China Mobile are still party people

THE DOMINANT MOBILE provider with 72% of cellphone users in the world’s largest market is always going to rank one of the world’s top brands. China Mobile was ranked 9 in Milward Brown’s latest BrandZ ranking and it has promoted its brand through various sports sponsorships (Guangzhou Asian Games, Athletics star, Lui Xiang and numerous basketball events). So far so normal for a company which was also ranked 16th in the Financial Times global 500 list but a more Chinese reality still prevails behind the scenes. China Mobile’s chairman of seven years and industry veteran Wang Jianzhou was last week replaced as secretary of the company’s Communist party committee making him de facto chair. No notice was given of the move and investors were given no information on the thinking behind the management changes. Sponsorship seekers should perhaps wait for the dust to settle before pitching any new proposals.