Intercultural Business News

Forget Michael Jackson. PepsiCo (PEP) has launched its own music label in China that will enable it to groom, produce and ultimately control its recording stars. So instead of having to pay big bucks to established artists to feature in its ad campaigns, Pepsi can create its own Chinese rock stars. The new recording label is called QMusic, according to a press release from Pepsi’s PR firm, that otherwise provided few details of the venture. My guess is the plan got the blessing of Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi during her 12 day visit to China last month.

Pepsi Launching Chinese Based "Q Music" Label

However I do have a well-founded theory of my own on just how this thing will play out. Harry Hui, the brains behind Pepsi’s highly successful marketing effort in China, has strong experience in the recording industry. Before signing on as Chief Marketing Officer for Pepsico in China, Hui headed up Universal Music in Asia, and he also helped launch MTV Asia in the early 1990s. [I also have heard him sing karaoke along with Michelle Yeoh at an Armani party in Shanghai a few years ago, but that’s another story. It’s also my oblique way of showing that I know Hui both socially and professionally.]

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