Today’s World Consumer Rights Day, also known as ’3.15’ in China, is a day that can strike fear into the hearts of consumer-facing brands in China. That’s because 15 March is the day the national broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television) airs an exposé show that has the ability to push corporate communicators instantly into crisis-management mode.
Broadcast since 1991, the programme has in the past left brands such as Apple, Nikon and food app Ele.me, dealing with fallout on the morning of 16 March. It’s probably a coincidence that the programme airs on the ’Ides of March’—the date of the public stabbing assassination of Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. But nonetheless, the day may have brands watching their backs.
Usually, recent annoucements from the China Consumers Association (CCA) provide an early indication of the industries that may go through CCTV’s "assessments of quality" and "reviews of corporate integrity". Given the contents of a CCA theme-setting document for 2017 (the theme translates roughly as "with online honesty and faith, you have a worry-free consumer"), industry watchers say the following industries should be on yellow alert.
E-commerce brands
Aside from being mentioned by the CCA, ecommerce abuses got widespread media coverage in February, when a list of e-commerce business failures, first published by Chinese tech publication Ebrun, went viral on tech websites and social media, noted Claire Zhang, PR Newswire’s China marketing manager. These businesses failed due to alleged malicious activities and pyramid-selling scams related to hotel reservations, children’s products, real estate and home textiles. Brad Burgess, head of China at GHC, calls these "cowboy-in-the-Wild-West" firms that need regulatory reign-ins.
Medical beauty brands
The medical beauty industry, using internet marketing models new to the industry, has "serious" over-marketing concerns. They are part of what GHC’s Burgess calls "snake-oil health" firms that make product claims which are uncertain and not verified externally. This year, the 3.15 initiative may reveal loopholes in safety and compliance regarding non-licensed pharmaceuticals and illegal injection fillers in the black market, hinted the CCA.
New-energy automotive brands
Attention may also be on ’new-energy’ vehicle manufacturers committing "subsidy fraud"—obtaining financial subsidies for electric cars, buses or trucks they did not build or sell by forging documents. Zhengzhou Nissan (set up by Wuhan-based Dongfeng Automobile and Japan’s Nissan Motor in 1993) was one of seven automakers, and the only foreign brand, fined last month for such subsidy fraud.
Political-prisoner’ brands
The likelihood of being on the receiving end of CCTV’s wrath is higher for iconic brands targeted in recent geopolitical squabbles.