Here's what to learn from “China vs Dolce & Gabbana” case.

The Chinese want our luxury, our signatures, but they do not communicate in our own way.

The case of Dolce & Gabbana in China can be considered a school case to keep in mind that a company's reputation is everything when it comes to business. This is even more true if Western companies are to approach markets that are very distant and very different - from the point of view of communication, business and culture. In short, globalization requires preparation. The lesson that China has given to the world of luxury is this: we can close all doors when we want, even if you are an international giant.

A spokesman for the Beijing Foreign Ministry also spoke on the matter, and in a press conference, answering a question from a journalist, said: "China does not want the recent controversy against Dolce & Gabbana to suffer an escalation, but the world must understand how the Chinese consider this problem". As a matter of fact, interpreting the complex nature of relations with the Chinese world is not easy, and this is why more and more often large companies, before landing in the Eastern markets, should rely on specialized communication consultants, or form their own.

In a general sense, the Dolce & Gabbana case confirms how far the advertising communication models are distant between the Western world and the Asian world.

This despite the consumption, from which they are represented, tend to converge. In the specific case of D&G advertising, the subtexts of a failed communication are numerous: it has been assumed that the sense of Chinese humor functions according to the Italian model and the sense of modesty so typical of the Chinese people has been underestimated. We have gone so far as to take possession of an object so intimately representative of Chinese culture with the presumption of doing it in a harmless way – the chopsticks.

Yeah, but who decides what is harmless?

If it was then confirmed that the model of the video is Korean, then it would have gone much further.

Is it possible that the Chinese have felt so insulted by an objectively ugly, perhaps stupid, advertising that insists on clichés, but that had little to do with racism?

I write from China, where I can guarantee that we do not talk about anything else, on social media and among restaurant tables. The proof of how humiliating it is all lies in the response that has spread through Weibo: a solemn video on the identity and fundamental role that two simple wooden sticks have for millennia in accompanying the Chinese family's epic.

Obviously, the solemnity of the video leaves no room for interpretation.

In the discussions held a bit 'everywhere there are those who already assume market shares lost, citing figures with great accuracy according to all personal calculations. In fact, a first serious consequence has already been, the cancellation of the parade and the boycott by many Chinese stars, and this suggests that there may be others in the future.

And the Chinese boycotts know how bad the business can be. But what are the most frequent mistakes Western companies make when they land in China?

There are many errors and it is normal that they exist, I would say physiological. They are due to the diversity that this culture has compared to ours and to the endemic laziness that our economic system manifests in wanting to understand it more deeply.

Because it is useless to deny it: understanding it is a process that requires a great deal of effort in terms of economy, strategy and above all of time.

Summing up, it is possible to point out that the value system of Chinese ethics is never taken into too much consideration, underestimating how much Confucian influence is still present, even if in reworked and subtler forms. Just think of the upbeat advertising of the Chinese Dream, publicity spread by the government and visible throughout the country that recalls that filial piety (孝顺), economy, benevolence and hard work are essential virtues for a good citizen. Finally, a problem in the problem: beyond the immutable cornerstones, just like Confucian ethics, aesthetics, trends and tastes change at the speed of light and one of the most widespread problems among our companies is that when we are convinced we understand something, we are not worried that this can already be changed tomorrow.