Marketing as Service can run rings around traditional approaches especially if you’re trying to expand your business in Asia. J&J provided a great service recently to the Chinese government by ridding their world famous terracotta warriors of a decay-causing fungus. Their reward included the right to display several of the “cured” statues in their Olympic pavilion and dare I say, a foot-hold in the Chinese market.

More importantly, according the great Wall St. Journal article on the topic:

J&J’s help has won the appreciation of Chinese officials, and in an authoritarian state that is no meaningless accomplishment. By nursing one of China’s national symbols back to health, J&J hopes to get “a lot of leverage” in China, says Alex Valcke, a European J&J executive who led much of the conservation effort.

I found this story fascinating from start to finish. J&J happened to put its factory near the home of the terracotta warriors (Emperor Qin Terracotta Army Museum) in the 80’s and ten years later started helping the museum identify the fungus plaguing their statues. Once identified, the J&J team then experimented on treatments and eventually cracked the code.

Wu Yongqi, a curator at the terracotta museum, describes the museum’s relationship with J&J as “Jin Shang Tian Hua,” a Chinese idiom that suggests something perfect benefiting from further perfection. J&J “sped up our work,” he says.

J&J’s Dr. Valcke is ecstatic. “We really believe that if you preserve that which is very close to these Chinese hearts, it helps to build a better relationship,” he says.

Dr. Valcke’s quote above, neatly sums up the essence of Marketing as Service. Solve a meaningful problem by providing a genuine service and you will pave the way for a healthy and long-lasting business relationship.

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