„A spark appears, and a miracle happens”

A few interesting quotes from my notebook:

„A commercial revolution is taking place today in China”
Alex Thompson from ITN, host of the conference

„ The grey economy accounts for over 30 per cent of Chinese output”
Dr. Fang Gang, director of the Chinese National Economic Research Institute

„Let’s talk about reducing costs. Chinese manufacturers get one dollar for a T-shirt which is sold for four dollars in Chicago. It is hard for the manufacturer to cut its price by five cents, but there are another three dollars in the supply chain…
Dr. Victor Fung, vice president of the a Li&Fung retail group

„Pay attention to women. Over half of all university students in the world are female today. In ten year’s time, women will earn more on average than men. You should learn the 10-300 rule already. When your female customers are satisfied, they will tell another ten people they know. When they are not satisfied, they will tell another 300”.
Michael Silverstein, author of books about consumer behaviour

„Millions of dollars of advertisers’ money have begun to follow people into digital media”.
Sir Martin Sorrell, president of WPP communications

„Unless we become proactive, in order to get consumers to regard us as their friends, it will be futile to complain about others taking our place”.
Gareth Ackermann, chairman of the program committee of the CIES conference, president of Pick’N Pay holding (South Africa)

„People don’t want to be treated like a wallet, to feed your business. Today, it’s all about imagination. If we take advantage of consumers’ imagination, if their imagination co-operates with us, then a spark will appear. Miracles will be brought back into the relationship between retailer and consumer.”
Maurice Lévy, CEO and president of the Publicis group