Four Hundred Million Cust

Book excerpt: "No matter what you may be selling, your business in China should be enormous, if the Chinese who should buy your goods would only do so." But will they?. "400 Million Customers" is essential reading for all foreigners seeking to do business in the booming economies of Asia, and all analysts of globalization and cultural difference. Carl Crow opened the first western advertising agency in Shanghai and ran it for twenty-five years, promoting everything from American lipsticks and moisturizers to French brandy and pharmaceuticals, and nothing was straightforward. In this highly readable account of his work in Shanghai, illustrated with delightful line drawings, Crow uses anecdotes and examples to illustrate the particular challenges of doing business in China. In Crow's time, no foreigners managed to dominate the Chinese market, and today -- when the population of China has trebled - the question remains whether the country is a potential mass market for the west, or a golden illusion. Crow's book remains as apt now as when it was written in 1937, and leading business schools recommend it as one of the best accounts of Chinese business culture.