WAPI, China's answer to Wi-Fi, has users struggling for easy mobile Internet access.  Even worse, their Wi-Fi has been disabled, at least on many foreign-model phones.

For non-Chinese cell phone makers, too, this Jam + Preempt is hitting the bottom line. Apple’s iPhone has suffered mediocre sales since its October launch principally due to high costs that, in part, are the result of the stripped Wi-Fi feature.

Mobile users have voiced their concerns through a combination of safe and suggestive Pings and higher risk Call Outs – and with some success.  It seems now that officials are giving in by way of the Disco. China Unicom, the iPhone’s carrier in China, announced on Monday it will enable Wi-Fi to save consumers money. 

Watch for China to Pause as it re-thinks its strategy.  Will it swallow its pride and welcome Wi-Fi?  Or face increasingly unhappy customers who, for now, see WAPI as barrier to entry more than a boon for business?
 

Posted by: Alice Hu

Phot Credit: filphonetones.com

In July 2009, China surpassed the United Kingdom in number of millionaires for the first time. And with all this discretionary cash, people want to show off their new-found wealth.  Not surprisingly, where there's profit to be made, there are plays being run, especially in the luxury-car industry.

BMW sales are good in China, but consumers are hinting with Pings and their pocketbooks that they may be looking for something different.  BMWs are associated with the nouveau riche, a Screen that the company may need to shed if it's going to gain market share.  Some customers are indicating that they are looking to associate with other brands such as Audi, a brand which is bought by those who come from old-money and those who work for the government.

With Audi selling more cars than BMW can produce -- and with negative connotation working against it -- the folks at Bayerische Motoren Werke will need to adjust their strategy.  The question is, which tack will they take:

• Will it run a safe Recasts and Filters and persuade consumers that BMWs are more desirable because they are less available?
• Or will BMW employ more savvy stratagems and create a premise to lure its German rival into an unwinnable debate, perhaps through a Bait or a clever Red Herring?

This playmaker thinks that if BMW were smart, it'd do both.

Posted by:  Alice Hu

Photo Credit:  mibiz.com

Obama Runs Plays in the Middle Kingdom

President Obama's first state visit to China is underway. Predictably, strategists from all disciplines - geopolitical, environmental and even fashion - are making the media rounds to critique the POTUS's performance.

Underlying every move - whether it's by Obama, his Chinese counterparts or pundits - are influence strategies, what we colloquially refer to as plays.

So how can we be so sure plays are being run?

Because we know that whenever there's an agenda to push (or a rival's agenda to blunt, bend, co-opt or flip) there exists a need to run plays. This unavoidable reality is why we founded this consultancy and created the software and systems that underlie it.

So in the spirit of our Plays for the Presidency blog and our newest blog Playmaker China, here's a breakdown of the major plays being run by, on and around Obama as he makes his way through the Middle Kingdom:

• Obama's first major move was a Preempt on the liberal wing of his party and conservative members of the opposition. At a university event, he spoke out against Internet censorship and the rights of religious and ethnic minorities.
• Obama's second play of significance was a prickly Challenge directed at state officials to resume dialogue with the Dalai Lama.

What makes a play a play is that it is irreducible in its nature. As a singular element of influence, the stratagem is at its purest state. But as we often say here around the water cooler, one man's Filter is another man's Fiat. And President Obama's plays might not be to him what they are to others. For example:

• Obama's Preempt against U.S. liberals and conservatives may be interpreted as a Ping to pragmatic members of the Communist party to lighten up and as a Call Out by communist hard-liners who see it as an affront to China's sovereignty.
• Similarly, Obama's appeal to deal with the Dalai Lama is almost certainly viewed as a Call Out on current policy.

Understanding how plays are interpreted by different audiences is one of the basics of playmaking, which is why we've created our Factors at Play resource.

So take note: Whether your strategy expertise lies in diplomacy, cloud seeding or tangzhuang, plays abound in China, especially when Barack-comes-a-knockin'. Have we missed a play or misinterpreted one? We welcome your feedback.

Posted by: John Koval

Photo Credit: voanews.com