Life of Guangzhou - Pearl River Makes its Brand and Success as World's Largest Piano Maker

Pearl River Piano [AFP]

Pearl River Piano spent 50 years learning how to produce instruments good enough to compete with an awe-inspiring array of better-known foreign brands. Now comes the hard part.

The world's largest piano factory in southern China wants to convince demanding consumers in Europe and North America that it, too, can produce a quality musical instrument and become a globally recognized name.

"Foreign markets are full of products that are made in China. But products that carry a genuinely Chinese brand are very rare," says Rong Weiping, one of the company's board members.

Situated among cement makers and car manufacturers in the vast industrial landscape around the city of Guangzhou, Pearl River Piano is one of the local champions.

Xiao Zhenyu, the city's top foreign trade official, puts it first on a list of Guangzhou companies with global potential and says he dreams of the day when he might see the brand light up New York's Times Square.

But in line with the laissez-faire philosophy that has made this part of China rich, he argues that Pearl River Piano and other companies are themselves responsible for catapulting their brands into the international spotlight.

"The enterprises must improve the quality of their products in order to meet the requirements of the global consuming public," he says.

That is a tall order, not least in a market dominated by companies such as Vienna-based Boesendorfer, which started making pianos when memories of Mozart and Beethoven were still fresh.

The tough conditions have forced Pearl River Piano to play catch-up ever since its establishment in 1956, and to some extent, despite an annual capacity of 120,000 pianos, it is still lagging behind.

But the quest for quality is slowly paying off, according to Dan Zhaoyi, a professor at the Shenzhen Arts School in the city of Shenzhen just north of Hong Kong.

"The quality of the Pearl River pianos depend on the price, but the best of them can definitely hold their own in foreign markets," said Dan, a pianist with over 40 years of professional experience.

In March last year, the company signed an agreement with US-based Steinway and Sons, the maker of some of the world's finest pianos, to produce a line designed by the American firm.

"It's a win-win situation," said Rong. "We want to learn from their skills, and Steinway wants to enter the Chinese market."

Thanks to a savvy marketing strategy, Pearl River Piano sold nearly 9,000 pianos to US customers last year, five times the number it sold when it entered in 1999.

The United States is now the destination of 60 percent of its exports.

Where Pearl River Piano goes from here is uncertain, but observers warn high quality in and of itself is not enough -- customer perception is just as important.

"If Chinese enterprises want to establish a brand and a reputation overseas, they also have to analyze the psychology of the foreign consumer," says Jiang Qingyun, a marketing specialist at Shanghai's Fudan University.

"For instance, it might serve Pearl River Piano well to get some renowned foreign pianist to recommend the product to boost foreign consumers' confidence in the brand."

In the fight for the hearts and minds of the world's consumers, Chinese officials do not foresee a key role for themselves, possibly reflecting the same free-market thinking that sees them leave quality to the companies.

In the 1990s, Taiwan launched a global campaign to boost the image of its products, choosing the slogan "Very well made in Taiwan."

But officials say China will not launch a similar marketing blitz.

"It's up to the individual companies to promote their brands," said Wu Jun, a foreign trade official in Guangdong, the province of which Guangzhou is the capital. "It's not a government job."

But Rong, the board member of Pearl River Piano, has seen signs that foreign consumers are slowly getting the message.

For him, a defining moment for the company came a few years ago in a New York City subway train.

"I was chatting with another passenger who told me he knew about Pearl River Piano. He had high marks for us," said Rong.

"There are only a few Chinese brands that are known globally, but we are one of them."