A native of Scotland and now a Beijing resident, Rob Hughes characterizes himself as having an “eclectic” skill set, which he now recognizes is essential to innovative thinking in this bustling Chinese capital city. To the managing partner for North & West China of Mindshare, Beijing, there are no elements of popular culture or ancient history and art that cannot affect solid marketing and media strategy in the “Middle Kingdom.” If he has a mantra, it would be “there’s always lots of room for creativity.” He refuses to believe that everything in advertising has already been done before; he simply sees such an attitude as the definition of complacency. Very aware that every CEO wants a “China answer,” he spends time with business types from media owners to industry analysts who regularly knock on his door to better understand the country’s dynamics or, more important, to sort out the legends about growth from the reality of marketing.
Hughes feels he must be brave enough to “recognize how to connect the dots, because,” he says,“they’re really not numbered.”And he often feels the need to serve his clients fairly by marshaling expectations about China.This may be one of the few markets that requires a look at absolute numbers, not just growth percentages, he believes.“Two percent market share may not seem like much, but when a company sees it in terms of the number of units, the picture generally changes,” he says.
