Q&A with Tom Fuller of SIS Market Research Asia

Thomas Fuller is the managing director for the Asia Pacific region at SIS International and the author of the new white paper put out by SIS, “Energy Consumption in the Developing World in 2030”. We asked him five questions about his work and how it led to the white paper—and what he thinks are the ramifications based on the data he presents.

Q. What are your credentials with regards to the subject matter of this white paper—energy use in the developing world?

A. I have written syndicated research reports on energy for BCC Research and served as Consumer Insights Manager at Sungevity, the California-based solar power company. I also have a long-running blog up called 3000 Quads (http://3000quads.com) that has focused on the issue of energy consumption for years.

Q. For those who don’t have time to read the white paper, what is the thumbnail description of what’s inside?

A. That the developing countries will consume more energy than most people have predicted and that this will have serious consequences—the worst being an increased use of coal because we didn’t anticipate energy demand rising so quickly.

Q. And how did you arrive at your conclusions?

A. By comparing energy, population and GDP statistics of large developing countries such as China and India with other countries that went through the same development cycle previously, such as Thailand. If China reaches the same level of GDP per person as Thailand has now in 2030, it’s logical to expect that the Chinese people will consume the same amount of energy per person at that time. But that is a lot more energy than people currently predict.

Q. Do you provide a prescription for avoiding massive increase in the use of coal by 2030?

A. Oh, yes. We should of course continue to help the technology curve bend prices down for solar and wind, but also uprate the turbines in hydroelectric facilities, make more use of combined heat and power plants, find safe sites and safe designs for nuclear power, and make judicious use of natural gas as a bridge between coal and nuclear in the medium term.

More information on Tom Fuller. 

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About SIS

SIS International Research, founded in 1984, is a global market research and corporate intelligence firm with offices worldwide.  The company specializes in fieldwork, data collection, consumer research, B2B, industrial, healthcare, automotive, and strategic intelligence.

Michael Stanat discusses "Meeting the Needs of a Rising Asia"

Michael Stanat, Global Research Executive at SIS International Market Research, discussed recently at the AIMRI conference in Barcelona regarding global growth about meeting the needs of a rising Asia.  In the presentation, Stanat discusses how major economic transformations are occurring and how Market Researchers can add value amidst these changes.  Other mentions include new technology trends, millennials and the luxury goods market.

See the presentation below for more details:

Implications of the K-Pop Invasion

It’s been almost 50-years since The Beatles led what was known as the British Invasion in pop music. American culture was transformed as a result and things have never been quite the same.

Now, enters the Korean Invasion, with artists such as 2NE1 and Girl’s Generation spearheading a revolutionary commercial breakthrough that has quickly evolved into a worldwide pop phenomenon.

Perhaps no single artist personifies the K-Pop Invasion as definitively as Psy, whose Gangnam Style became more than just a hit song and viral sensation – it became the first video to get over one-billion hits online and is the most ‘liked’ YouTube video in history!

The implications of the Korean pop sensation are many and are potentially lucrative. Stylish and not ashamed to mix commerce and art, Korean pop artists are readily accepting of commercial exploitation, seeing it as a way to be more visible and more accessible to the fans.

At the dawn of the millennium, Korea leaned on cultural exports to lift it from the economic doldrums reverberating through Asia. It appears to be working. Just as Japan scored successes with Hello Kitty and the popular acceptance of anime art, Korean pop has thrived, helping South Korea to post over 4-billion dollars in cultural exports in the past year.  

Aside from deft usage of social media platforms to reach audiences across the globe and an undeniably passionate and supportive fan-base, Korean pop artists are more comfortable with commercial associations and direct involvement in advertising than their sometimes art-conscious American peers. Selling-out is not a term that seems to apply here as much as cashing-in and using marketing and commercialism to maximize the potential for pop success.

This so-called Korean Invasion appears to be just the ‘tip-of-the-iceberg’ for a rapidly ascending Asian pop-culture market. The commercial potential of such a market can only be seen as astronomical. The emergence of Korean Pop and all that is to follow underscores the revolutionary nature of the internet, social media, and an increasingly diversified and cross-cultural artistic and commercial world.

Image Source:  http://www.viralblog.com/viral-social-videos/psy-gangnam-style-viral-culthit-of-2012/

Meeting the Needs of Growing Asia

Michael Stanat, Global Research Executive, will be speaking at the AIMRI Barcelona Conference "Getting Ahead in the Battle for Global Growth."  In the presentation, Stanat will speak about how business is changing and adapting to the global economy. 

Meeting the Needs of Growing Asia from sisinternationalresearch

Link: slidesha.re/WrxIgk

Creating a Global Brand for China

As China moves closer to becoming the world's top economic power in less than decade, its homegrown brands are also delivering an impressive performance in the global marketplace. In a 2011 BrandZ annual survey, 12 of the world's top 100 brands are China-based. These include China Mobile (which ranked ninth overall), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Baidu, and China Life Insurance.

Given the lingering consumer impression that Chinese-manufactured goods are substandard, the inclusion of Chinese brands (that now comprise more than 10 percent of the very elite) into BrandZ's listing is a solid break for entrepreneurs and thought leaders in China who wish to generate global respect for the competitiveness of Chinese brands. 

However, respect among global analysts is one thing. Global recognition--the kind that allows a farm hand in Tunisia to positively resonate with a Coca Cola billboard--is another.  In the listing of the world's 100 most valuable brands, there's a telling absence of Chinese trademarks.

Bloombers'g Businessweek partly posits that this as a predilection of well-capitalized Chinese companies towards the B2B market, resulting to less than sterling engagements with the consumer sector. This, plus the well-publicized product recalls involving consumer brands (toxic toys, foods, and personal care products) create a bottleneck that prevents the full acceptance of and admiration for Chinese brands among consumers around the world. A recent survey, in fact, indicated that close to 70% of respondents believe that the  "Made in China" label delivers a negative impact on brands.

Given this dilemma, how can China build strong global brands that command respect not only among industry insiders but also among the world's increasingly connected consumers? Clearly, smart and forward-looking businesses in China want to break free of the substandard stereotype and squarely compete--even outperform--their more entrenched competitors in terms of product quality and customer satisfaction. After all, not a few Chinese brands have already surpassed their Western counterparts in terms of performance, operational scale and revenues as indicated in the BrandZ survey.

Similar to many Taiwanese powerhouses such as HTC, Acer, and Asus, quite a number of performing companies in China have roots as cost-efficient OEM's contracted by big western brands. 

Fortunately, many Chinese companies have already breached this hurdle using remarkably astute branding tactics that may well work for the rest of the flock. Among the high premium Chinese brands that are making great strides in the global arena are Lenovo, Huawei, Metersbonwe, Chery and Haier.  These companies have already secured footholds in several countries and are in the process of building worldwide awareness for their brands' quality and reliability. 

Blog article - www.sismarketresearch.com