Page 146 - How China Is Winning the Tech Race

Milestones pile up

Liu’s business concept and technology were too advanced for the market
when he introduced them to China early in this decade. “We had to put our
heart down and wait for the market to grow up,” he says. Times were so
rough that the cofounders couldn’t buy food or pay the rent. The apartment
they were living in, courtesy of a friend, caught fire. They all escaped without
harm, an experience that cemented a strong bond among the founders.
Oriental Wisdom got its first big breakthrough four years ago: a contract
from the large insurer China Life. “In 2003, our company is very small, and
providing a big service for this customer is a very big challenge for us,” Liu says.
Today Oriental Wisdom sells to about 80 percent of China’s insurers and
90 percent of its mutual fund firms. About two-thirds of revenues come from
a mobile customer service package that lets on-the-go salespeople access a
database of users and, with analytical tools, track sales patterns with data
linked to headquarters. The sales reps can see, for instance, if a message has
been received, has bounced back, or has not been answered. Mobile mar-
keting promotions account for about 15 percent of revenues, with the
remainder coming from software licenses.
Oriental Wisdom’s ad rates are a bargain. To reach 1,000 customers, it
charges $5 for a text message and $21 for a multimedia version, compared
with an average cost of $500 to reach 1,000 customers in the United States
through a highly targeted Internet ad campaign.
Oriental Wisdom’s ad package of eight financial news items blended in
with one promotional message verges on being an intrusive advertorial.
However, investor Ju argues that the sparing use of ads is “really not that
invasive.”
The company’s miniature e-magazine, which is viewed through a sim-
plified Internet browser designed for mobile phones, offers a soft sell
approach that pulls in consumers with highly customized financial news and
advertorials sent to 7 million VIP customers. Content is displayed in high-
color resolution on the phone’s tiny screens. The e-zine seeks to boost
consumer loyalty and trust by avoiding ‘in your face” useless investment
pitches.
Next, Oriental Wisdom wants to rent its comprehensive database of 12
million financial service customers—including demographic profiles and

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