Multinational Marketers Move Into China's 'Smaller' Cities
31.12.69
Demand for fast growth is driving multinational marketers into smaller and smaller cities -- but in China, small is a relative term.
China has over 160 cities with a population above one million. The U.S., by comparison, has nine. Most foreign marketers start with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and then add provincial capitals, but those markets, known as the first and second- tier cities, cover just a sliver of China's territory.
Today, companies are looking closely at China's third- and fourth-tier cities and beyond, where the creation of new wealth, particularly through manufacturing and industries like mining, has led to tens of millions of consumers with spending power.
"These days, China's economic excitement is in its smaller markets. Third and fourth-tier cities are booming," said P.T. Black, Thoughtful China's senior creative director.
Tier three spans about 150 county capitals, usually with more than 1 million people each, and tier four includes thousands of towns with more than 500,000 inhabitants. The tier system was created by marketers based on the idea that a white-collar office worker in, say, Chengdu, has more in common with office workers in Shanghai or Beijing than poor farmers with little education living nearby in Leshan.
Source: AdAge.com
Curtailing Open Grocery Refrigerators' Energy Loss
31.12.69
(ISNS)—Open refrigerated display cases holding eggs, cheese, drinks and more are a favorite of supermarket chains. Despite the easy access they offer customers, the inefficient energy-guzzlers cost retailers a huge amount of money.
Engineers at the University of Washington in Seattle and Kettering University in Flint, Mich. have developed an all-new way of designing this type of refrigerated case. Mazyar Amin and his team created a method to make these cases between 10-15 percent more energy efficient, by analyzing the physics of how warm air sneaks in. In most open refrigerators, an invisible curtain of cold air blows from the top of the case to ducts at the bottom, deflecting incoming warm air. These air curtains are not impermeable: Up to 80 percent of the devices' energy consumption goes to cooling down warm air that leaks in.
The research team identified six major design variables, such as the dimensions of the case, the turbulence of the air curtains and the speed of blowing air. They said that although these refrigerators come in countless different styles and designs, improved design can dramatically reduce the amount of warm air that seeps in.
Source: U.S. News & World Report
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