16 juni 2025 China Café: Branding across borders

Invitation – China Café on June 16 in Utrecht: Building Brands Across Borders – Lessons from China and the West

The Netherlands China Association warmly invites you to the next China Café on Monday, June 16 in Utrecht. This edition dives into a fascinating and highly relevant theme: the differences in brand building between Chinese and Western markets.

Our special guest is Aldo Spaanjaars, a seasoned China expert with over 25 years of experience at the crossroads of East and West. He held leadership roles at JWT, Adidas, Lacoste, and Anta Sports—China’s largest sportswear company— was voted Asia Pacific Marketer of the Year and co-authored Dragon Tactics: How Chinese Entrepreneurs Thrive in Uncertainty. Through real-life cases and firsthand experience, Aldo will explore how successful branding is about more than visibility or volume—it’s about strategic clarity, cultural sensitivity, and emotional connection.

What will we explore?

We’ll contrast how brand loyalty, storytelling, regulation, and consumer expectations differ between the 2 markets. Topics include:

• Why brand trust and consistency matter more in the West—and how that changes your marketing approach.
• Why the quest for “the new new” drives marketing in China and what that means for your brand.
• How important is local relevance—and what does that actually mean for Western brands?
• Why copy-pasting strategies abroad often fails—and what to do instead
• How brands like Haier and Shein have adapted successfully by blending global strategy with local insight.

In the West, brand = trust = long-term value. Yet in China, success often comes from speed, trend adoption, and digital scale. Understanding both playbooks—and knowing when to adjust—is the key to global success.

Join us on June 16 for an insightful and pragmatic conversation with Aldo Spaanjaars on how Chinese and Western branding truly differ—and what that means for businesses, marketers, and anyone operating between worlds.

We look forward to welcoming you!

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