Helping Chinese Consumers Making the Informed

Choices: the Challenge of Trust

幫助中國消費者做出明智的選擇：信任的挑戰
I. Introduction
35 billion RMB - that's the figure made in online sales transactions by Alipay (the Chinese
version of PayPal) on November 11th, 2013. What is to guide Chinese consumers in
purchasing decisions as they move en masse to an online purchasing environment? With the
strong growth of Chinese domestic consumption, more and more Chinese consumers are
realizing they need an independent shopping guide that can help them to find the quality and
functionality they need from among millions of alternatives. However, few solutions in the
market meet the necessary criteria for independent reviews, competent expertise and wide
coverage. QuarkMan technology was tailored to meet this need.

I. 導言
350 億元人民幣--這是 2013 年 11 月 11 日支付寶（中國版 PayPal）在網路銷售交易中取得的數位。中國消費者集體走向
網購環境，靠什麼來引導他們的購買決策？隨著中國國內消費的強勁增長，越來越多的中國消費者意識到他們需要一個獨立的購物指南，説明
他們從數以百萬計的替代品中找到他們所需要的品質和功能。然而，市場上符合獨立評測、專業能力強、覆蓋面廣等必要標準的解決方案少之
又少。QuarkMan 技術就是為滿足這一需求而量身定做的。
II. The Company
QuarkMan Technology was founded by David Yuan, a graduate of the Tsinghua MBA
program in Beijing in 2012. The management team David created has a solid background in
biology, chemistry, computer science, and management consulting. The name of the
company derives from a term in physics. A quark is an elementary particle and a
fundamental constituent of matter. David and his partners take the quark as a metaphor for
the product's essence. QuarkMan indicates the company's mission of unveiling products'
essence in an independent, professional, and powerful way. Setting “Independence” and
“Fairness” as the company core principles since day one, the founding team is devoted to
helping Chinese consumers to make the best use of their money.

Primarily targeting the Chinese consumer, QuarkMan has Information Advisory and Media
as its two major business units. (Exhibit 1) Most data and reports are initially generated by
the Information Advisory unit from in-lab tests. The Media unit transforms information from
the Information Advisory unit and its market survey team into user-friendly content to help
consumers make choices. The two brands are registered under the Media arm (Exhibit 2).
China Consumer Report (CCR), aims to be a communication platform between consumers
and manufactures for settling disputes and customer relations management. Jancr is the
consumer goods review and testing brand. Jancr comes from the Chinese 鉴 客 (Jianke),
meaning an expert in craft/art review. It's also a homophone of 剑客 (swordsman) a metaphor
for skillful, free, and independent. QuarkMan uses the internet as its primary media channel.
Besides managing its own lab and research team, QuarkMan has strong and stable
relationships with multiple third party labs and research institution labs, such as the Tsinghua
University Chemical Analysis Lab, and the Beijing E-town International Bio pharm Lab.
QuarkMan's own lab, also its first lab, is more focused on chemistry and biology. It handles
food, liquid, pharmaceutical, and environmental tests. With a cost of over 75million RMB,
the lab has over 400 pieces of equipment and is over 3000 square meters in size. The lab not
only responds to the Media unit's requests for tests and analyses, the Information Advisory
unit also provides third party tests to manufacturers to meet the export and product market
entry and registry requirements. The Information Advisory unit is a for profit center,
expected to be self-sufficient and to bring profits to the holding company.

Although the management team already has expertise in many areas, it believes that the key
to success lies in an open-minded attitude in attracting different types of talent and involving
outside testing resources. Thus, an effective procedure for working with external resources to
ensure quality and on-time is essential. QuarkMan has developed an external expert network,
which is made up of experts from industries, colleges, consulting firms, third party test
institutions, and government agencies, covering food, health, electronics, skin care, and the
environment.

It's difficult for a media company to be profitable in China. It's even harder for an
independent and fair media company to be profitable in China. The offline to online media
transformation has occurred as rapidly in China as in the western world. Users almost never
pay for copy right or any content on the internet, except online games. Advertisements are
the most important revenue stream for most Chinese online media. For QuarkMan, user
subscriptions, data licensing, and third party testing are the primary potential revenue
streams. In the short term, the company relies heavily on the third party testing business.
Currently, all the products are offered for free to the users.

QuarkMan has completed its first round of financing. Its office is located in the
ZhongGuanCun Science Park, outside of the Tsinghua University east gate. Its strategic
testing partners are located in Qingdao, Beijing, Shenyang and Guangzhou.

II. 公司
QuarkMan 誇克人科技由 2012 年畢業于北京清華 MBA 專案的袁大衛創立。David 創建的管理團隊擁有扎實的生物、
化學、電腦科學和管理諮詢背景。公司的名字來源於物理學中的一個術語。誇克是一種基本粒子，也是物質的基本成分。David 和他的夥
伴們將誇克作為產品本質的隱喻。誇克人表明了公司的使命，即以獨立、專業、強大的方式揭示產品的本質。創始團隊從第一天起就將 "獨
立 "和 "公平 "作為公司的核心原則，致力於幫助中國消費者實現物盡其用。
主要針對中國消費者，誇克曼以資訊諮詢和媒體為兩大業務部門。(圖 1)大部分數據和報告最初都是由資訊諮詢部門從實驗室測試中產生的。
媒體部門將資訊諮詢部門及其市場調查團隊的資訊轉化為方便使用者的內容，幫助消費者做出選擇。這兩個品牌在媒體部門下註冊（見圖
2）。中國消費者報告（CCR），旨在成為消費者和製造商之間的溝通平臺，解決糾紛和客戶關係管理。Jancr 是消費品評論和測試品
牌。Jancr 來自中文的鑒客（Jianke），意為工藝/藝術評論專家。它也是劍客（swordsman）的同音字，比喻熟練、自由、
獨立。誇克人以互聯網為主要媒體管道。
除了管理自己的實驗室和研究團隊外，QuarkMan 還與多家協力廠商實驗室和研究機構實驗室建立了穩固的合作關係，如清華大學化
學分析實驗室、北京電子城國際生物醫藥實驗室等。誇克自己的實驗室，也是其第一個實驗室，更專注於化學和生物。它處理食品、液體、藥
品和環境測試。該實驗室耗資 7500 多萬元，擁有 400 多台設備，面積超過 3000 平方米。該實驗室不僅滿足媒體單位的檢測分
析要求，資訊諮詢單位還為製造商提供協力廠商檢測，以滿足出口和產品市場准入和註冊的要求。資訊諮詢部門是一個盈利中心，預計將自給
自足，並為控股公司帶來利潤。
雖然管理團隊在很多領域已經具備了專業知識，但認為成功的關鍵在於以開放的態度吸引不同類型的人才，讓外部檢測資源參與進來。因此，
建立一套有效的與外部資源合作的程式，以保證品質和按時完成任務是必不可少的。誇克建立了一個外部專家網路，這個網路由來自行業、高
校、諮詢公司、協力廠商檢測機構和政府機構的專家組成，涵蓋了食品、健康、電子、護膚、環境等領域。
對於一家媒體公司來說，在中國盈利是很難的。一個獨立公正的媒體公司在中國盈利更難。在中國，線下媒體向線上媒體的轉變與西方世界一
樣迅速。用戶在互聯網上幾乎從不為複製權或任何內容付費，除了網路遊戲。廣告是大多數中國網路媒體最重要的收入來源。對於
QuarkMan 來說，使用者訂閱、資料授權和協力廠商測試是主要的潛在收入來源。短期內，公司主要依靠協力廠商測試業務。目前，
所有產品都是免費提供給使用者的。
QuarkMan 已經完成了第一輪融資。其辦公地點位於清華大學東門外的中關村科技園。其戰略測試合作夥伴位於青島、北京、瀋陽和
廣州。
III. The Market
QuarkMan's business can be divided into “production” (analyses and lab tests) and “sales”
(magazine, website, and Apps). Thus, it initially associates to two markets, Comparative
Testing and Publication. The well-known players in the area are Consumer Reports in the
US, Choice in the UK, STIWA in Germany, and Choice in the HK.

In China there is no mature player conducting comparative tests and analyses across
different industries. There are some small players specialized in 3C or the health sector.
However, they are often challenged for not being independent. The Chinese Consumer
Association (CCA, 中 消 协) is expected to provide this service. However its government roots
and strange organizational charter have become a barrier between it and consumers. Very
few Chinese consumers believe the CCA will change its position in the near future.

Like the US consumers in the 50-60's, Chinese consumers are currently overwhelmed with
fancy product packaging, marketing promotions, and exaggerated product descriptions. They
are misled to make choices based on what looks nice and what is shown and recommended
to them, instead of performance. Even on the online shopping sites, JD.com or Tmall.com
for example, the buyer comments or ratings are often manipulated by the “Navy” (水 军, paid
commenters) hired by sellers.

The QuarkMan team believes China is entering an era of consumerism. On one hand, with
the new national management committee, many new regulations on food and consumer
products have already been launched. The government is becoming more responsible and
effective in managing the area. On the other hand, Chinese consumers are wealthy and well-
educated enough to stand up for their rights and make rational purchasing decisions.
In order to leverage the extra testing capacity in the public sector, QuarkMan has developed
a close relationship with several big national labs. However, the construction of an in-house
lab was necessary to secure the reliability of the testing resources. David and his team have
developed a strategy of having the in house lab as a stand-alone profitable business unit,
which finances the media unit. Therefore, QuarkMan associates to another market, the for
profit testing market.

The Chinese third party testing market was tightly controlled by the government. In recent
years, the market has been opening up. It has now become a huge and rapidly-growing
market. In 2012, the market size exceed 60billion RMB, with a CAGR of over 30% from
year 2007 to 2012. 3 Government agencies, foreign agencies and private companies are the
three key players. The government agencies take over 60% of market share in terms of
revenue. Meanwhile foreign agencies, such as SGS and BV take about 25%. Local private
companies are the smallest players at about 10% 4 . Pony Test and CTI are the leading
companies in the local private sector. (Exhibits 3 & 4)

In terms of the growth rate, private companies grew at a CAGR of 25% on average ，foreign
companies grew at 15% ，and government agencies grew at 10% between 2009 and 2012 5 .
Speed is a key factor for the high growth rate of the local private players. Responding to the
newest food and environmental safety issues, these companies can begin a new testing
product line (test protocol, equipment, and knowhow) in weeks, at the same time complete
lobbying the government to issue testing permits. In the interim they prepare to scale up
nation-wide. None of the government or foreign competitors can achieve this speed.
(Exhibits 3 & 4)

There are more than enough testing resources (labs, equipment, personnel) in China. The
preponderance of the resources is owned by government affiliated consumer associations,
industry associations, and government research institutes. These state labs primarily serve
the function of company and product inspections, and issue new product market entry
permissions. Capacity overlap is very common in this sector, as building and managing a
robust test capability is a great indicator of the performance review. Overall capacity
orchestration is often absent. In addition, there is a lack of incentives for those labs doing
aggressive market development. Thus, a big chunk of the capacity has a very low utilization
rate.

III. 市場
誇克的業務可以分為 "生產"（分析和實驗室測試）和 "銷售"（雜誌、網站和 Apps）。因此，它最初關聯的是比較測試和出版兩個市
《》 Choice、德國的 STIWA 和香港的 Choice。
在中國，還沒有成熟的跨行業比較測試和分析的企業。有一些小公司專門從事 3C 或健康領域的工作。但是，他們經常因為不獨立而受到質
疑。中國消費者協會（CCA, 中消協）有望提供這一服務。然而，它的政府根源和奇怪的組織章程已經成為它和消費者之間的障礙。很少
有中國消費者相信中消協會在不久的將來會改變其立場。
就像 50-60 年代的美國消費者一樣，中國消費者目前被花哨的產品包裝、行銷推廣和誇張的產品描述所淹沒。他們被誤導，根據好看的
東西和展示、推薦給他們的東西來進行選擇，而不是性能。即使是在網購網站上，以京東或天貓網為例，買家的評論或評分也常常被賣家雇傭
的 "海軍"（水軍，付費評論員）所操縱。
QuarkMan 團隊認為，中國正在進入一個消費主義時代。一方面，隨著新一屆國家管委會的成立，許多關於食品和消費品的新規已經
出臺。政府在這方面的管理越來越負責任，越來越有效。另一方面，中國消費者富裕且受過良好的教育，能夠站在自己的立場上維護自己的權
益，做出理性的購買決策。
為了利用公共部門多餘的檢測能力，誇克與幾大國家實驗室建立了密切的關係。然而，為了保證檢測資源的可靠性，建設一個內部實驗室是必
要的。David 和他的團隊制定了一個策略，讓內部實驗室作為一個獨立的盈利業務部門，為媒體部門提供資金。因此，誇克聯想到另一個
市場，即盈利性檢測市場。
中國的第三方檢測市場曾被政府嚴格控制。近年來，市場不斷開放。現在已經成為一個巨大的、快速增長的市場。 2012 年，市場規模超
過 600 億元人民幣，2007 年至 2012 年的年均增長率超過 30%。政府機構、外資機構和民營企業是三大主要參與者。政府
機構佔據了 60%以上的市場份額。同時，外國機構，如 SGS 和 BV，佔據了約 25%的市場份額。本地私營公司是最小的參與者，
約占 10%。Pony Test 和 CTI 是本地私營企業中的佼佼者。圖 3 及圖 4
從增長速度來看，2009-2012 年，私營企業的年均增長率為 25%，外資企業的增長率為 15%，政府機構的增長率為
10%。速度是本土民營企業高速發展的關鍵因素。為了應對最新的食品和環境安全問題，這些公司可以在數周內開始一條新的檢測產品線
（檢測方案、設備和技術），同時完成遊說政府發放檢測許可證的工作。在這期間，他們準備在全國範圍內擴大規模。無論是政府還是國外的
競爭者都無法達到這樣的速度。(圖 3 和圖 4)
中國的檢測資源（實驗室、設備、人員）綽綽有餘。大部分資源由政府下屬的消費者協會、行業協會和政府研究機構擁有。這些國家實驗室主
要起到企業和產品檢驗的作用，並發放新產品市場准入許可。能力重疊在這個部門非常普遍，因為建設和管理強大的檢測能力是績效考核的重
要指標。整體能力協調往往缺失。此外，對於那些做積極的市場開發的實驗室，缺乏激勵機制。因此，很大一部分能力的利用率很低。
IV. The Product
Comparative surveys, comparative analyses, and comparative tests are the three key products
under the brand name of Jancr.

A comparative survey is a type of consumer survey soliciting user experience and focusing
on a comparison between brands and/or product SKUs. Since it's based on consumer
experience and intuition, comparisons are not always scientific or systematic.

Comparative analysis is a form of product benchmarking based on public product

specifications. Producing comparative analysis products is a process of data collection,
standardization, key indicator selection, re-calculation, assigning weights, and scoring by
QuarkMan in-house engineers and industry expert partners.

Comparative tests are product lab tests on pre-selected characteristics. The tests may be
conducted internally or outsourced to a third party test agency. For outsourced tests, every
test protocol is completely and independently designed by QuarkMan. Raw test data are also
internally analyzed for further use. Test sample purchases are also conducted under an
independent process.

IV.產品
比較調查、比較分析、比較測試是 Jancr 品牌下的三大重點產品。
比較調查是一種徵求用戶體驗的消費者調查，主要是對品牌和/或產品 SKU 進行比較。由於是基於消費者的體驗和直覺，所以比較不一定
是科學的、系統的。
比較分析是基於公共產品規格的一種產品標杆形式。製作對比分析產品是一個由 QuarkMan 內部工程師和行業專家合作夥伴進行資
料收集、標準化、關鍵指標選擇、重新計算、分配權重、打分的過程。
比較測試是對預選特徵進行的產品實驗室測試。測試可以在內部進行，也可以外包給 第三方測試機構。對於外包測試，每個測試方案都是由
QuarkMan 完全獨立設計的。原始測試資料也會在內部進行分析，以便進一步使用。測試樣品的購買也是在獨立的流程下進行。
V. The Media Channels
QuarkMan has a website (www.jancr.com), a Weibo account (Chinese Twitter) and a
Wechat account as its primary in-house media channels. It's also considering operating
columns in major online portals, such as Sina, Tencent, and Sohu, to distribute its content.

Managing content distribution among these three media platforms is a challenge. QuarkMan
has decided to use Weibofor news and new content announcements. Users are redirected to
the website for a full report or more ways of interaction when they find the content
interesting. Anyone can follow QuarkMan on Wechat. Followers receive a short article or
announcement about QuarkMan everyday on their cell phones. Along with the automatic
response system, followers can also receive responses to their requests from real-person
customer service representatives. (Exhibit 6) Paying members or those who accumulate
enough credits can enjoy a different set of content and services, such as in-depth product or
industry reviews and/or give-away gifts.

Although Chinese consumers have better paying habits in the traditional media like
magazines and newspapers, QuarkMan management has decided avoid high distribution
costs and the fast shrinking off-line market by solely relying on online distribution.

The Conservative Commercial Ads Policy

Independence is the lifeline of the business. The QuarkMan team created and has maintained
a Conservative Commercial Ads Policy since the inception of the company. The policy
regulates the company now and disallows any advertisements or offers of sponsorship that
could potentially influence the product review and/or ranking. If cooperation with a
company is unavoidable, QuarkMan needs to be transparent about the cooperation to its
individual users.

The policy also states that QuarkMan is allowed to license the data to the company
interested. However, it is not allowed to start licensing negotiation prior to the date of
product launch.

V. 媒體管道
誇克俠有一個網站（www.jancr.com）、一個微博帳號（中文 Twitter）和一個微信帳號作為其主要的內部媒體管道。它還
在考慮在新浪、騰訊和搜狐等大型線上門戶網站上運營專欄來發佈內容。
在這三個媒體平臺之間管理內容發佈是一個挑戰。誇克俠決定使用微博發新聞和新內容公告。當使用者覺得內容有趣時，他們會被重定向到網
站，以獲得完整的報導或更多的互動方式。任何人都可以在微信上關注 QuarkMan。關注者每天都會在手機上收到一篇關於
QuarkMan 的短文或公告。除了自動回復系統，關注者還可以收到真人客服代表對其請求的回復。 (圖 6)付費會員或積累足夠積分
的會員可以享受到不同的內容和服務，如產品或行業的深度評論和/或贈品。
雖然中國消費者在雜誌、報紙等傳統媒體上有較好的付費習慣，但誇克管理層決定避開高額的發行成本和快速萎縮的線下市場，單純依靠線上
發行。
保守的商業廣告政策
獨立性是企業的生命線。自公司成立以來，QuarkMan 團隊就制定並維護了保守的商業廣告政策。該政策規範了公司現在，不允許任
何可能影響產品評論和/或排名的廣告或贊助提議。如果與公司的合作是不可避免的，QuarkMan 需要對其個人使用者透明化合作。
該政策還規定，允許 QuarkMan 將資料授權給感興趣的公司。但是，不允許在產品發佈之前就開始進行授權談判。
VI. The Challenges
(1) The credibility challenge

Unlike an ordinary startup, developing consumer trust and understanding of its positioning
and business principles is the most important task of the QuarkMan team. One lesson learned
from the first test marketing pilot was that Chinese consumers don't usually believe any
ranking or review by default because there has not been a real independent media source that
doesn't represent manufacturers.

(2) The Capacity challenge

It usually takes about 2-3 weeks for QuarkMan to deliver one product review. Some
complex studies can even take months. With the resources constrained in the short run,
QuarkMan can only manage one review team that can take no more than two product
reviews at the same time. Some new players in the market have gained decent traffic from
more frequent content releases. To meet the competition, David and his team are struggling
with the capacity issue. The classic Build or Buy question perfectly represents the situation.

(3) The coverage challenge

Currently, QuarkMan is covering home electronics, mother and baby care products,
cosmetics, food and beverages, health, and services; six product categories. Usually the costs
of width are depth and focus. However, a wide coverage can definitely enlarge the audience
size, push the business scale to a level that makes both cost and return sound. Wide or
narrow? Mass or niche? That is one question with which the team is challenged.

How can QuarkMan make Chinese consumers understand (and trust) its positioning and
business principles? How to gain awareness with a limited budget? How to help existing
users realize the benefits of its products and promote QuarkMan? How to expand its capacity
within the limited existing resources? How many product categories should be covered? And
which categories need to be covered at which stage? These are the questions that keep David
and his team up at night. David would like to launch a 100,000 RMB marketing campaign.
But where to start and what should be the goal?

VI. 挑戰
(1) 信譽的挑戰
與普通的創業公司不同，培養消費者對其定位和商業原則的信任和理解是 QuarkMan 團隊最重要的任務。從第一次測試行銷試點中
得到的一個經驗是，中國消費者通常不會默認相信任何排名或評論，因為一直沒有一個真正獨立的、不代表廠商的媒體來源。
(2)產能的挑戰
誇克通常需要 2-3 周左右的時間來提供一份產品評論。一些複雜的研究甚至需要幾個月的時間。在短期內資源受限的情況下 ，
QuarkMan 只能管理一個評測團隊，同時接受不超過兩個產品評測。市場上一些新玩家通過更頻繁的內容發佈獲得了不錯的流量。為
了應對競爭，David 和他的團隊正在為產能問題而苦惱。經典的 Build or Buy 問題完美地代表了這種情況。
(3)覆蓋率的挑戰
目前，誇克俠涵蓋了家用電子、母嬰用品、化妝品、食品飲料、健康、服務；六大產品類別。通常，寬度的代價是深度和聚焦。但是，廣度的
覆蓋絕對可以擴大受眾規模，將企業規模推到一個讓成本和回報都酣暢淋漓的程度。廣度還是窄度？大眾還是小眾？這是團隊面臨的一個問題。
誇克如何讓中國消費者理解（並信任）其定位和商業原則？如何在有限的預算下獲得知名度？如何説明現有使用者認識到其產品的優勢並推廣
誇克？如何在有限的現有資源下擴大產能？應該覆蓋多少個產品類別？又需要在哪個階段覆蓋哪些類別？這些問題讓 David 和他的團隊
徹夜難眠。大衛想開展一次 10 萬元的行銷活動。但從哪裡開始，目標應該是什麼？
Questions

1. What is CCR? What does CCR mean to the average Chinese consumer? 什麼是 CCR？CCR
對中國普通消費者意味著什麼？

2. What should CCR's corporate strategy be for the next 5-10 years? CCR 未來 5-10 年的企業戰略
應該是什麼？

3. What are the potential risks that CCR is exposed to? CCR 面臨的潛在風險是什麼？

p.s. 4P-product, price, place, promotion / 4M-merchandise, market, media, message