蓄势已久的出海浪潮为中国传播行业带来新机遇，全球与本土代理模式迎来适配性大考

 今年年初，智云图接受亚太地区公关与传播行业媒体Earned First采访的报道。原文于2026年3月刊载于Earned First网站。

 中文摘要：

本文由 记者David Blecken 撰写、Arun Sudhaman 补充报道。文章聚焦中国企业全球化浪潮下，全球与本土公关传播行业面临的全新机遇与格局挑战，同时整合了多位行业资深从业者的核心观察。

文章首先指出，以比亚迪、大疆、字节跳动、希音、小米为代表的中国品牌已在全球市场实现突破性发展，尽管面临中美贸易摩擦、高端技术限制、全球经济疲软等外部阻力，叠加后疫情时代国内市场增长放缓的催化，出海已成为行业共识。对此，爱德曼集团大中华区总裁曲宏明确提出：对于新能源、移动科技、可再生能源等新兴领域而言，“出海已是必选项”。

这一趋势为长期依赖跨国企业在华业务的国际公关机构提供了新的业务增长点。智云图的姜晓峰将当前中国市场的状态总结为 “韧性自律”：2025 年的行业低谷已过，但消费者价值导向显著增强，企业营销预算恢复的同时也更为务实。罗德公关亚洲及大中华区负责人寿玉滢指出，当前美资在华投入仍保持高度谨慎，国际公关机构正主动提升中国客户的业务占比；与此同时，欧洲、拉美、中东等非美市场对中国品牌的兴趣持续上升，为行业打开了新的发展空间。她同时观察到，中国消费者对本土品牌的信心大幅提升，中国企业的产品迭代速度远超传统跨国企业，市场已从 “国际品牌自带溢价” 的阶段进入品质竞争的新阶段。

文章进一步对比了国际与本土公关机构服务中国出海客户的优劣势：姜晓峰总结，中国出海客户普遍呈现 ROI 导向、追求快速见效、重交付结果、排斥长周期合同的核心需求，这与传统国际公关公司多层级架构、合规流程复杂、按小时收费的运营模式存在明显适配矛盾。多个受访者认为，中国已从行业跟随者变为无先例可循的创新者，这正是传播行业的最大机遇；国际机构的架构与营收模式难以匹配中国客户驱动销售的核心诉求，而中国本土公关机构凭借对中国企业运营逻辑的深度熟悉、灵活的服务与收费模式，形成了显著的竞争优势，即便缺乏全球自有网络，也可通过与海外本地机构合作、外派人员落地等方式完成全球服务覆盖。

针对行业现状，文章提到国际公关机构已开始针对性调整服务模式，例如设立专门的中企出海业务线、搭建跨文化协调团队、统一利润核算机制，以适配中国客户的需求；但本土机构也面临过度妥协客户要求、陷入价格战、利润空间被压缩、难以支撑高端人才与战略服务的问题。曲宏认为，中国品牌要向高端价值链升级，摆脱低价标签、成为全球认可的高端品牌，必须聚焦战略、内容与品质，这仍是当前国际机构的优势领域；而兼具专业战略能力与高效响应速度的服务模式，将成为行业的最优解。

文章最后指出，中国企业的全球化进程仍处于起步阶段，全球南方市场（指新兴市场和发展中国家）对中国品牌的接受度较高。姜晓峰判断，这场中国公关市场 “外资在华服务 - 中企出海服务” 的业务转换，不仅是中国品牌的发展机遇，也将推动本土公关机构走向全球化，是本土机构崭露头角的历史性窗口。

原文链接：Keeping up with China Inc's global ambitions

英文原文：

Keeping up with China Inc's global ambitions

Long-awaited overseas expansion creates new opportunity for communicators, but will test the fitness of global and local agency models alike.

Five years ago, few analysts in the Western hemisphere bet that the aspirationally named Build Your Dreams (BYD) would soon overtake Tesla as the world's top electric vehicle (EV) maker. Last year, it sold 2.26 million battery-electric cars, handily beating Tesla's 1.63 million. 

BYD's rise, as well as the expansion of other EV brands like Nio, platform companies like Tencent, ByteDance and Shein, and hardware producers such as Xiaomi and DJI (a drone maker that has captured over 70% of the global consumer market), highlight that the 'Chinese brands going global' narrative is at last becoming reality.

It has happened despite an ongoing trade war with the US, restricted access to advanced technology, and generally weak worldwide economic momentum. The domestic market's slide since the pandemic has been a catalyst. For emerging sectors such as EV, mobile technology and renewable energy, "going global is a must", says Qu Hong, Greater China president at DJE Holdings, which houses Edelman and Zeno China Consulting.

For the beleaguered international agencies largely dependent on inbound multinational clients, this offers a potential lifeline. China's economic recovery in 2026 looks muted rather than dynamic, with a record-low GDP growth target of 4.5 to 5%.

The market is adjusting to what Shawn Jiang Xiaofeng of the consultancy China Advocate calls "disciplined resilience". This mood was evident among other PR industry observers who spoke to Earned First: the dark days of 2025 may have passed, but consumers have emerged significantly more value conscious. Even as marketing and communications budgets start to return, so are businesses.   

US-based multinational PR investment, which all but dried up in 2025, is likely to remain extremely cautious, even at a time when it seems more necessary than ever. This climate has led international agencies to deliberately increase their ratio of Chinese clients, says Elan Shou, head of Asia and Greater China at Ruder Finn.

On the positive side, further pullback from US-based companies looks unlikely. One agency leader sees a softening of relations between China and the US, with the "most unpredictable period" in the past. Additionally, interest in China is growing from markets beyond the US including Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

The wariness from many MNCs likely comes from the realisation that the days when 'international' status automatically conveyed premium quality are gone.

"People are tired of seeing the same big brands," says Shou. In the sports segment, for example, rather than automatically putting faith in the most expensive products, people are looking at newcomers and taking the time to understand their functions, she says. The same trend is evident in the beauty category, while in luxury the focus is shifting from conspicuous brand names to jewellery as a marker of status.

Success in tier-one markets no longer augurs success lower down. "Every market [within China] is different, so you have to build a close relationship with all the tiers of customers," Shou says, adding: "Chinese customers are confident that they know best."

Chinese businesses reflect this sentiment too. As multinational confidence sinks, Chinese confidence continues to rise, driven by the belief that the country is now an agile trailblazer. In consumer electronics, where multinationals can take a year to improve a product, domestic companies develop new ones in "one or two months", says Shou.

Until recently, Chinese companies tended to follow America's lead, notes Lydia Lee of Name Maker Consulting. "Now China is the innovator, with no template" to refer to. This is arguably where the market's biggest opportunity for the communications industry lies.

Shou says many Chinese companies started seriously looking beyond China post-Covid. Observing this trend, she launched a dedicated practice within the agency to support Chinese brands with global ambitions. Its revenue has grown fivefold in four years, with Southeast Asia and Europe a "huge focus" for clients.

"They want quick results before committing" - Shawn Jiang Xiaofeng, China Advocate

As they start to make good on their promises to challenge established multinationals, the relative strengths and weaknesses of local and international PR consultancies come into sharper focus. 

With 'going global' such a long time in the making, businesses now want to see fast results. "Chinese clients are ROI-driven and impatient," says Jiang. He sees demand centred on PR that drives revenue, as well as reputation management and crisis capabilities. In particular, "they want quick results before committing to multi-year contracts." 

This is something that international agencies are not always set up to deliver. Taking a Chinese brand global is about more than having a network with offices in the target markets. The pace and notoriously 'always on' working culture of Chinese companies can come as a shock to the system. It can mean thinking in terms of hours rather than days or weeks when it comes to deliverables.

The complexity, compliance requirements and multiple P&Ls typical of large networks can slow things down, as can infrastructural differences in areas like IT between China and other markets.

"The way international agencies are structured and how they define revenue limits the possibilities to drive sales," says Lee. Offering services based on an hourly rate can turn Chinese clients off. By contrast, Chinese agencies are more open to "creative" accounting and packaging of services and are willing to risk long timelines for payment — even though there are cases of firms going bankrupt in the process. Lee likens them to 7-Eleven convenience stores, willing to do and sell anything without sleeping.

That might be an exaggeration, but Chinese consultancies' flexibility combined with an apparent desire to build long-term relationships with often punishing clients pits them as serious competitors to global agency brands.

How can Chinese agencies take a brand global without a global network, you might wonder. It's a work in progress that can involve partnerships with local agencies in target markets, hiring individuals on the ground, or posting Chinese staff overseas. The big advantage is that they are used to Chinese companies and their way of doing things.

Lee cites BlueFocus as an example. To support a client's entry to Latin America, it reassigned two staff members from China to the market and made local hires. In other cases, she sees Chinese EV clients engaging local agencies in markets like the UK where staff have cross-cultural backgrounds and experience working with Chinese companies.

"No one wants to talk about time sheets, just budget and deliverables" - Elan Shou, Ruder Finn

Some international agencies are rethinking the way they operate to work with Chinese brands. Ruder Finn's Chinese Brands Going Abroad (CBGA) practice employs a 'building blocks' model comprising a China team, teams in local markets such as Germany, and a Singapore team that acts as a bridge between them to mitigate cultural clashes. It has a single P&L and claims to offer 24/7 coverage with added flexibility for staff in a bid to maintain reasonable working parameters.

"The German and Chinese teams don't understand each other," says Shou. "The team in Singapore understands the Chinese way of working. They can sense when a problem is coming."

She affirms that "Chinese clients are very demanding. No one wants to talk about timesheets, just budget and deliverables". She argues that although the willingness of local companies to accommodate all client demands could be seen as a positive thing, ultimately they "compromise too much". When an agency does that, "your profit margin is going to be low and you're not going to be able to hire very expensive people. That determines the service you can do." 

Lee sees the same issue. "When you become too tactical, the only thing you're competing on is price," she says. "When an agency can't make it up on strategic thinking, they make it up with the number of people on the team." Discounting only goes so far; even for restless Chinese clients, she expects creative strategy and execution, and the ability to build brand equity, to become a stronger differentiator between agencies.

This thinking will be vital for Chinese clients themselves to move up the value chain and be respected not for low prices but as premium brands, says Qu. "They need to focus on strategy, content and quality." Currently, this is where international networks still have the upper hand — but that could change. The ideal agency model is one that combines those elements with speed and the clear ability to grow a client's business, and achieving that is still anyone's game.

For most Chinese companies with global ambition, the journey is just beginning. Encouragingly, amid ever present geopolitical wrangling, much of the world, especially the Global South, is open to what they have to offer, with limited preconceptions around the 'Made in China' label. The international endeavours of Chinese brands could well lead to stronger Chinese agencies, which also have yet to go upstream.

The great "inbound-outbound swap" in the China market "will give Chinese agencies the push to be global as well", Jiang thinks. Until very recently, there was no market for such a proposition. "This is an opportunity for local agencies to shine."

By David Blecken ，Additional reporting by Arun Sudhaman