'Challenge lies in meeting buyers' rising demand'

Business advisor James B. Heimowitz believes that through the Chinese Dream China can reinvent its global image. Wang Zhuangfei / For China Daily

James B. Heimowitz says the challenge for international brands in China will be to live up to the increasing demands of consumers, whether or not they are inspired by the Chinese Dream.

The former China chairman and CEO for Asia of public relations giant Hill & Knowlton, who handled the Beijing Olympics international media account, insists the Chinese market is no longer a pushover.

"The reality is that goods and services in China are going to have to live up to some pretty high expectations. The challenge is going to be how to deliver world-class products that are tailored to that desire," he says.

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The 52-year-old was speaking in a restaurant at Galleria Shopping Center, one of Beijing's shiny new temples to consumerism.

Even though it was a national holiday, hundreds of shoppers were window shopping or making purchases at the center's mainly upscale stores.

"I am not sure if the Chinese Dream is any different from any other human desire. I think those personal dreams are universal. What is becoming a reality is this ability to touch those dreams because Chinese people now have the wealth and income to realize their dreams," he says.

Heimowitz, who has recently launched New Frontier Advisors, a new consultancy next to the shopping center that will advise on all aspects of business, believes China does have a chance with the Chinese Dream concept to find a new form of self-expression.

"I think in a sense it is a pride as to where China has come from and where it wants to go. It is 5,000 years old and has a lot of history to draw upon to do this in a much more meaningful way than the American Dream. That is just 200 years old and is based to some extent on the rags to riches stories of the 19th-century writer Horatio Alger."

Heimowitz says the challenge in China is not just for international brands but for Chinese ones too.

"Western brands were originally so successful because they could deliver a level of assuredness of guaranteed quality. They are not having as easy a time of it now than they had 10 years ago. Chinese companies are increasingly delivering quality products, although they have perhaps yet to convert this to brand value on top of this."