Abstract

The goal of this paper is to examine the success of Swiss brands in China. Swiss products occupy a special place in Chinese consumers’ minds compared to other Western origins, holding a high reputation in the luxury, health, and food sectors. Notwithstanding the Covid-19 crisis, exports of consumer goods to China have not been affected. The manuscript first analyzes the role of destination branding, quality, innovation and tradition, trust, and risk in explaining the reasons behind Switzerland’s success in China. For each topic, it also presents advertising and marketing examples. Secondly, it discusses the importance of communicating with Chinese consumers by leveraging the Chinese social media landscape. Third, the paper reports the results from five in-depth interviews conducted with experts of the Swiss-China market relationships. Finally, it discusses the main findings and presents the conclusions.