Executive Summary
Creative Culture is an international community dedicated to raising
awareness and appreciation of Chinese art by providing a bridge
between Chinese artists and the western market place.
Talented Artists through out China are waiting for a chance to make
their mark on society and we want to give them that chance. By working
closely with members of the Development and Exchange Committee of
the Arts, in Hebei, China Creative Culture is able to procure pieces of art
from some of the most renowned artist in China and provide the
support they need to market their pieces online as well as at various art
exhibits and retail outlets.
Jason Fox (CEO), Mike Charbonneau (President of Operations), and
Jason Hesse are natives of North America who have lived and worked in
China. This exposure to the Chinese culture has allowed them to
establish relationships with Zhung Jing (Acquisitions Consultant) as
well as multiple suppliers of Chinese black pottery and fine art. These
relationships combined with the past business experience of the
ownership group puts Creative Culture in a unique position to market
products that are currently unavailable to the global market. Following
is an overview of each of the members of the ownership group:
Jason Fox:
Jason is the type of person who loves a challenge. His strengths lie
in management, solving tough problems, and developing lasting
relationships with colleges and clients alike. He is highly adaptable
and takes pride in being the type of leader that people want to
follow. Jason has developed a reputation as a capable marketer,
web designer, and retailer. It is this combination of skills combined
with his exceptional ability to connect with and manage people that
make him the perfect person to serve as Creative Culture’s CEO.
Michael Charbonneau
Michael Charbonneau was born in Canada. He has a lovely wife
and a beautiful daughter. Apart from being a family man he has a
love for languages and a passion for learning. He is very driven
and has great personal skills. He has years of management
experience in various fields of employment and is fluent in
English, Mandarin, and French. He has been living and working in
China for the last 10 years where he has made a great deal of
contacts in varying fields.
Jason Hesse
Jason Hesse was also born in Canada and has been living in China
for more than six years. He is fluent in Mandarin as well as
English. In the past, Jason has worked as a quality control
specialist within the automotive industry and as a warehouse
manager for an international business. His attention to detail, his
experience as a warehouse manager, and his ability to
communicate with and lead a team of Chinese workers makes him
a great fit for Creative Culture’s management team.
Zhang Jing
Zhang Jing was born in 1980; he graduated from the Hebei
University of Science and Technology’s College of Arts in 2003
with a Master’s degree in Design Arts. He is the Secretary-General
of the Development and Exchange Committee of the Arts Culture
Industry Association of Hebei Province and the Deputy SecretaryGeneral of the Handan City Artists Association. He is the General
Manager for Hebei Shun World Goods and Culture
Communication Co, Ltd. He is also the Curator of the Handan
Traditional Fashion and Art Center.
Company Description
Creative Culture partners with Chinese businesses and artists to help
promote and sell Chinese black pottery and fine art to western
countries. Currently, the foreign/ western marketplace is virtually void
of quality products from Chinese artists, which creates a unique
opportunity for Creative Culture to serve as a bridge between the artists
and the western market place.
Creative Culture will meet the needs of our market place by establishing
and maintaining relationships with reputable manufactures of Chinese
black pottery and traditional Chinese art. Through our relationship with
these individuals we will procure high quality products to market to the
global art community, thus increasing awareness for each of the artists
and expanding the global market for Chinese art.
We will accomplish our goals by incorporating the following marketing
strategies:
o Internet marketing
 Creative Culture website
 Strategic partnerships with other sites that promote
and/ or sell fine art
 Strategic partnerships with online distributors
 Utilizing social media, PR firms, SEO, and paid forms
of advertising such as Adwords
o Strategic partnerships:
 Art galleries
 Art exhibits
 Museums
 Partner with notable “art tours”
 High-end furniture stores and art dealers
 Art magazines/ publications
Creative Culture will market to each of the following demographics
and/or industries:
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Art enthusiasts
Art dealers
Art galleries
Home décor/ furniture retailers
Chinese/ Asian restaurants
Martial arts studios
Middle/ High net worth individuals
Creative Culture will maintain our competitive advantage by providing
our suppliers with a global marketplace, which they currently do not
have, as well as the following services:
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Marketing
Translation
Shipping/ customs
Storage/ warehouse
Market Analysis
According to The European Fine Art Foundation (TEFAF), the total size
of the global art market is about $60-$80 billion, which reflects public
auction data and an estimate of art gallery and private art dealer sales
during 2011. This represents a six-fold increase in size over the last 20
years.
As emerging markets become wealthier, the art market is likely to
continue to be comprised of a much more diverse set of art buyers. This
is generally good news for the art market. When investors are
concentrated in one geographic region, the art market as a whole is very
sensitive to that region's economic environment. Simply put, a more
global market makes a more resilient one.
Creative Culture believes that the modern art market is at the beginning
of a long and profound change that will transform the industry in the
coming decade. It will follow two distinct trends: segregation of the
investment quality art market and the rapid transformation of a
consumer art industry into an increasingly efficient corporate structure,
with supply chain management and retail systems more efficiently
linking artists and consumers.
As buying and selling art becomes less and less akin to entering a
temple and hearing from the gods, the entire industry will have to
reform to meet new consumer patterns by embracing e-commerce and a
growing online market place.
The consumer art trade, 95% of volume in terms of the number of
works traded and the number of consumers involved, will migrate
online, driven not by specialty art knowledge, but by the merger of art
industry specifics with modern e-commerce.
The premium market or investment quality art, on the other hand, will
largely remain as it is and will be further shaped by wider acceptance of
art as an investment asset.
Creative Culture will develop a niche by selling Chinese black pottery
and fine art including, but not limited to, paintings, porcelain,
sculptures, and various antiques.
Due to the fact that there is very little Chinese art, particularly Chinese
black pottery, available in the current market, we will be able to
establish ourselves as a leader (for Chinese art) in the emerging
consumer grade or e-commerce art market, while positioning ourselves
to serve as a broker for investors who desire to own a piece of
investment grade Chinese art.
The lack of competition within the online Chinese art market is an
advantage for Creative Culture; however, it prevents us from being able
to generate verifiable sales projections. That being said, after many
hours of research, we were able to identify one other company that is
selling Chinese art online and has managed to surpass $2,500,000 in
gross annual sales volume.
After analysis of our competitor’s product, we are confident that we will
meet and subsequently exceed their sales volume within 2-3 years.
In addition to the above information, we are confident in our future
success for the following reasons:
o Our primary supplier is considered the best Chinese black
pottery artist in the world.
o Each of our artists has established a name for him or her
self and already enjoys a measure of fame within China.
o We have over ten years invested in China and the
relationships that comprise our business.
o We offer a service that our suppliers and artists have no
other way of obtaining.
o We offer a product that our retailers have no other way of
obtaining.
Organization and Management
Jason Fox
Co-founder/ CEO
Jason is an entrepreneur and world traveler who provides proven
leadership and marketing strategies for Creative Culture
Mike Charbonneau
Co-founder/ President of Operations
Mike is bilingual, lives in China, and he is responsible for
establishing and maintaining relationships with Creative Culture's
suppliers.
Jason Hesse
Co-founder/ VP of Operations
Jason is bi-lingual, lives in China, and is responsible for managing
our warehouse and shipping operations.
Zhung Jing
Partner/ Acquisitions Consultant
Zhung Jing is a member of the Development and Exchange
Committee of the Arts in Hebei and is an expert in Chinese art. He
is responsible for identifying and procuring all of Creative
Culture’s supply lines.
Robert Struthers
Customs Consultant
Robert is the former Head of Customs in Canada and he assists us with
any matters related to getting Creative Culture’s products through
customs worldwide.
Product Line
Creative Culture’s product line will consist of three main categories:
 Chinese black pottery
 Chinese paintings
 Chinese antiques
Each of our suppliers are carefully selected by an expert in the Chinese
art industry to insure that Creative Culture only offers the highest
quality, original products to our customers. Currently, Creative Culture
is working with the following suppliers:
Li Laoshi
Li Laoshi has been recognized by the Chinese government
as the best Chinese Black Pottery artist in all of China and
subsequently the world. He has nearly 30 years experience
with black pottery and he is a pioneer in the art of modern
Chinese Black Pottery.
Wang Caiying
Wang Caiying, also known as Jing Wen is a member of the
Chinese Painting Association and the Chinese Democratic
League. She is the president of the Handan City Female
Artists Association, President of the Handan City Academy
of Fine Arts, Vice-President of the Handan City Calligraphers
Association, and Vice-President of the Handan City Painters
Association. She’s also a member of the CPPCC (the Chinese
People’s Political Consultative Conference) and on a
committee of experts for the Handan Local Culture Research
Association. She is an extremely talented artist that has won
countless awards and has had her pieces on display across
all of China.
Zhang Zhe
Zhang Zhe received his Master's degree in Fine Arts from
Hebei Normal University of Fine Arts. Since 2007 he has
received over 30 awards in recognition of his ability as a
painter. In addition, he has been published in mulitiple
journals and magazines through out China.
Wang Yongqiang
From 1999 to 2003 Wang Yongqiang attended the Hebei
Normal University Academy of Fine Arts. In 2000 he won
second prize in the Fine Arts Department of Hebei Normal
University oil painting exhibition. He continued his
education from 2007 to 2010 at Hebei Normal University as
a graduate student. Currently he is a professor at Handan
College of Art and Media.
Du Ruixue
Du Ruixue attended Hebei Normal University of Fine Arts,
under the tutelage of Mr. Bai Yunxiang, until graduating in
2006. He is now a member of the Hebei Province Artists
Association and the Handan City Artists Association, Vice
president of the Handan school of Art and a professor at
Hebei Engineering University.
Sales and Marketing
Marketing is an ever-evolving process; subsequently Creative Culture
will constantly be looking for new ways with which to reach our target
market. That being said, we will focus on the following areas in order to
build brand awareness and increase sales.
Online marketing, Including but not limited to the following:
o Creative Culture website
 Website optimization
 SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
o Social media
 Twitter
 Facebook
 YouTube
 Google+
o Strategic partnerships with other websites
 Online distributors and retailers
 Art dealers
 Galleries
o Press releases
o Paid advertising, such as Google Adwords
o Email marketing
o Article marketing
o Affiliate marketing
Our offline marketing strategy will include partnering with, marketing
to, or otherwise utilizing the services of the following businesses:
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Art exhibits
Art galleries
Art studios
Art “tours”
Art dealers
Art auctions
Museums
High-end furniture stores
Art magazines and publications
Magazines and publications that cater to HNWI (High Net
Worth Individuals)
We will start by selling our products via our website, eBay, Amazon,
various online art dealers, and crowd funding sources. With in 3-6
months of launching our site we will facilitate growth via SEO
management and our subsequent rise to the first page of Google, Yahoo,
and Bing search engines for keywords relevant to our product line. By
utilizing the strategies mentioned above we will continue to build
awareness and increase online sales over the next year.
By the summer of 2014 we will begin to increase awareness for Creative
Culture via our offline marketing strategies.
As Creative Culture grows we will partner with larger retailers both
online and offline. For our consumer quality art products, we will target
partnerships with large retailers such as:
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Costco
Sam’s Club
Pottery Barn
Nebraska Furniture Mart
and others
Our investment quality art will exclusively be sold via high-end sources
such as the following:
 Curators Eye
 Amazon.com and others
In order to establish a large presence in the retail market, we will hire a
sales force to contact and establish wholesale contracts with
appropriate retailers for both our consumer quality and investment
quality product lines.
*This strategy will be revisited upon the need for a sales force.