Jocelyn

Jocelyn Eikenburg knows China from a marketing and advertising perspective. She was a staff writer for three years with Global Sources, the premier international trade media company. There, she worked from offices in Shanghai and Taipei to develop marketing materials for manufacturers in China. She was also a staff writer for one year with the China Chemical Network, China’s largest B2B online portal for the chemical industry, where she assisted with the development of online advertisements and web content for chemical manufacturers in China. Other positions she has held in China include research assistant and writer for the International Network on Small Hydropower, and English teacher at Henan College of Education. Jocelyn is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has a deep understanding of Chinese culture, through five and a half years of living in China. Since returning to the US, she has established her own firm, offering the unique combination of business-to-business marketing assistance, Chinese translation, and cultural advice about China.

Microfinance in China’s countryside? It might just be on the horizon…

If Bangladesh can do it, so can we. That’s perhaps the sentiment running through the heads of the financial oversight commission in the Chinese government. They saw the Grameen Trust, a pioneering microfinance institution in Bangladesh making loans to poor farmers without collateral, win the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Grameen Bank branches are located in […]

On January 1, I do: New Year’s Day is popular for weddings in China

What do you think of when January 1 approaches? An evening of wild bacchanalia? The apple drop in Times Square? Resolutions? How about adding “weddings” to that? Because, if you’re Chinese, a wedding might just be the first thing on your new year to-do list. Why is January 1 such a hot time for weddings? […]

Christmas becomes the third biggest consumer spending holiday in China

Christmas may not be an indigenous holiday to China — but retailers had a VERY merry one this year. Merry enough to merit dubbing Christmas the third largest consumer shopping season in China. Here’s the story published in Sohu (partially translated by yours truly): Christmas Day is not an official holiday in China. Yet this […]

Get out the Ginseng and Maotai: giving gifts during Chinese New Year

Ginseng. Vitamin supplements. Top-shelf liquor. Fancy snack foods. These might be a few of the things gracing my shopping list as gifts for Chinese New Year. Ginseng a gift? You bet. Ginseng, one of many treasured remedies in Chinese medicine, is a welcome gift for more senior folks. As are any number of nutritional and […]

Will you be my “zui aide” sweetheart…on Christmas: why Christmas is a romantic holiday in China and what it means for marketing and communications

Love is in the air…the lighted streets are decked with couples unabashedly linking arms and eyes…ah, romance… [Insert sound of record scratching] Wait a minute! Aren’t we getting ahead of our holidays here? Valentine’s Day isn’t for another two months. Au contrair, zui aide. This isn’t Valentine’s Day I’m talking about…it’s Christmas…in China. Here’s what […]

Interview with Chip Coakley, chairman and CEO of PGL Global: the challenges involved with marketing in China and doing business in China

Jocelyn: Good morning, this is the Wu Way Update for December the first, and we’re having a conversation with Chip Coakley, who is the chairman and CEO of PGL Global, which is a firm that helps mid-size companies with their outsourcing as well as offshoring. And we’re talking this morning about the challenges involved with […]

Why Avon sells whitening cleansers in China: culture matters

You’ll find live frogs and turtles at Wal-Mart. “refreshing tea” toothpaste from Crest, and a whole line of whitening products from Avon…in China. Frogs and turtles may not be on your menu; heck, tea might not be the first thing that comes to mind as “refreshing”. But it’s another story for the Chinese — and […]

Like brother, like coworker: why you should encourage the hiring of friends and relatives in China

Here in my home country the US, nepotism is unanimously scorned upon. A workplace romance has almost as much notoreity among coworkers — if not more — than the local celeb gossip. Employers caught hiring their relatives risk expulsion from their jobs — or worse. Instead, we bow to the American ideal of workers garnering […]