Advertising Management - Essay Example

A SWOT analysis shows an impressive record of performance of the Octopus card in Hong Kong and the present proposal is to only change the brand name into Shenzhen Octopus and duplicate the advertising strategies adopted originally for the Octopus Hong Kong card though more advertising principles still justify the same strategies. Lessons learned in the past have also been duly taken into account in formulating the strategies for the proposed launch. The strengths and opportunities outweigh the weaknesses and threats for the new proposal.

Shenzhen is in China bordering Hongkong and Hongkong has all the logistic advantage in doing business in Shenzhen more than in any other part of China. China sequel to embracing consumer economy is estimated to have a credit market which would surpass the U.S. market in its size by 2020 due to urbanization and creation of wealth. The number of cards issued by the Chinese Banks numbering 200 million at present is expected to touch 800 million by 2020. But the fact remains Chinese still prefer cash or debit cards rather than spend on credit (Madden, 2010).

In view of above information, Octopus card is not new to Shenzhen though it is not as popular as it is in it its parent location Hongkong or for that matter, Oyster cards in London or others elsewhere. Chinese consumers are conservative in their outlook unlike Hong-kongers who share British culture. Since Octopus card is popular in Hong Kong, the company just has to duplicate its existing advertising strategies. Now SWOT analysis of Octopus card’s market itself will be useful for duplicating in Shenzhen where it has been already in use though it has now been proposed to change the brand as Shenzhen Octopus for which an awareness campaign is necessary.

As seen above, 9 million cards are in use through which 7 million transactions are done daily which would amount to US 2.2 billion (HK $ 17.2 million) per year in Hong Kong