Today, the Global Internet Companies that have managed to prosper in China are counted. The Google search engine and other American giant products ceased to be available in this Asian market more than a decade in the midst of controversies on content censorship. Something similar happened with platforms such as Facebook, X (Twitter) and Amazon. However, Imbi has managed to make their way where many others have fail.
It is an Indian company that operates at both ends of the advertising ecosystem. Advertising agencies and brands go to it so that their ads reach mobile devices users. The developers, on the other hand, monetize their applications and games facilitating the integration of advertisements managed by Inmobi, which also collects data to perfect their products.
How to conquer the second largest mobile advertising market in the world
Founded in 2007 in Bangalore, from the beginning it aimed to go beyond their country of origin because much of the Indians still used basic mobile devices. The main markets of their business niche were in United States and Chinascenario that has not changed much since then. So he decided to first bet on the North American country and then for Asian.
After obtaining millions of dollars of financing backed by SoftBank, Inmobi decided to enter directly into the second largest advertising market in the world in 2012. The Indian company not only aimed to offer advertising services for local clients, but also to become Bridge for American customers who were looking to have a presence in China.
The company collected it in a study published a year after its arrival in the market. Understand the Cultural characteristics of China And the specific reasons that promoted user behavior was key to the business. Immobi grew sustainably over the years until reaching the profitability of its global business in 2017. When it reached that milestone, its income in China had grown 15 times during the previous three years.
Immobi soon became the largest independent mobile advertising platform. In 2017, the advertising network of this firm reached between 80% and 90% of Chinese smartphones. The service offer allowed customers to advertise more than 37,000 applications, reaching some of the most famous in the country.
According to Jessie Yang, general director of Imobi China, many foreign actors failed in the Chinese market because They did not act as quickly to adapt. On the contrary, his company outlined a plan according to the needs of the Asian market and did not hesitate to be completely flexible to adjust it along the way. One of the phrases that your press releases usually accompany is “think from the user’s point of view.”
Imobi’s philosophy repeats: “Think from the user’s point of view.”
Imobi’s success in China has resulted in numerous analysis of the keys to her achievement. Some of them rescue very interesting elements. For example, that the company was able to understand the Chinese market. To achieve this, he hired local staff, including Jessie Yang, who had worked on a reputed consultant.
He also thoroughly studied the Chinese market, identifying trends and trying to be one step ahead. At first he took advantage of his presence in other countries such as the United States to work together with Chinese giants like TencentWechat creators, to get customers in international markets.
Last but not least, he cultivated local partners. China has very strict rules for foreign companies who want to operate within its borders. But tell Blizzard and his tense relationship with Netease. Immobi worked to have good synergy with local firms such as Fugmobile. Once his reputation was consolidated, Inmobi began working with large US companies such as Microsoft.
Why other foreign companies have failed in China
After knowing immobi’s achievement in China, the question arises from why other foreign companies They have not had the same fortune. Some of the reasons have been evidenced in the previous paragraphs, but let’s deepen a little more in this aspect taking into account the very interesting analysis that the former Silicon Valley Bank, Ken Wilcox, did a while ago.
Lying to the Chinese market without a local partner is practically a vacuum leap. No matter how big the corporation dares to such a feat, the most common is to choose to set up a joint business. And it is precisely here where the first great challenge appears. Companies usually have different end objectives, which ends up generating conflicts and, in many cases, failure.
Another great challenge is the cultural barrier, and especially The concept of “Guanxi”. This system, based on building personal relationships through trust and mutual obligations, is key in Chinese businesses. For foreign companies that do not dominate this dynamic, moving in that field is complicated, especially when some practices may seem directly inappropriate from the western prism.
The Chinese regulatory environment is usually another problem, and one of the main reasons why foreign companies need local partners. It depends on the type of business, but companies usually need a variety of licenses to operate, and must also submit periodic reports to regulators, adding an additional operational load.
Finally, companies must live with the constant presence of the Chinese Communist Partywhich has considerable control of the businesses that are carried out in the country. Wilcox explains that Western companies are not usually accustomed to this type of dynamics.
Images | Immobi | David Veksler | Alejandro Luengo | Haziidozen
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