Timothee Semelin,

International Account manager for JCDecaux Airport Beijing. China specialist in the OOH media;

The owner and blogger of

http://lookoutchina.com

the 1st Blog in English dedicated to outdoor advertisement in Beijing and in China.

Tell in a few sentences about your company. Who are your clients, what is your mission, what problem do you resolve?

JCDecaux is one of the worlwide leader for outdoor advertising management (includes billboards, transportation medias, street furniture) and the leader in China. I personnally belong to the JCDecaux Airport Beijing team where I am International Account manager. My clients are international brands ( Banking, IT, Industries, Luxury) who wish to purchase airport media to target mid high end Chinese passengers with their ad.

On a daily basis, I prospect new clients, deal with existing clients for their new campaign needs. I also work with my team to make sure the censorship process, the production and maintenance of my clients campaign go perfectly.

I am also the owner and writer since January 2010 of Lookout China, the 1st blog about outdoor media in China: http://lookoutchina.com

Why does the business partnership with China is of interest to you (your company)? Is this interest to work with the Chinese business potential or real?

In the outdoor advertising sector, China is the world most dynamic market with still room to create new medias and also to implement new technologies so this is a very exciting market. The outdoor media market in China is more than real and still has a great potential. That’s why you may have seen on the US or HK markets in the last few years many Chinese media company go public because they need funds for tremendous expansions.

How special, according to your point of view, is the business with China (shipment of goods, logistics, quality control of the production etc)?

The outdoor media industry faces several challenges all along the process from the sales itself as marketing teams in China are not always familiar with the concepts of outdoor media and its values. We also face challenges in the production to the maintenance of the ads.

But I can say all of the above can be overcome by hard work and by having very detailed processes.

Personnally, i think the biggest issue for airport advertisement is the censroship process approval which is very heavy and that sometimes is hard to manage.

Business education, variable seminars, courses and trainings are extremely popular nowadays. To what extent the specificity of doing business with China should be studied by the managers?

Each sector has probably its own set of rules and practises so this might be learnt on the field upon arrival with your team.

But to prepare this, it is clear that it is mandatory for managers to have deep knowledge of the Chinese history (especially with your home country), Chinese economic situation, Chinese law regarding your sector of activity and so on.

Some «DOs» and «DONTs» need to be learn about how to act in a Chinese office and how to interact with your clients and colleagues.

And the cherry on the cake would be to know how to speak Chinese of course.

What do you think will help to minimize the various risks arising when doing business with the Chinese companies?

A thorough feasibility study is a MUST. How many companies have we seen coming to China and few years later packing up after having spent millions of USD.

Spend it on your study first, then start business if you have enough proofs in hand; many people say that China is so Big that you can start any business you want, it will grow by itself: very wrong assumption.

To make this feasibility study and to start a smooth project, ensure to involve China/Chinese experts in your field and work with them.

The CEO of the company and the majority of the managers do not possess the required amount of the special knowledge on this problem. How can they solve the problem of communication with the Chinese business?

Like I said previously, take the time to find whether a partner in China or hire some China experts to work on your project on your behalf.

And the last question. What would you like to tell to our audience?

China is and will be the place to be for companies for the next decade again but be well-prepared if you want to have a chance to survive here.

Study well your market, establish clear processes, hire local specialists and send the managers of your company who are the best to work in an uncertain environment and that are likely to bond with the local teams.

Good luck to you!!