Gentlemen Marketing Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cardo Systems is the world’s market leader in Bluetooth, DMC, and entertainment systems for motorcycle riders. I'm the company's head of Digital Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We needed a professional team to help us run our DIgital efforts in the Chinese market.

What were your goals for this project?

Succeeding in penetrating the Chinese market and establish an online presence.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had a few meetings, both on and offline. We saw their experience, passion, and plans and we were happy to move on.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Website maintenance, Social media management, Influencers, and KOL management.

What was the team composition?

We are working with a dedicated team that is there for us and making sure that everything is running smoothly

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

So far, it seems like our brand is getting stronger in the Chinese market, so we are pleased.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective, we are pleased.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was very impressed that even though there are cultural differences they get us. They understand us, our KPIs, and our brand's tone of voice.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Maybe have a monthly meeting and a report, but this is something that they will happy to do if we'll ask them to.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am China Brand manager for the No.1 vegetable oil and condiment brand of a food production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

• Social marketing development through the platforms as Wechat, Weibo, different website to increase the brand reputation and awareness in China.
• KOL communication
• Cross digital marketing with other brands
• brand reputation monitor

What were your goals for this project?

• to increase the reputation and awareness of brand on social media through Weibo and Wechat's posts.
• more interactivities with followers and consumers to present or have a shoot on our products, more royalty projects offered to consumers
• The numbers of followers should be kept to increase in monthly

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

our requirements to select a vendor:

• Located in local as Shanghai,China
• The vendor should already working with western food brand, especially the French cuisine and also Chinese.
• many years experiences on social media marketing in China with professional skills in this domain
• Easy to communicate, pay attention on details, active and creative
• Care of actual news in daily
• Medium size

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

• Help to manage the brand owner's social media account as Weibo & Wechat
• Create communication plan in monthly with qualitative posts
• KOL communication plan
• Special events & Digital PR events
• Digital live projects linked with E-commerce platforms
• Brand marketing monitor

What was the team composition?

1 managers + 1 team leader + 1 operator

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The numbers of followers kept to increase 10% in Weibo and 6% in Wechat every month from Jannuary 2019. Easier to find our brand and products through searching engines. Through some KOL or live digital events, the sales increased at leat 50% for each session.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I worked with GMA team as we are the colleagues of 1 company, the communication is very easy and effective no matter through bu phone or communication APP or the meeting face to face (as we are in same cities). Furthermore, The english or Chinese are both ok for GMA agency.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

• GMA team is very professional on social media development
• super active on communication with brand owner
• creative on design, copywriter in local language
• They carefully listen to the brand owner and help find solutions in accordance with the client's requirements.

Are there any areas for improvement?

• GMA is very creative but I thinks that could be more and more creative on communication development according fast changing rhythm of social media
• add more technics into post to increase the interactivity with followers.
• respect of timing

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a commercial director for a Louise Misha. We're a French company that sells children and women’s clothing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We wanted to grow our market presence in China. Our goal was to develop brand awareness in China and therefore increase our number of distributors. We needed to be active on local social media channels in the country to get more Chinese distributors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gentlemen Marketing Agency created accounts for our brand including Weibo and Little Red Book accounts. They run those social media channels, but we decide what to post. Their team created an official WeChat group and works to find matching KOLs (key opinion leaders) for our brand.

What is the team composition?

We have one contact in France, but our day-to-day contact is with one person in China.

How did you come to work with Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

A colleague recommended Gentlemen Marketing Agency. They happened to be where wanted to be in the Chinese market.

How much have you invested with them?

We pay a monthly fee of €1,500 (approximately $1,600 USD). When we put together our WeChat group, it cost €800 (approximately $870 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2019 and our engagement's ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Since we opened those social media channels, we received an increase in demand by retailers. More shops want to distribute our brand. The size of the social media community’s growing. There are a lot of comments about our brand and retailers tell us that their customers want them to sell our brand, which didn’t happen before. This is what we wanted, so we’re happy with the results.

How did Gentlemen Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We send a few emails per week. They’re in contact with either myself or our marketing manager. We establish a plan of posts per month and communicate about content. Their team works on the content and gives us a proposal that we either approve or change.  They’re flexible, which is good for us because we’re not a big company.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re reactive. The person dedicated to our account understood who we are straight away. Their proposals are completely relevant to our brand and how we want to communicate. That makes the engagement easy.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go for it. We recommended them to a few brands that we know. It’s an investment but it’s mandatory to be successful in China.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time, I worked for a European company working in VR and AR. I took care of the Chinese brand initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We needed help with our China-focused marketing strategy and our WeChat campaign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed different kinds of campaign strategies. They informed us we needed a WeChat account to directly transmit information and create a community. The account would also allow us to talk to our clients directly. They gave us a basic WeChat account and then they gave us counseling on how to interact with Chinese customers.

Their team advised on how to present articles and videos. They helped us create content targeted for Chinese audiences.  

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Olivier (Founder, Gentlemen Marketing Agency) and one other member of Gentlemen Marketing Agency

How did you come to work with Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We found them online after doing some market research. After setting up a call, it was clear that they had worked in China for a long time. Olivier knew everything about digital issues regarding the Chinese market. I was impressed with their knowledge. Once they made an offer, we signed and started immediately.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested over €25,000 euros ($26,985 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

It started in September 2017 and ran to May 2018. The project ended when we were purchased by a larger company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Because emails and linking aren’t effective in China, the WeChat engagement was very successful, comparatively. We could directly engage with customers; the whole mission was a success.

How did Gentlemen Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were effective. The project was managed with chats and calls on WeChat. We set up calls and they gave us timetables with every action that we should take.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of how digital marketing works in the Chinese market was second to none. They were able to go into detail and refine the little things that could seriously impact the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing I could think of. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

For all foreign companies that come to China, this is the best agency that you can get. I would advise getting access to the Chinese market before launching anything. If you want to do advertising, make sure you know what you want and how you want to succeed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a conference manager at ANT Congres. We are a professional conference organizer and we facilitate about 20 per year around the world. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We wanted assistance with marketing and digital media for two conferences we were organizing in China. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Gentlemen Marketing Agency built and assisted with managing our WeChat account since many of our usual media platforms are not allowed in China. They helped with content and visibility by providing translation and linking with contacts. 

How did you come to work with Digital Marketing Agency? 

I found them through a basic Google search for marketing agencies in China. I was able to connect with them because the younger sister of the founder lives in France. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $6,500 on their services for two Chinese conferences. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in 2018 and we collaborated again in 2019. We can’t hold any events this year in China because of the novel coronavirus outbreak. However, we will resume our collaboration with them in the future. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We don’t have any specific metrics because we had never worked in China before our engagement with Gentlemen Marketing Agency, so there’s nothing to compare. However, I was happy with their services. They increased our visibility and were quick to respond to our questions. I felt like our customers were taken care of. 

How did Gentlemen Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We couldn’t use some of our preferred project management tools because they aren’t available in China. We mostly communicated with them directly through our WeChat account. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I was impressed by their friendliness and their fluency in both English and Mandarin. They were able to translate perfectly between the two languages. The team was readily available whenever we needed something. We were even able to visit their offices in Shanghai, and they were very hospitable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. Although, it would be nice if they were able to share analytics about engagement and activity on our WeChat account. 

Do you have advice for potential customers? 

Trust them because they know what they’re doing. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the international marketing manager of a medical practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gentleman Marketing Agency?

We needed help with our international digital strategy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us create WeChat accounts. Every month, we create two posts to feed the community on these accounts, and I create content with them. 

The medical segment is very tricky. I can’t give them all the keys to make everything on their own. So, I provide the content on my own, and they translate it and adapt it to the Chinese public. They add the design, the layouts, and everything we need to make it beautiful. They give me a lot of ideas when I don’t know what to say.

Also, I’ve received approval for a budget I made with them regarding the development of a communication strategy. They’re going to develop a website for China. I’ll head the project and tell them what to input and where we need to focus. Then, they’ll do PR for us when the website is done. We’ll also do the SEO campaign. 

What is the team composition?

I work with the key account manager, who is a really nice guy. I also work with the commercial director and the website developer.

How did you come to work with Gentleman Marketing Agency?

I made a very big benchmark at the beginning of the year. So, I called all the agencies in China to see what they could propose, how they would react to the project, how they would price it, and how they would follow-up.

I chose Gentleman Marketing Agency because their price was attractive, and I found them quickly because they had very good SEO. I was looking to see which company had the best SEO, and they placed in the first results every time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested 5,000 euros (approximately $5,400 USD) so far. The plan is to pay 24,000 euros (approximately $26,000) for the year.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve had 170 followers on WeChat since November. The clickthrough (CTR) rate is between 15-20%, which is good. (On WeChat, it’s very hard to have a good engagement rate because their users aren’t as active as us.) 

How did Gentleman Marketing Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good. In the beginning, we just needed to adapt to each other. I’m satisfied, and they reply very quickly. The account manager is like a friend now because we talk every day. He’s super available—he even answers on the weekend. He’s helped me out when I had doubts. To communicate, we speak on WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take a friendly approach. It allows us to communicate quickly and as needed. There’s transparency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them. I’m very satisfied. A lot of other agencies didn’t care about the project or gave me a very high price, unlike Gentleman Marketing Agency.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My previous company was a wine importer in Shanghai, China. It distributed wine into Chinese market through both online and off-line channels. My position there was the marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

It hired GMA for specifically for digital marketing purpose. GMA did SEO\Social Media Marketing\Online Event Creation and Management for us. The specific project we had with GMA were three, including broadcasting and boosting the sale of our monthly recommended wine, pushing our subscription and build our consumer database.

What were your goals for this project?

We looked at maintaining a high speed increase for our product sales as well as of our consumer base. In order to achieve so, we will need to clearly understand the needs of consumers in the Chinese market and push our most suitable to them.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were introduced by a friend. I then searched them on Google before I came back to Shanghai. By that time, I was working in Singapore.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

GMA did SEO\Social Media Marketing\Online Event Creation and Management for us. It has been a while so I couldn't recall each detail of their work. However, I remember they manage our baidu searches, Taobao comments and advertisement, and facebook reviews. They also talked online with our customers to collect their responses.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Olivier and Philip directly for most of the time. I also worked with they analysts sometimes when they have some instant response. I know they had a few digital designers as well back to that time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our specific brand name French Cellar Shanghai and Cellar Beauty Shanghai were shown ranked top 5 on Baidu when you search wine subscription or wine event in Shanghai in both English and Chinese.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Positively for most of the time. I was usually the one to connect with them. They are prompt in replying emails and effective in giving answers.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're sharp, fast-reacting, and they know good of what they are doing. Overall, they're a good value.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If they have more powerful off-line event organizing ability to underpin their strong online service, it will be more perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an international business consultant with deep understanding of the Chinese market. My clients are European business owners who wants to enter the Chinese market with strong positioning. We design the business plan with the clients and we choose who to work within the territory.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

Gentlemen Marketing Agency distinguished themself from other agencies for the professional approach and already established case histories. Not only we found a great marketing interface, but we were immersed by the knowledge of all the team. Over 30 people ready to support and develop the project.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to let Chinese consumers know about our client's product as the best Italian Red Wine in a very competitive field. The online campaign accompanied the offline wine tasting tour in different cities and the results were immediately seen with the consumers appreciating the product simply because of its elegance, taste and lifestyle approach. A luxury wine is difficult to sell when nobody knows about it. GMA helped us to spread the words.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

It was not an easy choice to select GMA at first, but all the available documentation online and guides and how-to posts let us immediately understand the high quality of the team. Direct interaction and personal relations then drove the decision to GMA.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

GMA took complete control of the digital presence online of the client and starting from Chinese web design, wechat official account, weibo, baidu positioning, newsletter, online reviews, etc. it was a well-coordinated job.

What was the team composition?

We have worked closely with the principle of the firm as well as the assigned project manager. She then directed all the related competence works to all teams accordingly. I can say it was great teamwork with superb direction.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project was a success: we were able to start from zero to hero! Once started there were difficulties to let consumer understand what the wine was about and we had difficulties to sell it for 150€/bottle (under cost).

After the campaign, the product was in high demand and the retail price on our WeChat Store for CrossBorder delivery was RMB4999= corresponding to €750/bottle.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was never a problem to understand where we were about with both directions and communication. It was a smooth process of intercultural business approach. Very nice and enriching at the same time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their flexibility and speed stood out.These are definitely two aspects of GMA that impressed me the most.

Also, the multicultural environment with employees from many different nationalities and cultures made the place very special and highly constructive,

Are there any areas for improvement?

Like always there are areas of improvement for anyone, but like I previously stated, GMA was the right partner at the right time with the right suggestions and correct price positioning. So far, Olivier and his partners are doing great and wish lot of business for them to come!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a manufacturer of sensors with several factories around the round including one in China. I'm the director of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We hired Gentlemen Marketing agency to appear on the first page on google and baidu rank in 3 different language with different keyword. The keywords choice was also analyzed and advised by GMA.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improved our ranking for the keyword that we selected and to appear on the first page for some keyword and on the top first for some others. The aim was to generate leads.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected then after comparing several offers, and selected them for their ability to understand our needs and our market.

Describe the project in detail.

We made several pre-meeting to understand clearly the lead. Then we had regularly report to see our ranking evolution and actions taken. Project ended when the goal was reach.

What was the team composition?

The team was composed by a project manager that that was our windows.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We are now ranking on rank first on several keyword and the lead generate by those actions were consequent.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team was very pleasant to work with.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their way of working closely together and their industry knowledge were very impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we were satisfied by the result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a luxury travel agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency?

We hire Gentlemen Marketing Agency to develop a leads generation strategy in China.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals was to improve our Brand awareness and receive leads from direct traffic in China.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Gentlemen Marketing Agency has been recommended to us by other actors of our market.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The scope of their work was to implement our SEO, SEM, SMA and E-reputation strategy.

What was the team composition?

A project manager was dedicated to our company and build weekly contacts with our Communication department. One of the managing partner usually give us his support during the monthly reports.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Gentlemen Marketing Agency team did an extraordinary job by managing to rank our website on the top pages the major part of our targeted keywords. Thanks to it, a large amount of accurate traffic is guaranteed to be imported into our website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

From the start, GMA were extremely responsive to our needs. I was very impressed with their service levels during and post-project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

GMA took the challenge and outperformed. They will always go the extra mile for their clients. I would greatly recommend GMA to anyone looking for a long term digital partner in China.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We always would prefer to get even faster results, but targeting fast growth is also a matter of budget.