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SCMP Reporter

With sales of 9,000 instruments last year and a deal with Steinway, Pearl River Piano is hoping to build a global brand

Pearl River Piano spent 50 years learning how to produce instruments good enough to compete with  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.

'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 in the vast industrial landscape around  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.

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  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 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.

'The quality of the Pearl River pianos depend on the price, but the best of them can definitely hold their own in foreign markets,'  Mr Dan said.

In March last year, the company signed an agreement with United States-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,'  Mr Rong said. '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 almost  9,000 pianos to US customers last year, five times the number  sold when it entered in 1999.

The US is now the destination of 60 per cent of its exports.

Where Pearl River Piano goes from here is uncertain, but observers warn that high quality  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 analyse the psychology of the foreign consumer,' says Jiang Qingyun, a marketing specialist at Shanghai's Fudan University.

'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.'

However,  Mr Rong has seen signs that foreign consumers are slowly getting the message. For him, a defining moment  came a few years ago on  a New York City  train.

'I was chatting with another passenger who told me he knew about Pearl River Piano. He had high marks for us,'  Mr Rong said. 'There are only a few Chinese brands that are known globally, but we are one of them.'



Piano firm strikes chord in US