Introduction

In 2011 we learned one of the business units of a major client was to be relocated from Europe to Shanghai. There was a simple choice – plan for the loss of the revenue from that unit and resource the agency accordingly or, as an existing preferred partner, follow it. The former would be easier, given we had no knowledge of the Chinese market(s) at the time, but management at Point 6 saw the latter offered a potential springboard to greater opportunity. Having received assurances (but no guarantees) that the client would use our services if we had local resource in Shanghai, we began to research the opportunities and the best routes to potential Chinese clients. We also believed a presence in the world’s fastest growing economy and the local knowledge we would gain would be a great point of difference when talking to existing and potential Western clients wanting to export there. Three years later we’re still there. We have a partnership with a local agency and last financial year we billed our highest ever amount in RMB (Chinese currency).

I’ve set out a series of the best pieces of advice we can offer – in no particular order. Some of it we were given before we launched in Shanghai, some of it we’ve learnt since.