1P8lS1 lC8 C8LA1lvl1?

" - 8lCPA8u LLL - LSlCC

We are Lalklng Lo 8lchard Lee, Chlef MarkeLlng Cfflcer of epslCo Chlna LLd. Cver drlnks aL Lhls
popular nlghLllfe spoL, he has been Lelllng us abouL '1hlrsL lor CreaLlvlLy', epsl's amblLlous ldea for
Lransformlng Lhe brand Lo keep pace wlLh a rapldly changlng consumer landscape.

1hlrsL means Lwo Lhlngs for epsl. As a beverage company, lL supplles a refreshlng producL Lo quench
Lhe LhlrsL of lLs young, acLlve consumers. 8uL lL has also Laken Lhe ldea a sLep furLher Lo mean a LhlrsL
Lo creaLe a beLLer llfe.

"lL's safe Lo say LhaL dlglLal medla ls huge ln Chlna," 8lchard says. "?oung people ln parLlcular use lL
on a dally basls Lo creaLe a presence or ldenLlLy onllne - Lhrough webslLes, blogs, forums and so on -
as well as Lo express Lhemselves. We found a purpose for Lhe epsl brand ln enabllng young people
Lo creaLe, buL we also wanLed Lo flnd a way Lo Lurn our brand purpose lnLo a compeLlLlve
advanLage."

epsl declded Lo develop an onllne plaLform. !olnlng forces wlLh 1mall, Lhe global leader ln e-
commerce, lL launched epslLmall.com.

Are you addlng Lo your core buslness Lhen?" l ask.

More Lhan LhaL, we're expandlng Lhe brand's relevance," says 8lchard. "epsl has become a way of
llfe and epslLmall has become a desLlnaLlon."

Pe Lells us abouL Lhe success Lhe plaLform has en[oyed, desplLe only belng llve for a few monLhs.
1mall ls a sLore and our alllance wlLh Lhem means we can already offer our consumers more Lhan 30
blg-name and up-and-comlng brands. epslLmall.com, on Lhe oLher hand, ls abouL !"#$%&!' We also
hlghllghL Lhe people behlnd Lhe brands - Lhose who are creaLlng beLLer producLs and a beLLer world."
arL of Lhe plaLform's sLoryLelllng [ourney ls lLs annual award glven Lo Lhe mosL creaLlve young
deslgners and enLrepreneurs. 1he flrsL year celebraLed 108 orlglnal heroes, selecLed by epsl and
voLed for by consumers, who were proflled and promoLed on Lhe slLe.

l look aL Lhe Lables around us, whlch are fllllng up wlLh young people en[oylng early evenlng drlnks.
"Shopplng - even onllne - can be LhlrsLy work," l say. "Pow does Lhe mall caLer Lo Lhose who are ln
need of a cold epsl afLer some reLall Lherapy?

"We've LhoughL of LhaL!" 8lchard laughs. "1he epsl CourmeL aradlse secLlon of Lhe plaLform offers
free dlshes and meal deals - washed down wlLh a epsl, of course - ln Lhousands of resLauranLs.
1here's even an lnLegraLed search englne Lo flnd Lhe besL resLauranL closesL Lo you. lL's Lrue LhaL you
have Lo leave Lhe house Lo beneflL from Lhls parL of Lhe epslLmall experlence, buL we see lL as Lhe
ldeal comblnaLlon of on- and off-llne acLlvaLlons."

Pe geLs ouL hls moblle phone. WhaL's even beLLer, ln Lhe age of moblle lnLerneL, ls LhaL l can en[oy a
dlscounL meal aL a epsl parLner resLauranL and sLlll be able Lo check ouL whaL's new on epslLmall."
Pe navlgaLes Lo Lhe webslLe's homepage and LranslaLes some of Lhe Chlnese characLers for us. "We
sell orlglnal lLems LhaL aren'L avallable anywhere else and we launch cool new producLs LhaL maLch
our brand ldenLlLy," he Lells us. "We recenLly collaboraLed wlLh 8aLhlng Ape, for example, a cuLLlng-
edge !apanese cloLhlng label, and we marked Lhe 23Lh annlversary of Mlchael !ackson's
album ()* wlLh a range of llmlLed-edlLlon epsl merchandlse dedlcaLed Lo Lhe klng of op."

"Always offerlng someLhlng new, ls LhaL parL of your sLraLegy Lo keep people comlng back for more?"
MaarLen asks.

"Lnabllng consumers Lo creaLe, our brand purpose, demands a cerLaln amounL of creaLlvlLy from us
as well. epslLmall was Lhe flrsL plaLform of lLs klnd ln Chlna, whlch ls lnnovaLlve ln lLself, and we
wanL Lo keep our LargeL group curlous and exclLed. 8uL we have also had a llLLle help from our
frlends!"

Pe shows us anoLher page. "We slgned up some of Chlna's hoLLesL young celebrlLles for our
mulLlmedla campalgns. 1haL aLLracLed a huge number of vlslLors and generaLed a buzz LhaL exLended
far beyond Lhe plaLform."

As we have been Lalklng, Lhe sun has seL and we see Lhe llghLs comlng on ln Lhe bulldlngs across Lhe
rlver. "?oung people respecL brands LhaL are passlonaLe, lnnovaLlve and responslble," 8lchard says.
"WlLh Lhe 'CreaLe for 1hlrsL' ldea and lnLeracLlve onllne plaLform, epsl ls well on Lhe way Lo earnlng
LhaL respecL."

8lchard Lee ln dlscusslon wlLh Anouk appers (Cool8rands)













1ags: Cool8rands, Cool8rands meeLlng epsl, MeeLlng epsl ln Shanghal, MeeLlng epsl, MeeLlng
8lchard Lee, A LhlrsL for CreaLlvlLy, CreaLe for 1hlrsL, CreaLe for 1hlrsL Campalgn, 8lchard, Lee, 8lchard
Lee, #C8nWS, C8nWS, #Cool8rands, C8ersonal, #C8ersonal

Cool8rands 2014 - C8nWS