by Creative Connexions helped Dalziel and Pow to understand what’s happening in the various Chinese retail segments specifically relevant to its business. Importantly, the agency was able to concentrate on running its existing office while this was report compiled, rather than travelling to and from China on research trips. Armed with the conclusions, recommendations and introductions delivered by the report, Dalziel and Pow’s business decisions became more rapid and well informed. In November 2008, the agency successfully opened its first overseas office in Shanghai. ‘Through our commissioned research with Creative Connexions, we gained a clear idea of the market scale and are building a structured approach accordingly,’ says Stephen Cowles, agency associate director and manager of the Shanghai office. Creative Connexions continues to advise Dalziel and Pow on an ad hoc basis, setting up introductions with potential clients and highlighting opportunities that could raise the agency’s profile.
Creative Connexions business development manager Fei Dai explains how this type of research can help creative industries companies to make a strategically sound and faster entry into the Chinese or Indian markets. If you’re entering a new market you don’t want to spread yourself too thinly, so in the study for Dalziel and Pow our analysis of the 18 different retail sectors helped them to target their services more effectively. It’s also very important that designers have an understanding of the local issues facing their potential clients,’ she says. To capitalise on initial market entry research and strategy, Creative Connexions offers business development plan consultancy, as well as advice on building an agency’s brand in a foreign market. We can also provide ongoing introductions to contacts and businesses that are already looking to work with UK creative companies. Combined, these services lend our clients a competitive advantage when entering Indian or Chinese markets by delivering a sound and well-informed strategy for overseas expansion.