---
title: "Marketing Will Usher in a New 'Golden Decade'"
description: "This article, inspired by marketing expert Lu Changquan's piece on why marketing will embrace another golden decade, argues that China's first golden decade of marketing ran from around 2004 to 2013, driven by rapid demand growth. Now, a new golden decade is emerging, fueled by consumption upgrades, industrial restructuring, and internet-based marketing, with Chinese enterprises poised to benefit."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2017-02-24"
language: "en"
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# Marketing Will Usher in a New 'Golden Decade'

> This article, inspired by marketing expert Lu Changquan's piece on why marketing will embrace another golden decade, argues that China's first golden decade of marketing ran from around 2004 to 2013, driven by rapid demand growth. Now, a new golden decade is emerging, fueled by consumption upgrades, industrial restructuring, and internet-based marketing, with Chinese enterprises poised to benefit.

**Click the image for details**
The title of this article draws inspiration from an article titled "Why Marketing Will Embrace Another Golden Decade" on the WeChat public account of marketing expert Lu Changquan. I would like to express my gratitude here. However, the perspective of this article differs significantly from Mr. Lu's.
**Is There Really a 'Golden Decade'?**
Since we speak of another 'golden decade,' there must have been an old 'golden decade' before. Is that really the case? In any case, I agree with it.
Chinese marketing was enlightened only after the introduction of Western marketing. Many foreign theories were introduced, such as Kotler's "Marketing Management," which was regarded as a textbook by Chinese marketers. A marketing professor who was somewhat famous in the United States was treated as a 'marketing guru' in China, so much so that Kotler himself was surprised. This period cannot be called a 'golden decade'; it can only be called the period of marketing enlightenment.
Compared with the introduction of marketing theories, what was more important was the admiration for the marketing systems of multinational companies. In the face of the powerful systems of multinational companies, Chinese enterprises seemed powerless. Without self-confidence, how could there be a golden period?
**The 'golden decade' should be when China gained sufficient marketing confidence. My feeling is that it was around 2004.** Because at that time, I was working at "Sales and Marketing," and I felt it deeply. At that time, Professor Chen Chunhua wrote an important article titled "Channel-Driven Is More Important Than Brand-Driven." I believe this article should be regarded as the pioneering work of Chinese-style marketing. The book "Chinese-Style Marketing," which I co-authored with Mr. Jin Huanmin, is a summary of that era.
**The end of the 'golden decade' should be in 2013.** It was in this year that most Chinese industries reached their historical peak in sales volume, although there were still differences among industries. Another reason for taking 2013 as the end is that around 2012, China's e-commerce exploded, which also had a significant impact on traditional marketing.
**What were the achievements of the 'golden decade'?**
**First, from the results, Chinese enterprises truly stood up.** In almost all industries, the leading companies were local enterprises, or local enterprises had entered the forefront.
**Second, Chinese enterprises established marketing confidence.** Except for a few experts, the phenomenon of talking about multinational companies at every turn was no longer common.
**Third, consumers' collective worship of multinational brands gradually disappeared.**
In the thirty years of reform and opening up, the truly golden time for Chinese enterprises' marketing was only about ten years.
**The End of the 'Golden Decade'**
After 2014, Chinese enterprises once again lost confidence in marketing. The marketing systems they had been accustomed to no longer worked. I believe that the environment has undergone tremendous changes. More than ten years ago, I wrote an article titled "When the Environment Changes, Everything Must Change."
**First, sales volume hit a ceiling.** China's marketing system was built on the very special demand in China, which was the huge demand for 'dual-low products' (low quality, low price). There have always been many critics of the quality issues of Chinese enterprises, but before the quantity problem was truly solved, the quality problem was difficult to solve as a whole. In 2013, sales volume reached its historical peak.
**Second, industrial upgrading.** This includes not only the upgrading of demanded products but also the continuous rise in costs due to changes in the labor force.
**Finally, the impact of the internet.** The impact of the internet is not only reflected in e-commerce, but also in communication, and in the organizational methods of enterprises.
These variables could not be solved by the marketing system of the old 'golden decade.' It can be said that in recent years, Chinese enterprises have been in a state of confusion in marketing.
**Ushering in a New 'Golden Decade'**
**'Golden Decade,' where is the 'gold'?**
In the past 'golden decade,' the 'gold' was the rapidly growing consumer demand, the huge increment. Although the demand was somewhat low-end, the space for demand growth was enormous.
**In the new 'golden decade,' where is the 'new gold'?**
**I believe the 'new gold' is the huge energy generated in the process of mainstream shifting, structural adjustment, and industrial upgrading.** China has just seen the emergence of a middle class, and suddenly it has a population of several hundred million. How many developed Western countries have a total consumer population exceeding one hundred million?
If the past 'golden decade' was about satisfying quantity demand, the new 'golden decade' is about satisfying quality demand. Given the tiered nature of China's geography and consumer demand, there is a huge time period for consumption quality upgrading. At least until it is basically on par with developed countries, ten years is no problem.
In the past, consumption was quantity without quality, and the brand value it carried was naturally not high. The main reason for the low brand value of Chinese brands is not the enterprises, but the low level of consumer demand in China. It is hard to imagine a world-class brand emerging from low-level consumption. Of course, enterprises like Huawei, which focus on the international market, are exceptions.
**In the new 'golden decade,' as consumption upgrades, brands will also upgrade. China will see a batch of truly world-class brands.**
In the old 'golden decade,' they became big; in the new 'golden decade,' they will become strong.
**So, who can seize the new 'golden decade'? I believe it is still Chinese enterprises.**
First, Chinese enterprises have basically lost their original inferiority complex in front of multinational companies. Consumers have also gone from looking up to multinational brands, to looking at them on an equal footing, and gradually to looking down on them. That is to say, the gold of the new 'golden decade' may ultimately belong to Chinese enterprises.
Second, the marketing of the new 'golden decade' will definitely be internet-based marketing. In this regard, Chinese enterprises have already taken the lead in the world. China's internet has already surpassed the United States as a whole since 2013 (although not in all aspects), and the gap will continue to widen.
**Marketing in the New 'Golden Decade'**
Since the publication of "Chinese-Style Marketing" and similar works, I have not written any books. Occasionally, when I have thoughts, I publish them as articles on my WeChat public account. In short, the categories of articles are also relatively mixed.
Two years ago, some publishers asked me to write a book, but I did not agree. What should I write at this time? After the end of the traditional marketing era, the new one has not yet formed a system. Wouldn't writing a book be embarrassing?
Last year, I promised a publisher to write a book about new marketing in 2017, because after the confusion and exploration of the past few years, the new marketing system has gradually become clear. Although it is still some time before a complete marketing system is formed, the basic framework should be in place.
Since 2013, leading enterprises in various industries began to decline. In some industries, sales volume hit bottom in the second half of 2016. For example, the beer industry resumed growth in August. Some industries will hit bottom in 2017. **Sales volume has hit bottom, and the structure is being adjusted. Everything is improving. Chinese enterprises are coming out of the confusion of the past few years.**
**The huge demand for industrial upgrading is right there. If you don't take it, others will. Every Chinese enterprise must think about the new 'golden decade': What should I do?**
**If you find a way, you will have a share in the new 'golden decade.'**
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